obama has a historic opportunity, the first u.s. president in almost 90 years to visit cuba. you're watching al jazeera. also ahead, at least 25 people are killed in a u.s. air strike on the iraqi city of mosul. we're in southern turkey where kurds are marking the first day of spring with little to celebrate. an row over sexism as a tennis

official accuses women of riding on the curtails of men a symbolic moment of reconciliation. a final end to the cold war. historic is a word used too often by journalists, by obama's visit to cuba really is. >> reporter: with this single step, u.s. obama is hoping to change the course of history. the first sitting american president in will 8 years to set foot on cuban soil. >> i'm glad that you had a chance to bring your families here because i always like taking pictures with kids. that's the future that we hope for. young american children, young cuban children. by the time they're adults, our hope is that they think it's natural that a u.s. president should be visiting cuba. they think it's natural that the two peoples are working together. >> reporter: that wasn't the

case here. for more than five decades his predecessors hoped to topple the castro government. he hoped engagement might work better so he has made it better for americans to do what he and his family did. become tourists. he has changed the rules so that some american businesses can work here. running flights, sell communications business. he can't lift the embargo without congress. >> if you come here you can't hire who you want. you have to go through state-run hiring organizations. there's a dual currency which is a challenge. there's a 10% charge if you want to use dollars. >> reporter: despite the focus of the international media, the cuban police arrested the ladies in white after their weekly protest just hours before the president arrived.

>> translation: this isn't the moment for the u.s. government to come to cuba. cuba hasn't changed. nothing has changed about human rights. >> reporter: the president is under pressure back home to show that he is going to pressure the castro government over its human rights record. top aids tell me he is walking a fine line because he needs the cuban government to speed up the reform. he needs more momentum because if not the next president could simply pull the plug >> reporter: that's something the wu ban people seem well aware of >> nobody knows what will happen, but we think cuba and u.s. will be open. >> reporter: the president hoping this visit will help ensure that eventually for these children seeing a u.s. president will be an event but not a moment like this when the history will remember more from our latin america

editor. >> reporter: it was quite extraordinary to watch air force 1 arrive here and to have an american president in havana. there were crowds of cuban $waiting to wave him in, even under the pouring rain and wind. coming up he is going have a one-on-one meeting with the president after laying a wreath at the monday ewe entity in honor of the national cuban hero. me will be meeting with entrepreneurs accompanied by a large contingent of american businessmen from the telecommunicati telecommunicati telecommunications industry and other industries who are interested in doing business with america. he drove past here a few moments

ago coming back from a family restaurant. it wasn't so long ago where families were only allowed to have 12 seats in very small restaurants. that is growing more and more. president obama says he wants to speak to people like that so that the private sector in cuba can continue to grow air strikes in northern iraq have killed at least 25 people and injured around 70 others. the u.s. and its allies hit areas in the nearby vicinity. there has been 16 air strikes against i.s.i.l. over the weekend. indirect talks are said to resume between the syrian government and the opposition in geneva. government representatives have been accused by the opposition

in engaging in negotiations. staffan de mistura is hosting separate talks with the high negotiations committee and the syrian government delegation to find a solution to end the war in syria. hundreds of refugees continue to arrive in greece despite a deal to stop them. rubber boats crammed with people arrived on the greek island of lesbos. greece is struggling to implement the agreement because of legal problems with the asylum registration process. the latest from our correspondent in lesbos. why the delays? what's going on? >> reporter: like you mentioned, that deal has come into force. the difficulty now is to implement it. greece requires help and the european union has promised to provide assistance. they're planning to send hundreds of police officers, migration officials, judges,

interpreters, lawyers, to create as a fast-track process, if you like, to deal with the asylum claims because the new arrivals, the people and migrants and refugees, who arrive after the deadline, after the agreement comes into force will be given the chance to apply for asylum. if their application is rejected, they will be sent back to turkey. this is going to be a difficult process. it is going to take days to set up and it is not just that. greek authorities have started to make room for these new arrivals and separate them, really, from the old migrants and refugees who have been here either for weeks or months or even days. already they have started to send hundreds of migrants and refugees to mainland greece. the refugee camps are going to become reception centers

have you talked to the refugees to get a sense about how they feel about this? what do they say? >> reporter: yesterday we did see these refugees and migrants arrive here on the shores of lesbos. the majority of them were syrians. a lot of them from aleppo. they all were aware of the deal that is now in place, but they weren't really concerned. they believed they were really hopeful that they will be able to stay in europe. they say that their cases are strong. they're requesting help on humanitarian grounds and they can't return to their country because of war. they under that some want to be reunited with their families, but at the end of the day they're face itting a lot of restrictions. it's not just the deal. right now they face up to 40,000 refugees and migrants who are stuck. people cannot proceed further

