i'm richelle carey. the news continues next live from london. ♪ a deepening crisis in brazil. a judge issues an injunction to block the appointment. hello there. this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up. nowhere to go. refugees wait on the greek macedonian border as eu leaders debate a deal to return them to turkey. south africa's president is shouted down in parliament. zuma was defending his link with

a powerful family who are accused of undue influence on the government. and the rare west african giraffe under threat from poaching, drought and now conflict. hello. brazil is facing a political crisis after a judge issued an junction to stop former president desilva from joining the cabinet and there's impeachment proceedings against the current president. hours later the judge said the appointment would derail the investigation into a corruption scandal about the petro brass oil company. we're covering this developing story for us where more protests

have broken out. this is a complicated story. tell us, does this mean that desilva cannot join the cabinet? has he been blocked? >> reporter: at the moment, yes, it looks like he has been blocked, but the federal government said they're going to appeal the decision. the bottom line is she insist they're being persecuted by their opponents and these judges writing injunctions are pursuing corruption investigations against members of the ruling party are really just out to get them and take the government down. it's more of a class division for other analysts here. they see this as many of the middle class wanting to get these perceived champions of the poor out of power so that they can reinstate their own people and get the economic policies back to a way that they might want it and basically stop the government subsidies that have been helping the poor here and what they feel scattered being behind the reason that the economy is so bad right now. the bottom line is really as much z the political landscape

seems to be a mess, public opinion in brazil is very clearly divided. there have been massive protests against the government, but there have also been supporters of desilva saying they're standing behind him and his successor. >> one of the reasons he was to be appointed was to shore up the government for the current president dilma rousseff. she is facing a scandal herself, though. >> exactly. there are impeachment proceedings against her in congress. this has to do with another matter entirely, fiscal mismanagement that they say took place a few years ago. they're trying to fast track all the proceedings now because they want to see her replaced in the next few weeks. the people that have taken to the streets feel that impeachment proceedings are only delaying the inevitable, and they feel that she really should take more responsibility here and do something a bit more respectful or, you know, right for somebody in her position,

which is to step down with her own accord without being forced from power. at the moment they see her as somebody desperate to hold onto the seat she has and very desperate to help friends stay out of jail. >> the latest there from brazil. thanks so much. syria's main kurdish group the pyd declared a federal region in areas it controls in the north of syria. the region would include three onclaves near the turkish border. the announcement was made at a kurdish conference. about 200 delegates approved the federal democratic system. the move is rejected by the syrian government and opposition who warn against the partition of the country. russia's president says despite a partial withdrawal from syria, his air force is

ready to return if needed. putin withdrew some war planes from syria after a cessation of hostilities that daily russian air strikes dropped by two-thirds. they showed russia's relation sthip was still warm for his readiness to compromise and dialogue. we sent 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, while the mission was accomplished and the rest was really an intersyrian affair and russia wouldn't interfere with that. among the accomplishments were to reduce, quote, the terrorists on the ground. he said that, for example, supply routes were destroyed, oil tankers were destroyed, all

facility under control of various groups were also destroyed. however, this is not a full withdrawal. this is just a pull-out, and there is a significant number, even though undisclosed number of soldiers and military hardware staying in russia. among it specifically as underlined by president putin is advanced defense system. he said that that was to protect the russian soldiers in syria, but also to respond to any threat. he underlined the word "any threat." >> translator: if necessary literally within a few hours russia can build up the contingent in the region to a size proportionate to the facility there. i know our air defense systems will be used against targets we consider a threat to russian servicemen. i want to stress any targets. >> reporter: mr. putin stressed

if there is a reverse impact of the pull-out, then russian troops and hardware could return in a matter of hours to syria and deal with any escalation on the ground. there have been protests in northern syrian against supporters of the al nuz ra front. they're attracting criticism from members of the public. we have a report from turkey on the changing face of the syrian revolution and growing divisions between armed groups. >> reporter: something is happening in northwestern syria to alter the balance of power in the war. nusra, get out, chant these women. protests like this serve to undermine the view that that they have an unshakeable grip over the areas they are said to control.

the popular mood against the group is growing by the week. here they make an equation between the tyranny of the set and the armed religious groups chanting the syrian people are warm. >> translator: we started this to protest the gangs of nusra. we're here to support them. >> reporter: the confidence is growing. this crowd turns on nusra supporters who have tried to get inside a demonstration in support of the free syrian army. the protesters were clearly more interested in the revolution than that of nusra. what's so striking is the ideals of the fsa had effectively been shouted down by those of groups like nusra and isil across parts of northern and eastern syria. yet, now this group considered moderate in the west and which calls for all syrians to come together against the regime in damascus appears increasingly to be back in favor. things like this, trashing of a nusra office, seemed to reflect

a growing concern that it demands the deeply conservative religious values that isis does and many in idlib aren't interested. it has also affected those fighting with nusra but now appears to have changed the position to reflect the popular demand that all fighting groups focus on their real enemy. >> translator: the talks about setting up a civil state in syria among other things are to be addressed later. this is delayed because we are now focusing on toppling the regime. this is the same objective we share with the rest of the opposition forces on the ground and the revolutionary forces. the priority is to bring down the tyrant regime. >> reporter: with al nusra front undergoing pressure to release men it's holding, it seems popular opinion is telling the group to stop fighting other syrians, tearing down their flag, what they stand for would

