protests in brazil seeking president rouseff to resign. also ahead a plan for autonomy in northern syria. president obama names his choice for the u.s. supreme court but the republicans have vowed to block the nomination. we look at how the conflicts in south africa are threatening niger's jiraffes

protests taking place across brazil seeking the resignation of the president rousseff. they're angry of the aappointment of her predecessor to chief of staff. demonstrations have also been held in the capital. >> translation: my relationship with lula is to build fiscal stability the judge leading the corruption investigation of brazil's state oil company has released recordings of phone taps of the former president. this clues a conversation with the president.

>> reporter: a judge here has released a wire tapping that federal police have released of lula talking to dilma rousseff in relation to the appointment that would save him from prosecution. hundreds out on the street calling for dilma rousseff to step down and people are saying the only thing that this president can do right is step down the director of the praz ilinstitute at the woodrow sill son center in washington dc. he said dilma rousseff made mistakes that could cost her government dearly >> according to a recording of a conversation between former president l oushgs la and

president dilma rousseff aappointment would shield him from prosecution. this can be construed and has been as an act of obstruction of justice. this in itself could be a cause, another cause, for impeaching the president. so we are in a scenario of a crisis that is deepening and now the possibility that the former president lula could join the president dilma rousseff at the presidential pal's to help manage this is complicated-- pal's. dilma rousseff is not known as an able politician. she has missed important moments where she could have separated herself from the scandal. maybe it was a very impossible position and now she has to face

consequences most likely the political parties alive to her in the next few days and weeks will abandon her. she is xreetd isolated and so the situation is dire for her even dire for the country that is facing a second year of deep recession a top syrian kurdish official has said that the kurds are preparing to extend autonomy areas under their control. >> reporter: the syrian border town was almost taken by i.s.i.l. until the kurdish fighters of the y.p.g. beat them off. with hindsight that victory was crucial in the proposal for a federal system in the areas it and its political wing control which would sprech all the way to the border with iraq. there is evidence of support for the y.p.g. here and in the poverty stricken conditions people live, backing for kurdish

autonomy in syria. >> translation: i support the initiative. kurds are being. they deserve to have a home. nobody recognises us. >> reporter: the kurds across the border have stolen the initiative. it is the timing of this that is so extraordinary, not only on just day three of geneva have the kurds even though they were not invited insert themselves back into the talks, the announcement comes a few days before kurdish new year on march 21. could it be that they want to announce autonomy in syria as part of their new year's celebrations. they have opposition from many sides. in aleppo set important petitioning off the area went entirely against the aims of the revolution of being one syria for all irrespective of religion or ethnicity. >> translation: this is a

tyranny. especially as it comes from the y.p.g. they are on the terrorist list. >> translation: this is really bad. the kurds are making themselves enemies of the syrian revolution. the kurds are part of the syrian people, like everybody else. what if they come and say they want their own state. it is unacceptable >> reporter: the kurdish delegations hold these talks have tried to offset these argument by claiming their block would be a home for turk man and arab citizens just as well as kurds and that their model could be folded by the rest of the nation. they all insist that partitioning syria is a mistake which could make things worse still than they have been u. is state department spokes man has said they will not recognised a kurdish region in syria. >> we have been clear that we

won't recognised any self-rule semiautonomous zones in syria. your broader question, as i said, really this is something that needs to be discussed and agreed upon by the relevant parties in geneva the kurdish party pushing for wider autonomy hats not been invited for the talks in geneva. this has sent ripples through the various factions. james bays has more >> reporter: the group that has not been invited forced themselves onto on the agenda here. staffan de mistura decided to excluded pyd from the talks now. staffan de mistura's deputy told reporters that the question of

fundamental ralism was an issue to be decided by the representatives of the syrian people at the talks. >> translation: the u.n. position is very clear when it comes to this. every syrian that i spoke to stands with the unity and sovereignty with the nation. gentleman the head of the pyd actually turned up for the last round of talks in january before he found out he was not invited. other opposition members say his party should be excluded because they had been working with the bashar al-assad regime. >> translation: only when they openly announced that they're disengaging with the regime completely, only then will they have a place in the syrian revolution and they will then be welcomed with open arms as part of the delegation in geneva. >> reporter: are the russians abandoning you? >> reporter: my question was ignored as he arrived for his

first session here. he explained the pulling out of forces was a joint decision >> our ally answers came to syria by a joint decision. today they will leave. it will be done through a joint syrian-coordination action >> reporter: he used the opportunity to attack the high negotiations committee who had been at the same podium a matter of hours earlier. in particular, this man of the jaesh who is a member of the committee. >> translation: it's not an honor at all to sit with a terrorist in direct talks. he belongs to a terrorist faction that has hit embassies and killed citizens. that's why we never will have direct talks until he has apologised for what he has done. >> reporter: then he should shave his beard. >> reporter: those most

