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♪ hello. we begin in brazil where protests have erupted outside of parliament following the swearing in of the former president as cabinet chief. shortly after the ceremony, a federal judge issued an injunction blocking lula's appointment on the grounds that by taking office it will derail an ongoing investigation. the lower house of congress has decided to begin impeachment proceedings against the current president. brazilian prosecutors have charged former president lula with money laundering and fraud. if his appointment is ratified he would be immune from

prosecution by all, except brazil's supreme court. margo is covering this developing and co-plex story, and joins us on the story from rio where more protests have broken out. does this mean that former president lula has been stopped from joining the cabinet now? >> reporter: technically, yes, but the federal government is actually appealing that decision of the federal judge. what has happened here is they had a formal ceremony just a few hours ago at the presidential a place. there were protests outside. president rousseff calling those that attended the ceremony, brave brazilians, facing up to the growing anger against her government. but she stood by her appoint of former president lula, just moments after he was officially sworn in -- >> having a few problems with

our line there to margo. let's see if she is still there. margo, can you still hear me? no, clearly having a few problems with the line to rio. we'll try to go back to margo a little bit later. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has accused the islamic state of iraq and the levant of war crimes. he says highlights the acts is important step towards stopping them. >> daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under itself control including the yazidis, christians and shyite muslims. daesh is genocidal by self proclamation, ideology, and by actions. in what it says, what it believes, and what it does. daesh is also responsible for crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing, directed at these same groups and in this

some cases also against sunni muslims, kurds, and owe minorities. i say this even though the ongoing conflict and lack of access to key areas has made it impossible to develop a fully detailed and comprehensive picture of all that daesh is doing. >> reporter: the head of the u.n.'s humanitarian task force has outlied some of the challenges aid sees are facing trying to deliver supplies to besieged areas of syria. six of the 18 regions that were isolated still haven't been reached. it is thought that isil may target air drops to some of those besieged towns. >> it turns out it was more technically difficult than we thought. it has to be from a great height since it is the i.s. that is controlling the area on the ground. they may have surface to air missiles. so it has to be at a great height, at great speed, and the

parachutes have to sustain this enormous jolt of the palettes leaving. >> james bayes is live for us at the u.n. in geneva where talks about syria are taking place at the moment. james let's start off with what he had to say. hugely concerning when you hear the idea that isil is going to be using surface to air missiles on those besieged towns. >> reporter: certainly very worrying when you hear it said like that. and it's the first time we have had a comment like that from someone working for the united nations. i have to say i have been speaking to a number of different sources who tell me that, yes, there is a threat, because isil has ground missiles, and they could be aimed towards the air, and it's possible, but unlikely they could bring down a plane. i'm being told by those sources it's highly unlikely that isil have what most military call surface to air missiles, the

shoulder-fired sort of thing. i'm told it's not likely that isil have those from a number of different sources i have spoken to. >> james what about the talks themselves that are taking place where you are in geneva? do we have a sense of where those talks are right now? >> reporter: well, certainly we have a position, i think, where we have the syrian government under some pressure. number one, on the humanitarian issue because the task has been meeting, and it is pretty clear that there are six areas for get for a moment about isil and deir ez-zor, but six other areas where aid is not reaching the people. all of those areas are areas besieged by the government. and where they have aid convoys through, medical supplies have been stripped from the rest of the aid and not been allowed in. the government under pressure on

the humanitarian situation. as i speak now, another meeting of another task force on the cessation of hostilities. and diplomats again telling me the government should be under pressure there, because the main viler -- violator is the syrian gochl. and there is one more issue, the issue of detainees, and that was also in the security council resolution setting up this process, and even the special envoy has said the government is not doing enough on this issue. the government under pressure on all of those issues. it's just a few days since the russians started the beginning of their pullout, and now it's actually the opposition who are about to meet the special envoy for the next session. it will be interesting to see what he has to say about the compliance of the government with this process, when he speaks to the press after that meeting in the next couple of hours. >> james, thank you. despite that partial withdrawal from syria, russia's

president says his air force is poised to return if needed. vladimir putin withdrew some war planes from syria after cessation of hostilities meant daily russian air strikes had dropped by about two-thirds. he also used an address to show the relationship with the syrian government was still warm. hoda abdel hamid spent this update from moscow. >> reporter: for the past three days pictures of soldiers and jet fighters returning to russia were shown on national television. mr. putin did say that at this specific moment, well, the mission was accomplished and the rest was really an intersyrian affair, and russia would not interfere with that. he did say among the accomplishments were to reduce, quote, the terrorists' capabilities on the ground. for example, supply routes were destroyed. oil tankers were destroyed.

however, this is not a full withdrawal. it is just a pull-out, and there is a significant number, even though undisclosed number of soldiers and military hardware that is staying in russia. among it, specifically, as underlined by president putin is the advance defense system, and he said that that was to protect the russian soldiers in syria, but also to respond to any threat, and he underlined the world any threat. >> translator: if necessary, literally within a few hours, russia can build up its contingent in the region to a size proportionate to the situation developing there. all partners have been warned and i know our air defense systems will be used against any targets which we consider a threat to russian servicemen. i want to stress any targets. >> reporter: russia will continue to provide support to the syrian army.

and he stressed if there is a reverse impact of this pullout, then russian troops and hardware could return in a matter of hours to syria, and deal with any escalation on the ground. >> reporter: turkey's prime minister has called for all mp's who are facing criminal investigations to be stripped of their immunity from prosecution. there is accusations that prokurdish mp's are supporting terrorism. jamal all rights. >> reporter: the aftermath of sunday's bomb blast in ankara continues to be felt at least politically. on thursday the turkey prime minister vowed not only to punish the mast ter minds of the attack, and go after members of parliament whom he accuses of supporting terrorism.