north. this crisis is far from over. people are desperate. the e.u. deal was supposed to stop people from taking dangerous journeys, but people do not believe that the legal path is the way forward. they want to reach a european country as soon as possible. a thank you. a football match between two of turkey's biggest teams has been skemd over security concerns. it was-- cancelled over security concerns. monday marks the kurdish new year. festivities will be not going ahead p due to security concerns. >> reporter: it is the first kurdish new year and this is

what it looks like here. every single person is chaekd on entry to the districts for explosive belts. up and down the main commercial street every side alley is blocked by turkish police. we were followed by police as we filmed the area. the military operation against the kurdistan workers party has been going on for nearly four months. the decision by the p.k.k. to fight turkey here left kurdish civilians with desperate choices. >> translation: it hasn't ended yet. i've never seen anything like it. i had to leave home in these clothes and i've worn them for the last four months. my son and his wife went to stay with other relatives. i live were my friendsment i won't come back here. >> translation: i never left here. it was very difficult, the sound

of bomb and guns. i have six children with me. we had food and water and we managed to survive >> reporter: before the ceasefire ended, it had been getting back on its feet with the help of state money. now the regional government is paying to put families up in hotels. fighting in these narrow streets caused huge collateral damage. the military won't let us go down any of the side streets where the fight is at their worst because they're still looking for explosive devices, but the statistics really speak for themselves. according to the authorities, more than 300 p.k.k. fighters killed and 4,600 families displaced from their homes. another operation like what happened here ask happening in another suburb. -- is happening in another suburb. for all the sense of oppression

by the forces, many kurds say they wish the p.k.k. had never picked its fight in such built-up areas. >> translation: the legal and illegal groups started the struggle again. the state's reaction was hash. even if there were two neighborhoods supporting the p.k.k., they used to burn villages in the 1990s. now they're burning the entire city. >> reporter: many say they will not attend the new year's at thes activities-- festivities. there is little to celebrate this new year reports of short range projectiles have been launched by north korea off their eastern cost. reports indicate that a missile and several other projectiles flew approximately 200 kilometers into the airspace above the sea of japan.

the launch comes three days after north korea fired a medium-range missile for the first time since early 2014. australia's prime minister threatens to take the country to an early election. a vote will have to be held in july if the senate fails to pass legislation to regulate trade unions he says. andrew, why has turnbull made this threat of an early election? >> reporter: there are two reasons he has threatened what is known in australia as a double dissolution election. the official reason is that he is fed up with one of the houses, the senate, blocking this industrial relations legislation that he says is crucial for this country's economy. hes party controls the house of representatives, the lower house, but it doesn't control the senate where the balance of power is held by 8 effectively independent senators. there are some new voting rules that were introduced last week.

they would find it much harder to be reelected in a new senate election. ordinarily, they wouldn't be up for election for another three years or so because only half of senators are elected each parliamentary term. in a double dissolution election all positions are for groups. he is saying pass my crucial legislation or risk losing your job. he thinks the pressure on them will force them to pass this legislation. that is the official reason. the unofficial reason is, if they reject the legislation, and it looks likely that they will, then there will be an early election which malcolm turnbull thinks he can win. polls suggest that his party would win the election and because of this new legislation he would be in a strong position. the only way he can get an early election is through a double dissolution of both houses of parliament

another possible election. talk us through what's going on in australian politics. in the last five/six years we've seen a revolviing door of leaders. >> reporter: it really has. i've got a three year old daughter and she has lived under four australian prime minister, julia gillard, kevin rudd, tony abbott and malcolm turnbull. most of that has been about internal party rivalry, certainly between kevin and julia gillard who are both from the labor party and kevin are youed, who lost an election to tony abbott. he couldn't get key legislation will you through. he wasn't popular amongst his own colleague and malcolm turnbull took the crown from him. it could on be the same. he could lose the election. it could be that the leader of the opposition, bill shorten,

could become prime minister later this year. turnbull doesn't think that will happen. he would control the senate putting in a much stronger position stopping the kind of internal rivalaries that brought miss predecessors down coming up, we look at how obama's journey to cuba is dividing generations. ding generations.

the top stories on al jazeera. obama is in cuba. the first sitting u.s. president to visit in nearly 90 years. he will be meeting his counterpart castro. it is a sign of warming relations between the two countries. air strikes against i.s.i.l. in northern iraq have killed at least 25 people and injured around 70 others. the u.s.-led coalition hit mosul university around shops nearby. a football match between two of turkey's biggest teams has been cancelled. the istanbul derby had been scheduled for sunday evening. it was called off because of intelligence about a potential threat. more on our top story. obama's historic visit has been hailed as a new chapter in the

country's history but it is also divide i dividing between generations. >> reporter: these broadcasters has a certain broad mission. they transmit to the people of cuba and says theirs is a message of resistance. for 10 years they've been reporting on the opposition movement. for many here president obama's visit is a step in the wrong direction. >> he is befriending him. the party should be engaged with the people. the only power to cuba is to use international leverage he has to call for election as >> reporter: it is a sent metropolitan echoed for many. for those who came here many years allowing, any move towards normalization isn't well

