the arrival of refugees is debated in european parliament's. but the journey itself is little understood. to syrians document the route that is claimed so many lives searching for sanctuary to people in power at this time on al-jazeera. turkey says its offensive in northern syria wants to all pantelis the stablished a security zone along the border.

and a welcome to al jazeera live from my headquarters in doha with me elizabeth purana also ahead. israel's prime minister hosts the u.s. vice president as palestinians boycott his visit over trump's jerusalem declaration . ending the trip by violence and the fallout from the sex abuse scandal pope francis says goodbye to pollute after holding mass a million people plus. in the far east of indonesia is facing a serious health crisis i'm stuck reporting from the us market region in the south of where children die because of undernourishment and measles outbreak. russia has for the first time weighed in on turkey's offensive in northern syria that it may not accept as plans to create a buffer zone but his operation in a free district is now in its third day. that's trying to push out why b.g.

fighters and create a so-called safe zone thirty kilometers deep to protect its border russia which is on the opposing side of turkey in the syrian war says it's keeping a close eye on developments and it's emphasize the importance of syria's territorial integrity the biggest hurdle for turkey are the kurdish y p g fighters though they're affiliated to the syrian democratic forces who are backed by the u.s. they have also spoken out saying the turkish offensive is a slap in the face given the success they have had in fighting isis. we're going to get a lot more on this we're joined by our correspondent rory chalons he's standing by for us in the russian capital with reaction but first let's go to stephanie decker because she is on the turkish syrian border so what is the latest that you're hearing about what's happening in a free and stephanie. well from our position in the last hour or so there's been. heavy shelling and artillery fire that we can hear

from where we are in the distance so it gives you an indication of sort of you know the intensity of turkey's campaign it's been from the air even though today the jets that we've heard certainly on this far less because as you can see it's pretty hazy day syria's just a couple of kilometers further down from us and also a ground offensive which started yesterday so you have free syrian army fighters backed by turkish troops that have entered not just in syria but they've crossed the border from turkey into syria from just further out from we are to the west and also to the north and i just briefly we spoke to some sources from our freend who said that people are resilient that they're not scared they said some women and children had managed to go to aleppo which is under government control others told us that the y.p. do reluctant to let people leave because they are fearful that turkey will completely flattened the city if everyone leaves but they said that turkey was basically using the f.s.a.

these are the syrian rebels to be their front line because it's going to be such an intense battle so you see sort of the sentiment on both sides but certainly the indication that we're getting here from what we've been hearing throughout the day is it is a very very intensive and active campaign and have said that have painted what they are doing as even something. of a liberation of the people and they say that. i know it has been hard to get information for civilians but do we have a death toll and people. able to if they do want. the i just mentioned so a few people have been able to leave to government controlled areas but there is a reluctance in a way to let people leave. because they're afraid from what we're being told the white says that turkey will flatten this city some people are being steadfast and

want to stay but of course there is a sort of psychological element to this elizabeth that you just listen to the sounds of war that we're hearing if you're in these villages it will be pretty terrifying i would imagine we are also being told that some civilians are sort of hiding in caves because of the intensity of what's going through there and also being told that there's sort of a. random shelling method even though turkey will tell you that it is targeting specific positions i'm not sure of if the microphone is picking up those sounds you can still hear that artillery going on so yes of course it's a difficult situation for the civilians turkey men tains it's not targeting them in doing that all smoke most to protect but the latest figures we have is a fourteen dead twelve civilians and two why p.g. fighters and that is coming from kurdish sources stephanie thank you very much for that from al that stephanie deck and with the latest from the turkish syrian border let's go over the challenges now he's joining us live from moscow what are the

russians saying. about what's happening in a very. well the russians like the americans i think finding the developing battle sphere in northern syria incredibly complex and the russians like the americans trying to balance various different. partners so the russians have you know fairly decent relations of course at the moment with the turks with. the syrian government all of those entities are actively hostile in greater or lesser extent to each other so basically the big question that the russians are still not answering is how much permission they gave to the turks for this operation there was a high level delegation since moscow last week. chief of staff of the armed forces and the intelligence boss came here to moscow and the assumption is that they were

seeking essentially russian permission for the operation to begin we don't know how much permission was given by moscow but we assume that as this operation did begin in some capacity that the russians or at least have been you know they believe approving of it the russians are saying that they are basically against any kind of turkish sorry kurdish separatism and they have accused the americans of encouraging kurdish separatism so basically the russians at the moment are stuck in a slightly difficult position of wanting to give as much permission as they can to the turks keeping contacts with ankara about this not so upset seeing their delicate relations with the kurds and of course also men taining their firm alliance with the syrian government and that's not an easy task in the moment or

not at all and elsewhere because this isn't of course the only thing that is happening in syria today the russians saying they are concerned about that turkish incursion into northern syria but they are also keeping a close eye on that new front being opened up by the syrian government in edler province. so since what most people have been calling the essential defeat. the end of last year the attention is turns towards the groups in italy province which are affiliated will with al qaida now they've gone by various names over the years that used to be called al nusra the syrian army basically says that it has surrounded the the main parts of the group of fighters formerly called al nusra in an area to the east of the main highway that links aleppo with the cities