have been unthinkable just months ago. laurence lee, al jazeera, southern turkey. leaders from the eu and turkey are meeting to finalize a deal to stem the flow of refugees into the eu. they want to send new migrants arriving in greece back to turkey. for each migrant returned one syrian asylum seeker will be resettled in the eu. in turn turkey wants the eu to double the amount of aid to $6.7 billi billion. turkey want visa-free travel to be brought in sooner than planned. it also wants negotiations for its own membership at the eu to be restarted. martin schultz criticized countries along the balkan route taken by refugees for making the problem worse by closing their borders. >> what we are facing is 20 to

22 member states are refusing to stick to what they agreed, the relocation scheme, 160,000. we imagine we would distribute now 160,000 refugees. we have no problem. i find this relatively hypocrite that some of the member states did not stick to the own agreements are criticizing the negotiation with turkey. >> live to talks in brussels and we're there. it's incredibly difficult, isn't it, to finalize this deal? >> it's going to be incredibly difficult indeed and a real test of a sense of cohesion amongst all 28 eu states. when the president of the european council aarrived earlier in the day, he was more cautious than optimistic. if indeed a breakthrough does happen in the neck two days, it could have serious ramifications on the current refugee crisis, a kreis that really has driven a

wedge between eu member states, those states that eu has a moral obligation to resettle desperate people that arrive on its shores and other countries that believe that now is the time for the eu to close its doors. this, of course, is round two. the first time that the eu and turkey had their all-important meeting emergency was back on march 7th. an agree, of course, wasn't reached but they came up with an all-important draft statement. over the last ten days or so that has been worked and reworked on. they're desperate to make sure that all the thorny issues in that draft agreement have been ironed out and watered down so more states are on side. the backbone of it still remains the same as you mentioned there in the introduction. turkey is looking for that all-important $6.7 billion payout in two chunks from the eu in return for taking syrian

refugees that have newly arrived in greece back to turkish territory. in return for doing that, the eu says that it will resettle on eu territory syrian asylum seekers currently based in their camps. practically speaking, it's very difficult to know exactly how all of that will pan out. what we need first, of course, is for all 28 states to agree. for that agreement to be legally sound and turkey on the side, too. >> the reality is there's countries in the european union who don't like the idea of turkey moving forward towards membership of the union? >> that's right. at least five eu countries have pushed back against some of the points mentioned in that draft agreement. perhaps the most prominent criticisms have been coming from cypress.

ankara doesn't recognize the greek government. criticism from france and the czech republic who feel these negotiations may well be used by turkey to blackmail the eu into getting what it wants in terms of easing visa restrictions for turkish nationals that want to travel or indeed the speeding up of negotiations about turkey's possible future membership in the european union. concern also from top-level officials at the united nations about the legality of any agreement here, too. there are worries that by sending back refugees from eu space to turkey they may be sending people back to a country where the standards of human rights and humanitarian care are not up to scratch. the big question is can the eu really live with the fact that they are knowing that people are being sent from essentially a space where they can be aided and helped to a country where

they may well have an uncertain future. >> thank you. still to come on the program, why turkey's prime minister wants mps facing criminal investigations to be stripped of their immunity from prosecution. it took years of pressure from activists. now seaworld will stop breeding killer whales.

a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. a brazilian judge issued an injunction to stop the president

from having desilva as the chief of staff. there have been nationwide protests against the decision. the kurdish group has declared a federal region in areas it controls in the north of syria, including three onclaves near the turkish border. leaders from the eu and turkey are meeting to finalize the deal to stem the flow of refugees into the eu. turkey's prime minister called for all mps facing criminal investigations to be stripped of their immunity from prosecution. it follows accusations they're supporting the pkk. on thursday we visited the site of a suicidal car bomb attack in ankara whether which a kurdish group says it did because of awe bomb blast. >> reporter: the aftermath is

felt politically. on thursday the turkish prime minister vowed to not only punish the masterminds of the attack and go after members of parliament who he accuses of supporting terrorism. >> the issue is that openly supporting terrorism, the issue is not that somebody is talking in the parliament. they talked about everything in the parliament. that's not the problem. the problem is if you actively support on the ground and collaborate with terrorists and using the immunity, this is not democracy. >> the kurdish separate group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing that killed 37 people. tak is an offshoot. pkk, which has been at war with turkey for decades. most groups are considered terrorist organizations by t turk turkey. although they were in peace negotiations last year, it broke

down last july after pkk fighters killed two policemen. since then the arm has attacked pkk locations inside the country and in iraq. meanwhile, kurdish separatist fighters have stepped up attacks across turkey including in istanbul and ankara. on february 17th the suicide car bomb targeted a bus that carried 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 ypd. that's the kurdish armed group anka says is also linked to the pkk. it's why countries like the united states shouldn't support the ypd even though it's part of the fight against isil in syria. ankara. germany announced on thursday it was closing it's embassy, consulate and schools in istanbul as a precaution. the government was praised for