>> the issue is that openly supporting terrorism. the issue is not that somebody talking in the parliament. they talk everything in the parliament. it's not the problem. problem is, if you actively support on the ground and collaboration with terrorists, and using the immunity this is not democracy. >> reporter: the kurdish separatists group tak claimed responsibility. they are an off shoot of the pkk which has been at war with turkey for decades. both groups are considered terrorist organizations by turkey. although the government has been in peace negotiations in recent years, those talks broke down last july after pkk fighters killed two policemen. since then the army has attacked pkk locations inside the country as well as across the border in iraq. and kurdish separatists fighters

have stepped up attacks across turkey. on february 17th, a suicide car bomb targeted a bus carrying army personnel that killed dozens of people. the bomber of that attack as well as the most recent one have been accused of receiving training inside syria by the ypg, the kurdish armed group which anchor ray says is also linked by the pkk. security is becoming more of a concern inside turkey. germany announced on thursday it was closing its embassy, console late and one of its schools in istanbul as a precaution. the government has been praised for stopping violence, now many will be scrutinizing how it will deal with the increasing number of attacks that continue to rock turkey cities.

still to come on the program, life expectancy that is ten years lower than the rest of the population. we'll take a closer look at efforts to improve the health of indigenous australians. and after years of pressure, now sea world has announced it will stop breeding killer whales. ♪ v

>> our american story is written everyday. it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight. ♪ hello, again. a reminder of the stop stories on al jazeera. a brazilian judge has issued an injunction to prevent the president's appointment of lula

da silva as her chief of staff. the u.n. says it cannot get aid to six regions in syria because it fears that isil will target its air drops. and turkey's prime minister wants all mp's facing criminal investigation to will stripped of their immunity of prosecution. south africa's president was shouted down by opposition mp's as he tried to dismiss suggestions that anybody other than himself appoints cabinet ministers. [ shouting ] >> he was responding to question in parliament about his relationship with a wealthy family accused of influencing key state institutions. the country's deputy finance minister admitted he was offered a promotion to become finance

minister by a member of the gupta family. >> i am in charge of the government. i'm in charge -- i appoint in terms of the constitution. there is no minister who is here who has ever appointed by the guptas or by anybody else. ministers who are here were appointed by me. >> our south african correspondent sent this update nch >> reporter: the president has already faced a tough afternoon of questioning in the parliament as opposition members want answers around his re rehe -- relationship with the gupta family. the gupta family has been in south africa for over 20 years now, and have aening lo-standing relationship with the president. they are ministers -- the deputy minister of finance alleges it's the gupta family who approached him with the offer of being the

finance minister. a second government official says she was approached by the same family, offering her a ministerial in return for preferential treatment. president jacob zuma says they have had no role to play in the appointment of ministers. it is only he who has decided who is a minister and who should be dismissed. the gupta family also say that allegations against them are politically motivated and that there is no proof to indicate that they have had any roles to play in influencing the ruling party, the african national congress or the president jacob zuma. opposition parties meanwhile want a judzishal inquiry into the president's conduct. the president will be meeting with the national executive committee of the ruling party over the weekend. they say they want answers on what role the gupta family has played in terms of the appointment of ministers in south africa's cabinet.

leaders from the european union and turkey are meeting to try to finalize a deal that will stem the flow of refugees into the e.u. for each migrant returned to turkey, one syrian asylum seeker in turkey will be settled in the e.u. and turkey has asked the e.u. to double the amount of aid to $6.7 billion. turkey wants visa-free travel for its citizens to be brought in sooner than planned. european parliament president criticized countries along the balkan's route for exacerbating the problem. >> what we are facing is 22-member states that are refusing to stick to what they agreed, the relocation scheme,

