>> these were emotions that i had been dreaming about for so long. >> getting to the heart of the matter. proud to tell your stories. al jazeera america. a war in syria. we meet the volunteers putting their lives on the line as they respond to emergencies in a war-torn country this is al jazeera. coming up, a no to a trade deal. brazil moves a step closer to impeaching its president. the leader of a powerful congressional committee says she must go.

more fallout from the panama places. offices raid of the governing football body the syrian army an its allies have launched an offensive against rebels in the countryside south of aleppo. it is the biggest government operation in antecedent report since a partial ceasefire came into effect in late february. the fighting threatens to completely derail the ceasefire which overall has brought a reduction of violence in syria. u.n. sponsored talks to try and end the war are set to resume on monday. the syrian network for human rights says six workers rescue workers and medical staff were killed in march. >> reporter: this man works for the syria civil defense, also

known as the white helmets in aleppo. he is not just a driver. he is also a rescue worker. when there are no air raids he helps clean up the city. >> translation: we're trying to help the people in more than one way. not only do we recover people from unthe rubble, but we clean the streets, the debris, open the roads. >> reporter: around 3,000 people work in rebel held areas across eight syrian provinces. they are ordinary people from ordinary walks of life. they are paying a heavy price. always on the front line, always the first to help. many times they become the targets. the syria civil defense say at least 109 of their staff have been killed since the group was founded in 2013.

in neighboring turkey we met with the group's regional office, honoring a long list of casualties. celebrating the unknown heros. against all the odds they say they have rescued at least 50,000 people. relying on donations from nongovernmental organizations and some western countries, second-hand vehicles and equipment. >> translation: we have 519 vehicles. not all of them operational. half of them are second-hand, but we fix and used them in besieged areas like damascus and homs. we put water tanks to use as fire engines. the targeting from the regime and the russians, we don't know who is teaching who the way of targeting and bombing of ambulances and civil defense crews >> reporter: the group has relied on turkey for help with train possessing and equipment. around 1000 have received

training in turkey and jordan. they have four training centers inside syria. back in aleppo these men continue to work despite the threats or hardship. 40 of them were killed in 2015. there are no guarantees that this year will be better. the truce has brought relative peace and calm but it won't be too long before they are hit again meanwhile members of syria's main opposition group the high negotiations committee are in saudi arabia. they're in riyadh to discuss their concerns to try and end the war. the hnc was formed in december. it is one of three opposition delegations participating in geneva talks. one of libya's rival administrations has gone back on its decision to step down. tripoli self-proclaimed

government announced on tuesday it was handing over power to the new unity government. it has since made a u-turn. its chief is now threatening to prosecutor ministers who support the u.n. backed administration. libya has two other rival governments. april bangladeshi law student has been killed in the capital. he was hacked with machetes by four men at a traffic intersection and then shot. it is a latest in killings of bloggers and secular activists have >> reporter: we know that he was intercepted by a motorcycle. a couple of them in a motor psych em. the first they hit him with machetes and they know that they got down and shot him to make sure that he was dead.

story all around had to shut their doors because they were scared about what was going on. he is the seventh blogger to be killed in the last three years. there was an american one whose case hasn't been resolved yet. the case hasn't been resolved. there is criticism against the government to not really crackdown on these people behind this killing. no-one knows what's exactly going on, but the student wrote in his facebook he was concerned about the safety and law and order in bangladesh. around 8.30 local time he was tacked and killed. it is great concern. the government keep promising that they will be resolving this but there is a lack of inertia. there is a proactive movement

from the government side to resolve these cases egyptian police and prosecutors have arrived to discuss the killing of an italian student. his battered body was found on a side of the road in early february. italy has been critical of the egyptian investigation which blamed gangs for the murder. the egyptian delegation is to share its lightest findings with the italian police. dutch voters has voted no to a trade pact. 32% turn out was low, but just enough to ensure the results were valid. >> reporter: this was a chance for the dutch people to speak their minds. would they previous the e.u. association agreement with ukraine. in the event, nearly two-thirds voted no, but the turn out was low. those who did go to the polls explained their reasons.

>> translation: it is a corrupt country and you don't want to need a contract like this with them. it doesn't help the citizens. it will only benefit the multinational. >> translation: you can't abandon 40 million people. that's why i voted for this treaty. >> reporter: many sceptic politicians have campaigned against the agreement. for them the refer endemocrat result was a welcome-- refer endemocrat w endemocrat dumb-- referendum was a welcome outoutcome. >> 64% of the people said no >> reporter: the government has campaigned in favor of a yes vote. the for minister led the campaign. at a polling station he told me why >> we have to support the ukraine. they still doing the mile and

square. i would site fighting for liberty, human rights, economic prosperity. we need stability in europe. we are a trading nation, so it is good when there is an upcoming market there >> reporter: the question will be what effect this result has on e.u. relations with ukraine. then there is the effect on the e.u. institutions. one analyst told me referendums like these could be used to prevent effective governance in the e.u. >> if this really goes ahead like in and everyone is having referendum on a national basis, then you may - the whole decision making in brussels may be completely blocked >> reporter: the dutch government did not want this referendum and they did not want this result. the problem is that in real numbers fewer than one in five dutch voters voted know no in this referendum and the result is not binding.