stopping violence through the peace process with the pkk. now many are scrutinizing how it will deal with the increasing number of attacks that continue to rock turkey cities. morocco has decided not to withdraw its troops from u.n. peacekeeping missions. it had threatened to pull out after it was anninged by commenting from the u.n. secretary-general by bank ki-moon when he said morocco was occupying the contested region of western sahara. morocco is withdrawing staff from the u.n. mission in western sahara. it asked the staff to leave within three days. south africa's president was shouted down by opposition mps as he tried to dismiss suggestions that anybody other than himself appoints cabinet ministers. jacob zuma was responding to questions in parliament about his relationship with a wealthy family accused of influencing

key state institutions. on wednesday the country deputy finance minister admitted that he was offered a promotion to become finance minister by a member of the 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 was ever appointed by the guptas or anybody else. many are here that are appointed by me. >> our south africa correspondent send this update from johannesburg. the president has faced a tough afternoon of questioning in the parliament as opposition members want answers around his relationship with an influential, wealthy family in south africa, the gupta family. the gupta family originally hails from india and have been in south africa for over 20 years now and have a long-standing relationship with the president. they are ministers, one of them

is the minister -- deputy minister of finance. he alleges the gupta family 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 position in return for preferential treatment to benefit the business interests of the gupta family. president jacob zuma says they've had no role to play in the appointment of ministers. it's only he who has decided who is a minister and who should be dmised at any point during the presidency. the gupta family also says the allegations against them are politically motivated and there's no proof that they have any role to play in the african national congress, the ruling party or the president, jacob zuma. there's an official inquiry into the president's conduct. he will meet 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. >> sri lanka's opposition party has held a joint rally in columbo. thousands joined the protest. >> reporter: thousands of people turning out for this rally organized by the joint opposition being labeled the people's fight. it has very much relied on the former president right behind me in the far end is the stage that brings together a number of leaders of parties that form the joint opposition. very much a challenge to the current government based on a number of factors that they have poi pointed out. these include the hunting down of the soldiers that fought the war, especially oppression of the people, a planned economic agreement with india, the

cutting down of welfare and subsidies for the farming community. now, for the people here very much behind the former president who says that this government must go. >> they're not capable. if you can hand it over to me. i'll show you how it's done. >> reporter: the thousands of people that turned up here today, they have pointed out on a number of shortcommings of the new government, which some say the new government has asked for. >> the government has to engage the population in that conversation. it has to inform. it has to educate. it has to persuade and take along with it in the absence of it not doing that or do it ineffectively, it's very easy for the opposition to start screaming and shouting because a lot of what they inherited is a result of the sort of, you know,

populist thing of the previous regime. >> reporter: today is very much the start as the speakers say of the people's fight, a fight to send the new government home. french students clashed with riot police in central paris in a protest against labor reforms. police used tear gas to disperse students as they threw flares and shuttles. it put all aspects of the labor rules up for negotiation. thursday's disturbance follows similar protests next week. hundreds are forced from their homes in the texas/louisiana border in the u.s. five people have died in storms in southern u.s. states over the last few days. the texan governor issued a disaster declaration for 17 eastern and southeastern counties. theme park operator seaworld will stop breeding killer whales after years of pressure from animal rights activists. seaworld will stop the practice and the killer whales currently

in it will be the last. seaworld faced criticism about that, and some altogether. on the pains of west africa giraffes were a common sight. that was before they decimated the numbers. 20 years ago conservists to save them. this is a new threat as mohammed veil reports. >> on the lookout for west africa's last giraffes, this is northern tip of the reserve. the african savannah stretched out as far as the eye could see, but it shows up in the distance grazing on their favorite trees. there was a team whether these exclusively giant giraffes roamed across the region from

senegal to lake chad. they're found only in niger. they're trying to protect this endangered subspecies. they're proud of the result. >> translator: in 1996 we had just 50 giraffes. now as we speak, we have 452 giraffes. >> reporter: we tried to get a closer look, but as we approach, we're told not to disturb them. the giraffe isn't the biggest one in the park. the biggest one is called sido. it's 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. 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. it's also very curious. sometimes it would stare at you

as long as you stare them. i love these ones that carry my name. unfortunately, he died. >> reporter: some people living in the area hardly share this 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. now they are a problem for us, and there's nothing we can do about it. >> reporter: another problem affecting both people and giraffes consisted of two years of drought resulting in meager crops and dry vegetation. tourism has also been on the decline. >> translator: at the beginning we made some income, but now there's a crisis because of insecurity. we used to receive large numbers of visitors. now it's only five or six per week. >> reporter: at the entrance of the reserve tour guides don't have much to do for most of the day. there's concern that there could

be a reverse they have made in preserving one of the west africa's natural wonders. you'll find plenty more on many stories on our website. the address to click onto, aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com. the water was rusting way brand-new parts at gm and was okay for human consumption. >> michigan's governor is grilled by congress over the flint water crisis. the white house continues the push to get the supreme court nominee a hearing in the senate. dash is genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideology and actions. >> secretary of state john kerry blasts isil for committing genocide against