160,000. imagine we would distribute now 160,000 refugees. we have no problem in [ inaudible ], and i find it relatively hypocrite that some of the member states that stick not to the agreements are criticizing the negotiation with turkey. >> live now to brussels and speak to al jazeera's neave barker. neave these are difficult talking that are taking place right now. >> reporter: they certainly are, and when the european council president arrived here a little bit earlier on, he said he was more cautious than optimistic that there would be a break through. of course this is the second round. the first time the e.u. and turkey met was back on march 7th. no break through was reached then. but an important outline agreement, a deal, was drafted and is now on the tables, even if it has been slightly watered down over the last ten days to try to get more e.u. states on a

side. but the backbone remains the same that turkey will agree to the return of refugees from greece to turkey, providing the european union pays that all important $6.4 billion. on top of that in order to sweeten the deal, the turks have asked for an easing of visa restrictions to allow turkish nationals to be able to travel across the schengen, but perhaps the most important issue is that resettlement plan that needs to be finalized for the return of refugees from greece to turkey. the e.u. has promised to settle in the european union syrian refugees that are currently in turkish camps. of course this raises a whole raft of questions about the practicalities of how this will

happen. but first and foremost an agreement across the board needs to be agreed, turkey needs to be on side, and it needs to be legally sown. >> and the other problem of course is there is great concern among some countries within the e.u. of the idea of speeding up turkey's succession to joining the european union. there is also talks about human rights, press freedom and more issues. >> reporter: yes, there is a whole raft of thornny issues, but perhaps the biggest concern has been voiced by cyprus that threatened to derail the whole process completely. there is a long-standing disagreement between turkey and tsipras. ankara does not recognize the international recognized cyprus

government. concerns also from france and the czech republic that turkey may well use this deal -- these negotiations to somewhat blackmail europe into getting what it wants. so a whole raft of concerns across the board many of these issues will have to be nailed down if there is any hope of an agreement on the horizon. syrian's main kurdish group the pyd has declared a federal region in areas it controls in the north of syria. the announcement was made at a conference where about 200 delegates declared the federal state. the move has been rejected by the government and the opposition. morocco has decided not to withdrawal its troops from u.n.

peace keeping missions in western sahara. it threatened to pull out after it was angered by comments made by secretary general ban ki-moon where he said morocco was occupying the contested region. australians on average have a longer life span than almost anyone else in the world, but that is not the case for indigenous people. a national campaign to address this gap began a decade ago. >> reporter: across australia, close the gap events like this are intended to draw attention to lagging health and education standards for indigenous australians. they are also about keeping pressure on the government to meet targets to address them. >> things in some cases are getting worse. so we need to be vigilant and we need to be -- not to be

complacent around the huge job that still has to be done. >> reporter: initiatives like this one, mid-wives trained to understand how aboriginal cultural norms differ from western ones have helped to keep this mission on tract. aboriginal infants were twice as likely to die as other australians. >> you did to know your mid-wives, and also they know a whole lot about your hisries. >> sometimes the hospital setting can be a little bit off putting for a woman that hasn't been in the system before. we have clinics in the community. we do home visits. we also offer transport if women can't get there. >> reporter: the simple project has made a difference, but of seven closing the gap targets, only two are on track to be achieved. on average aboriginal people die ten years earlier than others. they are as likely as ever to be

unemployed, and school attendance levels lack significantly. there are calls for extra targets too. aboriginal leaders would like another set of targets introduced aren't incarceration, the differing prison rates between aboriginal australians and everybody else. an 18 year aboriginal man is more likely to go to prison than university. aboriginal women make up 3% of australia's female population, but 33% of those locked up. alongside health and education, justice disparity should be a focus too. their aim is to parity with non-indigenous australians to be across the board. sea world has announced it is to stop breeding killer whales. it said it will stop the practice. the killer whales at its park

will be the last. it faced criticism of the captive marine animals. on the planes of west africa giraffes were once a common sight. in that was before drought and poaching decimated their numbers. 20 years ago, conservationists in niger pledged to save them. but growing conflict in the region is posing a new threat to them. >> reporter: on the lookout for west africa's last giraffes. the is the northern tip of a natural preserve. the african savanna stretched out as far as the eye can see. but soon a herd shows up at a distance, grazing on their favorite acacia trees. there was a time when these giraffes roamed across the region. but drought and hunting reduced them to a small group now found

only in niger. authorities have been trying to protect what remains of this endangered subspecies. they are proud of the result. >> translator: in 1996 we had just 50 giraffes, now we have 452. >> reporter: the giraffes that you can see behind me is not the biggest one in this park. the biggest one is very famous and you can spend an entire year looking for him because this is a very large park. actually more than the size of lebanon. about 11,000 square kilometers. nature here is quiet and beautiful, and the giraffes seem to share both qualities. >> translator: the giraffe is a peaceful animal. if you don't make a noise, you can come less than 15 meters away from it. i love them as if they are my own pets. we have names for them.

there was one that carried my name, but unfortunately he died. >> reporter: but some people living in the area hardly share the affection. >> translator: 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 the giraffes, and now they are a problem for us. >> reporter: another problem consisted of two years of drought, resulting in meager crops and drier vegetation. tourism has always been on the decline. >> translator: at the beginning we made some income, but now there is a crisis. we used to receive up to nine groups per day, but now it's five or six per week. >> reporter: tour guides don't have much to do for most of the day. there is concern that violence in the area, and drought could reverse the success niger has made in preserving one of west

africa's natural wonders. and just time to remind you can always find out much more about many of the stories we have covering on our website. the address is aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com. the water is rusting away brand new parts at gm, it was okay for human consumption. >> michigan governor is grilled by congress over the flint water crisis. the white house begins its push to get the president's supreme court nominee a hearing in the senate. daesh is genocidal by self proclamation, ideology and actions. >> secretary of state john kerry blasts isil for committing