further south like damascus and how much russia says that the surrounding of these group fighters in this area of eastern the is basically the beginning of the push to eliminate them and it says that it's helping the syrian army forces and the militias that have been operating alongside the syrian military with that task and of course this is part of a wider push by the syrian military to take on the remaining rebel groups that are in that province the largest of the rebel provinces still left or right laurie thank you very much for that that is roy challenge joining us live with all the very latest from moscow thank you. but don't move on to other news now u.s. vice president mike pence is an israel for talks with prime minister benjamin netanyahu the visit is being boycotted by palestinians angry at the u.s. declaration on jerusalem well pence is the most senior american official to visit

jerusalem since the u.s. announced its decision to move the israeli embassy there the city status is a key point of contention in the middle east peace process well this is what pence had to say soon after meeting netanyahu. by the great author. be. israel's capital jerusalem. following over it's a story this is. probably the. only. reason we were in the. united states and israel. for coming challenges but also i would forward. to speaking with you here over the river. while the tribal jerusalem declaration has also forced pens to change the focus of his visit originally it was meant to highlight the persecution of

christians in the middle east and featured meetings with christian leaders but those leaders canceled the meetings joining the international condemnation of the announcement. mike pence would be the one to take office of president donald trump . or be impeached penances one of israel's staunchest allies in the white house he stood behind trump when he when the president declared that jerusalem was the capital of israel a pending decades of u.s. foreign policy measure reason for that is the fact that pence as a developed event jellicoe question he belongs to a section of evangelicals that believes jerusalem must be under jewish control as a step towards the second coming of jesus christ part of that belief is that all jews will then convert to christianity or face certain death. while palestinian president mahmoud abbas is in brussels to ask the european union for support e.u. foreign policy chief federico and european foreign ministers will be meeting him

soon he wants them to recognize the state of palestine in light of the u.s. recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital. clearly there is a problem with. say this is a very diplomatic euphemism. the european states well us all be out of work and so the united nations system such. still continues to believe that the only black magic realistic solution for jerusalem has to come from god and negotiations and has to be the capital of the state. we will continue to work to support them international framework well to the u.s. now where hundreds of thousands of federal employees will have to stay at home on monday as the government shutdown extends into the working week money for federal agencies was cut off on saturday after the senate failed to pass a funding bill a new vote on the spending plan is due in the coming hours and cost or is following developments from washington d.c. . the shutdown of the u.s.

government will stretch into a third day this is after the faint glimmer of hope to achieve an overnight compromise was down when senate democrats announced that yet there was still no deal now the next possible vote would come at noon monday but on an elusive compromise that has yet to be reached a group of bipartisan centrist senators have been working behind closed doors to reach that compromise so far what's been discussed is a temporary measure to reopen the government until february eighth and then to address immigration that may be a hard pill for democrats to swallow they see this as their opportunity to leverage the budget in order to help the eight hundred thousand young undocumented immigrants hold dreamers who were brought to this country illegally as children meanwhile u.s. president donald trump one time said he wished to help illegal lives those young

people has now in recent days turned back on that stance playing to his base and saying he wants a harder stance on immigration with these shifting stances and with the finger pointing. from trump's account on twitter it remains to be seen when and if a compromise to reopen the federal government will occur well thousands of women gathered at a football stadium in las vegas on the second day of global demonstrations against inequality. the rallies are also being held to mark one year since the u.s. president's inauguration many are denouncing donald trump's views on issues like immigration abortion and l g b t rights we have plenty more ahead including. liberia swears and george where as president we look at the challenges facing the office.

parliament speaker has proposed. to as the candidate to form the region's new government the nomination comes as arrived in denmark despite threats from spain that he would be detained there on sunday spain state prosecutors said it was very issue an arrest warrant for if he leaves belgium the former president of katarina fled to brussels and of toba after his regional government declared independence from spain in a referendum ruled illegal by madrid. now former football star george way is set to be sworn in as liberia's president he's replacing a nobel peace prize winner ellen johnson sirleaf who led the west african nation for twelve years with reports from monrovia on the challenges ahead. liberia's president elect arrives one last set of. the mood here is celebrate. but many believe it would be. the story

from outgoing president ellen johnson sirleaf to the weak. but the challenges she leaves behind are you. on employment it's going to be a key issue to resolve. and the conditions are not pretty it is all able to find his feet. within the first six months he will lose attention. of the international development community he'll lose attention of global capital and he will lose the interest of a largely impatient voting base. the youth form one of weir's biggest voting bloc in the last election and this group is largely unskilled and impatient for change he told us opening up the rural areas is a huge priority for. the

recipe. but there are several and resolved issues that are equally picking for attention education electricity industrialization and national reconciliation ellen johnson sirleaf may have stabilized post-war liberia but like most developing countries it still struggles with the twin problems of corruption and under development one hundred seventy years after it was founded when jordan where takes the also office of the twenty fifth president of liberia on these grounds is supporters and one of so fun sixty percent of liberia's budget will be watching closely to see how he discharges his responsibilities the first will be who he appoints interest cabinet because with that we have been branded as inexperienced he needs to put his best foot forward he needs a strong minister files that can send a message to the local and international economic players that liberia is