the question for ministers is can they ignore the voters verdict and carry on the policies the possible impeachment of dilma rousseff has taken another step forward. the head of a kon depressional committee has recommended' vote on her future should go ahead. he said the case against her is legally admissible. she has been under fire in recent months accused of corruption that she denies. for many in brazil, the events put her closer to the possibility of being impeached. the spokesperson of the special president xi jinping in congress that is carrying out investigation on this whole process had said that there is enough evidence that an impeachable crime has been admitted, but it was a vote and carrying out the process.

he is a member of the opposition and many are saying that this comment that he has given could be tainted by his own opinion about the government. the document will be presented on the coming monday and if it passes that mandate, it moves to a full house of vote and if that happens, it is going towards the senate thaensd when the impeachment process begins and that's when dilma rousseff could be suspended from her position. the space is complicated because a judge from the supreme court is saying that the vice president should also be impeached for the same crime that she is, so that's how complicated the situation is in brazil. there is a res session and economic crisis. dilma rousseff has lost political allies, so many are saying that her chances of being impeopled are increasing every day still ahead on al jazeera, nigerians are sleeping in their cars as queues for petrol sechs long into the night.

land disputes in sri lanka. the government tries to resolve property rights after the civil war. war.

welcome back. you're watching al jazeera. a recap. the syrian army and allies have launched a major offensive against rebels on the countryside of aleppo. a bangladeshi law student has

been killed. the 28 year old was hacked by machetes and shot dead. dutch voters have rejected an e.u. ukraine trade pact in a refer democrat. the results are seen-- referendum. the results are seen as i victory. to the tensions between armenia and azerbaijan. despite an agreement on a ceasefire in the nagorno-karabakh, there are accusations fighting continues. armenian army says azerbaijan army violated the truce 119 times in the last 24 hours. it has seen the most fighting between the two sides in 20 years. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: the road in this last armenian controlled village in nagorno-karabakh is littered with the signs of war, military

and civilian. this man who didn't want to be named said rockets and shells started raining down on saturday and on his home. when the fighting started the family that lived here managed to escape before their house was destroyed. this is where the children slept. families on both sides on the front lines have had for years to endure shoot outs. it was never as bad as this. the technology of war has changed too. as an azerbaijan drone struck this van with a rocket, its driver, says his brother, had a miraclous escape >> translation: over there is where the bomb hit and hooefr here is doctor - here is where the car ended up. >> reporter: this man says his home has been hit now, back in the war in the 1990s and this

past weekend. the guns point in the direction of azerbaijan. while we were there, they were silent. nagorno-karabakh forces are under orders to hold fire. some waiting for the ceasefire to hold is not p an option. it doesn't feel safe for them any more 300 refugees and migrant have been recued from a barge. the italian coast guard was alerted to a boat travelling from egypt in bad weather. those on board including over 100 children were from syria, palestine and egypt as well as other parts of africa. many refugees are still making that dangerous journey to europe dispute a controversial deal between the e.u. and turkey to send people back. boats began transporting refugees from greece back to turkey on monday, but despite the risks involved, some are

still trying to cross the aegean sea. harry fawcett witnessed one attempt before the turkish coast. >> reporter: you hear it before you see it. anxiety, exhaustion, desperation. so many children have drowned making this journey yet more still come. even if this is a rare life jacket that floats, it is no use to the tiny body inside. others make do with rubber tubes. even then not everybody is wearing them. these are iraqi families who probably paid hundreds of dollars aid head to the passage of passage. it is too small for the 40 or so. this is how families are separated in a moment. he can only call out "look after the woman". it has been a chaotic west coast.

the message is that these kind of vowages are futile. these people will be sent back, but still they're desperate to go. a handful left on the shore, we're asking why they're risking all this when under the new rules they're likely to goat no further than the holding center before they get sent back >> translation: we were living under oppression. greece doesn't want to accept us, turkey doesn't want us to say. should we searching into the water? is that better, with our children? >> reporter: this time there was no sinking, no death, but no safe passage either. within a few minutes the coast guard patrol had intercepted them. it's a trade facilitated by men such as this. he has been struggling people to greece for neerm a year. business is down sharply since the deal, agents like him are

trying to convince people still have a chance with asylum >> translation: i still send them to greece because they have choice to apply for asylum program. >> reporter: of course, such chances are slim. europe is trying to close the door. wednesday was supposed to see the first official bachelor of syrians sent back from greece unthe terms of the controversial deal which sees syrians in turkish camps sent legal lip to europe. instead the only rivals were knows who had been on water for a matter of hours. >> translation: we were going to greece to escape the war. do you think it was a holiday? we cannot live here. everyone treats us badly. they exploit us. >> reporter: what happens to them now is far from clear. still in the same country as those they left behind on the shore, but separated from them. the children play.