received. >> every time he takes the microphone, he reiterates he is not changing anything. >> reporter: she has spent other adult life fighting for change on the island. like many of her generation, she thinks his visit sends the wrong message >> we are going to go there at a moment when there is more repression, when our visit will serve to empower those in power. >> reporter: among the mostly old cuban americans, there is deep scepticism for the normalization process. they say it began over a year ago and they've not seen the concessions they would like to see for the cuban people. when you speak to younger cuban americans, they do things very differently. this man is sympathetic to how many feel. >> folks of my generation tend to be a little bit more curious

about what changes in policy could yield. it is just very different, though. i don't have the scars and the trauma of being in exile the way that my grandparents do. >> reporter: ultimately, every cuban american in miami wants better things for the island. it's how that is done that causes the friction u.s. vice president has told america's leading p prosecutrix o-israel lobe group there is no will mining israeli are palestinians to move forward towards peace. a report from washington from apac annual conference >> reporter: this year a record 18,000 people have made the journey to washington. the mission to strengthen, prengt and promoting security relations with israel. that means lob arying effectively for more military aid to israel. in past years, fighting to prevent sales to other

governments. the perceived arab threat has been outdated by the greater men acis rail sees in iran >> the traditional enemy of my enemy is my friend. weapons being given to these countries? they have a common interest. >> reporter: congress was lobbied to stop the nuclear program. it undermined the policy against taking sides between democrats and republicans in the u.s. political arena. still, the group promised to keep up the pressure on iran. these delegates heard one opponent and said warning sanctions are losing their power. >> today even when things are technically prohibited, people will have the sanctions of the margin. >> reporter: that disturbs

analyst. >> it is very important to, especially from where we stand in this conference, to really get the right answers and how afraid we really should be and how deep the problem is. >> reporter: most americans agree with two in every three opposed to the nuclear deal. according to a recent gallop poll. >> reporter: it may not reflect the full range of opinions through the jews, but one measure of their influence, four presidential candidates, democrat and republican, will be here to court their votes russia is considering its verdict in the case of a ukrainian pilot on trial for the murder of two russian journalists. she is accused of directing mortar fire that killed journalists in ukraine in 2014. she says she was kidnapped by rebel fighters before the attack. the prosecution has asked for a 23-year prison term.

niger's president is expected to have won a second term after sunday's election. voters in the capital and other cities went to the polls despite an opposition boycott. they said the process was tainted. fish confirmation of the result is expected in the next few hours. people have also been voting in zanzibar. the opposition declared victory after last year's poll but the electoral commission anulled the election. malcolm webb reports. >> reporter: hundreds of people queued to vote at this polling station in october, this time harmed any came. that's because opposition leaders had called for a boycott of the elections rerun and they have many supporters here on the island of pemba. we found a group just down the

road. >> translation: we don't recognise the voting. we don't recognise it. >> reporter: this polling station in a nearby town is buzzer. more people are coming to vote. ruling party supporter are saying they will vote today. the ruling party has its support base. >> reporter: the president voted in the capital. he heads the government where tanzania. the opposition says his ruling c.c.m. party has already rigged the rae run. party officials and the electoral commission deny it. the c.c.m. party has dominated tanzania's politics since the 1960s. his father led the country to independence. >> c.c.m. is the only party that i believe can hold this country

together. his tore a.m.ly to improve that any other party comes to power here cannot control this country. >> reporter: opposition leaders say the c.c.m. party is controlling it by intimidation and not through the ballot box. the leading opposition party known as cuf has documented dozens of cases of members being shot, beaten or stabbed with screwdrivers. cuf says police and military are responsible. they're allegations the c.c.m. party denies. >> it has prepared already all the method of grabbing this election, to make sure the c.c.m. wins. this is very dangerous to our people. c.c.m. is using government, security, police army. >> reporter: officials showed us this party office that they say was ransacked by armed men.

many opposition supporters are angry. the government is not taking any chances. police and soldiers have been deployed across the islands during the polls. the opposition boycott means c.c.m. is almost certain to win, but many here say they won't accept the result 2016 is a bad year for those in tennis. there are match-fixing claims, doping scandals and now sexism. the man in charge of the multi-million dollar indian wales tournam ent has come under fire >> in my next life when i come back, i want to be someone in the wta because they ride on the coat tails of the men. they don't make any decision and they're lucky. they're very, very lucky.

if i was a lady player i'd go down every night on my niece and thank god that the roger federer and nadal were born he apologised and said his comments were in extremely poor taste world number one swims was also upset. >> i'm totally surprised, especially with me and venas and all the other women on the tour that has done well and the last year sold out before the men twitter celebrating its 10th

bird since it made an entrance on the social media scene a decade ago. it has become a popular tour for celebrities and journalists. there are 320 million users. hello i'm barbara sarah and you are at the listening post and some stories we are looking at this week, pressure ramps up in the streets against dilma rousseff. south africa a complex relationship between zuma government and news out lets in the count interest i and he may be getting more coverage than any one else in the election