undiplomatic comments showing the mistrust behind the scenes on a day where the announcements by the pyd only make this process even harder. james bays obama has nominated merrick garland replacing justice scalia who died last month. >> today i am nominate chief justice merrick garland to join the court >> reporter: on wednesday he began in the public eye. the obama administration introduced a video to him, signal, it wasn'ts to tv a public fight. >>-- it wants to have a public fight over the picks >> we are faithful to the

constitution and the law. >> reporter: this could be the only time the public hears from him. when justice zcalia died in february, they said they wouldn't approve anyone to replace him. their leader reaffirmed the republicans plan to do nothing >> it is a present constitutional right to nominate a supreme court justice and as the senate right to act on a check on the president and with mould its consent >> reporter: the president praised his real-world experience. he over saw the prosecution of the oklahoma city bomber timothy mcvey. bm called on republicans to do what he said was the right thing. >> it will not only be an abdication of the duty, it will indicate a process for nominating and confirming judges that is beyond repair.

it will mean everything is subject to the most partisan of politics. everything. >> reporter: a political observer says obama isn't going to get what he wants. >> once they've taken a position here that says i'm not going to skroet, i will not confirm this seat, it's very hard to get them to just flip their position and only doing it because of political considerations is not something that is a very strong position to take heading into an election. >> i am grateful beyond words for the honor you have bestow episode upon me me me the controversy over the new supreme court justice comes as the race for the white house intensifie intensifies. >> reporter: john kasich has

been put back in the race by his home state. after winning one state, there is one strategy available to him, teep up with the other anti candidate >> we welcome you to the team >> reporter: to block the billionaire >> the possibility that john kasich wins the nomination outright is virtually zero. there is a greater chance that he and with ted cruz as well could deny trump the absolute majority of delegates and then we go to the summer and see how the republican $try to sort this out. >> reporter: they would have the first contested convention since 19428. that means the delegates are freed up and the party negotiates a solution and that means anything can happen and any candidate can win the ultimate prize >> reporter: after sweeping florida, north carolina miss our and illinois, he has half of the

delegates he needs to seize the republican nomination for president. for hillary clinton after winning all five, the road ahead looks clearer than ever. >> the democrats are consolidating around their front runner. secretary hillary clinton is gaining notes. she is enlarging her margin of delegates and i think she is well on a path towards the nomination. >> reporter: bernie sanders has vowed to stay in the race to the end. she is focusing her fire past sanders. >> that doesn't make him strong. it makes him wrong. >> reporter: the man she seems to expect to be her rival, donald trump donald trump that is warned of riots if he is denied the republican party's nomination. a professor of communication at uc l.a. he explains how the american businessman can lose out in the

race >> the only hope for those who want to stop donald trump is to keep him from getting a majority of the delegates and winning on the first ballot. if on the first ballot he does not get a majority, then you will have a second and third from there. the party can united against trump and try to nominate someone else. if they try to nominate someone who did worse than trump, or if they to nominate someone who didn't run this year look paul ryan and mitt romney, they will wreek havoc there lots more still to come here on al jazeera. the commuterss in the u.s. capital as the metro system is shut down for safety checks. why are australia's aboriginal people dying younger than their compatriots. compatriots.

welcome back. a quick reminder of the top stories here. protests across brazil demanding the resignation of president dilma rousseff. a judge has since released phone recording between lula and dilma rousseff. merrick spas spas garland has been nominated by obama. the president has been accused of politicizing the situation.

kurdish officials have said that the kurds are preparing to extend areas under their control. the move has allowed turkey to recognised zones police in belgium are looking for two suspects following tuesday's raid in brussels. one man who was killed in the shoot out has been identified as anal engineerian-- an space pace algerian national. it was linked to november's attacks in paris. >> reporter: specialists police officers and forensic teams carefully examined the apartment where gunmen had opened fire just hours earlier. aiming to try to establish exactly what they were doing there. by daylight those who witnesses events unphenomenoned were still trying to understand what happened in the house opposite theirs. >> you heard a lot of shooting,

you at some time heard an explosion too and i really didn't know what was really happening. >> reporter: police have identified the gunman shot down during the operation, an algerian in belgium illegally and known by the police because of a theft. >> next to the body was a gun, a flag of i.s.i.s., d.a.e.s.h. was found in the flat as well as a11 loaded guns and innum rabble shell casings. no bombs were found. >> reporter: they officials expected to carry out a routine search of an empty apartment. instead they encountered fierce reassistance resulting in a stand-off lasting several years.

two people are still on the run. this is the back of the property where two of the suspects are thought to have been able to get out, making their escape in that direction. what is not known is how he is linked if at all to the paris attacks where 130 people were killed. it is known that the paris plot was planned in brussels. four months on questions remain about the intelligence failings leading up to the attacks. belgium remains at the heart of the investigation more makeshift shelters in the french refugee carp known as the jungle have been cleared. only a few structures remain in the sourtdz part of the camp located in calais. dozens of refugees there have been on a hunger stri strike in protest of the demolition. >> nobody can do anything for us.