a walk on the morning beach, a whistle becomes a toy instead of a call for help iceland has a new prime minister after the previous leader resigned over the panama papers scandal. the agricultural minister will be sworn on thursday. protests continued. they demanded the formation of a new government. the opposition party wants a snap election. the government says a vote will be held later this year. the fallout from the pan ama papers-- panama papers spread. uafa were raided and they want details of a tv contract. it was co-signed by f.i.f.a. f.i.f.a. president gianni infantino who was at the moment working for uafa. the head of world football denies any wrongdoing. his name was on the deal 10 years ago with two about

businessmen who have since been accused of corruption. >> reporter: athis was one of two raids conducted by the swiss authorities on wednesday. essential lip their words to everyone was we're not targeting anyone specific. these are criminal proceedings directed at persons unknown. basically after the panama papers gianni infantino was the director the legal services at the time. it was sold, the tv rights for the cup, the champions league and super cup, was sold to a group of argentinian businessmen for $111,000. they immediately sold it to another company for almost triple the price for $311,000. this is what the authorities are

finding very interesting about how these costs were inflated and about the rights. immediately uafa has said they will cooperate and so has gianni infantino saying he is disappoint disappointed, but he will cooperate fully and everything that they need he will be providing gianni infantino released a statement saying: frustration is mounting in nigeria as a petrol shortage in the oil rich country drags on. residents in the largest city have resorted to sleeping in their cars. queues for petrol stretch more than a kilometer in some places. the government blames the

sabotage of pipelines. >> reporter: millions of consumers across cities in nigeria have been waiting for hours and in some cases days to get petrol. now, the reason for this current shortage are compleeks. even though it is one of the world's largest oil producing countries and the largest exporter of i will from africa, it doesn't have functioning working refineries. what this means is that it has to export crude oil and then reimport it as refined petrol, refined fuel for public consumption. the government run a complex system of paying importers to bring in that fuel. there has been a falling out, you could say, that the dispute, an ongoing dispute that has lyn angered for years predating this current government, about how much these remain owed. the second issue is the fact

that those importers are paid in u.s. dollars. recently the central bank of nigeria placed some restrictions on access to foreign currency. this means the government can't even pay those importers more than 10,000 war veterans will meet zimbabwe's president. the concern is dividing the organization with infighting. >> reporter: this is what happened back in february. these war veterans had wanted to hold a rally to show their frustrations but police wouldn't let them. there is concern that the president is being manipulated by people close to him who want to take over. >> translation: what do you want to achieve? do you want to destroy what we've fought for. we want to know why are you treating us like dogs. >> reporter: shortly after riot police disbursed the veterans, the president spoke to national

television. >> people were upset. they had this water from the cannons down their bodies. also tear gas in their eyes. we regret that they suffered this. >> reporter: in the past the war veterans had been a powerful and dang dangerous lobbying group. the president is a patron of them. it is a battle for influence >> it is a battle of roles and essentially, perhaps, they want to read the right act to them. the veterans are saying we will

with defend our space >> reporter: the president has agreed to meet them on thursday. there say lot of speculation over how much influence his wife grace has over him. the war veterans made it clear. they respect the president but they're worried that he is being miss bed by several people, including his wife who is nearly 40 years younger than him >> reporter: it is said that she leads one faction in the party. many war veterans seem to back a faction led by the vice president who is also a liberation war hero. some analysts say the president has managed to stay in power because war veterans have protected him, which means you have to convince the former freedom fighters that he is still capable of making his own decisions thousands of people who lost property during sri lanka's 26-year conflict now have a better chance of getting it back. parliament has passed a new law

to make that easier, but challenges remain. >> reporter: this couple were teenagers when they fled the area 26 years ago. the they were among an estimated 75 thourngs muslims driven out of the north and east regions by the tam il-ti dpshgs ers. they have not been able to get this land which he says. he found the man who was working the land. >> he come and saw me, this place, this is your father's place. the last one, two or three months. what happened is i went to his son's. he said this is not your place. this is our place. he said to me if you come to this place, i will kill you. >> reporter: i met the man who he says has taken over the land. he insists it was bought

legally. >> translation: my father paid money and bought that land for five or six years he worked those fields, but when the owner said he couldn't continue and wanted to sell the land, my father bought it. >> reporter: the military still holds sizeable tracts of land in the former conflict area seven years after the end of the war. conflicting claims between private individuals are common here. this woman has just finished a report on land occupation in the northern province. she found that over 5,000 hectares of subject land occupied by someone other than the original owner. >> the north and east were going to have ahuge issues in terms of land documentation, who are the real claimants, who decides who the real claimants are. a comprehensive mapping exercise must be carried out she says to get a clear picture of the issue. parliament has passed a new law that will make this process easier.

disputes over landownership are one of the biggest problems in post-war sri lanka, but changes to the laws will bring hope that the real owners will some day get their lands back you can get more on that story and the others at aljazeera.com is. >> i'm "ali velshi on target" tonight, america's new cold war with russia. i take you to the frozen north where america's allies are lacked in a huge standoff over deposits of oil and gas. i'll give you a firsthand look at how arctic melting has fueled old tensions between enemies. all week long al jazeera america is showcasing a selection of your stories. they are some of the most