so we decide maybe this way our rules, our voice can be heard some of the stations on washington's subway system may be closed for safety checks. they sent commuters to other forms of transport. >> reporter: hundreds rail cars were idle as maintenance workers inspect all cables supplying all power to the network's trains after a tunnel fire raised safety concerns. it is the first non-weather-related closure for 40 years. it has forced 700,000 commuters to search for alternative transportation. >> you're going to have to move back. >> reporter: the situation might have been a lot worse because all nonemergency government workers were offered the option of taking this as an unscheduled

leave day or working from home. the system's passengers have become accustomed to breakdowns >> it's not the worst but it's not the best either >> there's a lot of work to be done. i think it's the sort of sign that there's an ageing system and we need to replace the cars and the infrastructure. >> reporter: government resources have failed to keep up with the challenge. >> the sheer growth that the country has been experiencing is a troubled trend given how we're investing. >> reporter: they say the u.s. is neglectful. the american society of civil engineers rates the energy grid roads, i've invitation systems and dams in poor condition. a recent report warned that a large proportion of the country's water supply infrastructure "is approaching or has already reached the end of its useful life". as witnessed the crisis in flint

michigan where corroded pipes swifd its water supply. three trillion dollars will need to tackle this infrastructure need in the next five years. where the money would come from is a question that both the fad ral and state governments are struggling to address the u.s. president is imposing new economic sanctions against north korea. the executive order is in response to january's declared hydrogen bomb test and last month's ballistic missile launch. the u.s. says it will continue to put pressure on pyongyang until it meets its international obligations. nigeria's president has promised that the end of boko haram's is in site. at least 22 people were killed by two female suicide bombers. the army says the first bomber

targeted a mosque and the second blew herself up close by a few minutes later on average indigenous australians live at least 10 years less than the rest of the population. a national campaign aimed at addressing that disparity is being held across aaustralia on thursday. >> reporter: in the south of sydney new mother natalie bell is seeing the midwife who seven months ago delivered her baby. the service with mid wives specifically trained to understand how aboriginal cultural norms differ from western ones has become a flag ship scene >> they can relate to you. you get to know your mid wives and you know them from the beginning and they know all about you >> reporter: eight years ago aboriginal or indigenous infants died at almost double the rates of non-daughter-in-lawing nous one. that became a target for the

government under closing the gap program. appointments away from hospitals have helped. >> sometimes a hospital setting can be off putting for a what who hasn't been in the system before. so we've got clinics in the community, we do home visits. we also offer transport if women can't get them i will people them up >> reporter: thanks in part to initiatives like this one, the gap australia wide is on track to be half of what it was by 2018. it's a success story but a rare one. of seven closing the gap targets only two were on track to be achieved. on average aboriginal people die 10 years earlier than others. they're as likely to be unemployed as every and school attendance levels lack significantly. >> there's much work to be done to meet the targets. today i want to reaffirm my government's commitment to closing the gap

>> reporter: this video has been released to mark close the gap day. 1500 events will be taking around australia. the issue of indigenous disadvantage is to be kept high profile distinguished by its light-colored spots, the western african jiraffe once raged across the region. >> reporter: on the lookout for the last jiraffes. this is the northern tip of the natural reserve? 50 companies south of the capital. it stretches as far as the eye can see but soon a herd shows up grazing on their favorite acacia trees. there was a time when these animals roam across the region

from senegal to lake chad. authorities here have been trying to protect what remains of this endangered subspeed seize. they're proud of the result. >> translation: in 1996 we had just 50. now as we speak we have 4520. >> reporter: we tried to get a closer look, but as we were approached we were told no to disturb them. this is not the biggest one in this park. the biggest one is called sidho and it is famous and you can look an entire year for looking for him because it is a very large park. more than the size of lebanon. about 11,000 square kilometers. >> reporter: nature here is quiet and beautiful and the jiraffes seem to share both qualities. >> translation: it is a peaceful animal. if you don't make a noise you can come 15 metres from it. it is very ur yous. i love them as if they're my own

pets. we have names for them. one carried my name, but unfortunately he died. >> reporter: some people living in the area hardly share this affection. >> translation: we don't see any use to them. they just destroy our crops and eat the trees. we lived here for a long time before them. now they are a problem for us and there's nothing we can do about it. >> reporter: another problem affecting both people and the animal consisting in two years of draught resulting in small kroups. tourism has been on the decline. >> translation: at the beginning we made some income, but now there's a crisis because of insecurity. we used to receive large numbers of visitors, up to nine groups per day. but now it's five to six per week >> reporter: at the entrance of the reserve tour guide don't have much to do for the day. they are concerned that violence in the area and draught could

reverse the success the country has made in preserving one of the most natural wonders all the news, of course, on our website. there it is on your screen. aljazeera.com. >> i'm ali velshi. "on target" tonight. addicted in america, be critics claim these methods enable addicts but they could also save a lot of lives. ♪ ♪ >> president obama got another reminder of the urgency of dealing with america's heroin epidemic.