capable of doing business. georgia where it's taking off is months after international donors have started scaling down operations in liberia which means the country sees less. but some liberian states time they take their destiny in their own hands. for now placed on the great point is not clear how long the bill would last or how soon the impatience will set comedy al-jazeera. has led a final massively remembering his six day tour of south america to an end while he was welcomed by millions of catholics in chile and over his troops being overshadowed by sex abuse cases in both countries. reports from labor. more than a million people joined pope francis for his farewell mass. the last time proving

prayed with the pope was nearly thirty years ago here that now. since the pope's visit was inspirational when they're mostly in bangor landing it's been such a wonderful emotion for me you have no idea how much i've cried. peruvians followed eighty one year old francis from the amazon in the south to the beach front mass in one chuckle in the north. many like seventy eight year old. made long journeys to see the pope. i believe in the holy father though i suffer from my back i made the effort travelling twenty four hours by bus i'm happy. francis don't prove years to not forget the poor. a society that doesn't accept those who suffer compassion toward suffering is cruel and inhumane. the argentine born

pontiff. criticised corruption in latin america he urged indigenous people to protect the un and condemned human trafficking and crimes against women but said nothing about sex abuse by the clergy. overshadowed by the sex scandals. with. both the revolutionary and the defending him. in chile at least ten churches were burned more than eighty people were arrested for protesting the abuses by the clergy but the pope defended bishop. who victims say covered up abuses. then i will talk there is not one piece of proof against him it's clear. the pope is under

a lot of pressure. for not saying anything about this but following up on. the pope. while the pontiff drew huge crowds during his visit the victims of abuse say the pope missed a chance to bring them some peace and comfort. but . democrats have given the green light to form. conservatives. approve the step at a conference on being unable to form a government actions last september donna cain reports. it was a vote with profound implications for the social democrats for germany and perhaps the e.u. by a clear but not necessarily large majority martin schulze now has the authorities and to form a legacy ations with anglo-american the platform slogans proclaimed

a new time needs a new politics but on offer was much of the same old government in a wide ranging speech should spelt out why another coalition with merkel was the best option. believe me this has been easy for anyone but i never doubted for a moment that we should follow the play of the president was the way out of this difficult political situation as a social democrat it is my firm conviction that in this exceptional situation we must at least try to provide the best possible outcome for the people of germany and the euro mind. but many in the whole and in the wider party did not agree perhaps the most vocal opposition came from the party's youth movement has been absolutely i'm sure people who go she did well it's a reason i and many of those in and outside this room are not happy with the results it's not because they did bad work but because after twelve years of anger

and eight years of grand coalition we no longer have the same views on resultant issues this conference is opens up some very clear divisions inside this policy between the party leadership and the rank and file between those prepared to compromise and those who aren't and between the younger generation and the older one some analysts believe the current leader has to bear responsibility for the last bit of what we see it is that he is bearing the support for market choice and not just as clearly he is. not a party look at the future i would say i would actually even call him a yesterday's man as well and yet as of tomorrow schultz will be the leader who takes his divided party formally into negotiations with the christian democrats but the final deal which the. emerges must be passed by a ballot of the entire party membership and if sunday's vote is anything to go by may not be easy dominic cain al-jazeera bomb. anything over here at least seven

people have been killed in fighting but security forces the violence broke out during religious celebrations of the am hard region said to have fought with security forces during the procession for the question festival of the epiphany. authorities ensued on have released seven journalists who were arrested after covering protests against new government measures which increased the price of bread and other products activists say the latest arrests highlight the lack of press freedom of the country as have a more than report. he's been walking through these gates every day for eight years but does money who runs his own daily newspaper al-hayat says a lot has changed and not for the better he now has fewer staff because he can't afford to pay them all additions of his paper have been stopped from going on sale more than twenty times in the past year four times just this month and. press freedom in sudan depends on the political atmosphere when we started working in the

ninety's the freedom was much more than it is now there are a lot of restrictions the government uses like confiscating the papers after printing because economic loss stopping some articles from being published restricting the movements of journalists it comes down to the political scene with no regard to the media laws i'll tell you it is one of more than have a dozen newspapers which were confiscated before hitting sudan's streets in the past twelve months editors say national security agents at a printing press houses confiscate additions that contained stories critical of the government some newspaper readers now turn to the internet to find out what's going on in the country but you can be thank you for telling i open social media and. then i go to the websites i check several websites that can give me the critics news news that i believe is factual. aussie vibe in your day look there's nothing you can do when the papers are confiscated you can't get a chance to go through the news so we turn to the internet and see what's there the international organization reporters without borders ranks sudan one hundred

seventy fourth out of one hundred eighty countries on its press freedom index and there are concerns it's about to get even tougher for journalists in sudan to do their job members of parliament are deliberating a bill to allow national security agents to shut down newspapers radio stations and t.v. stations for fifteen days without sizing any reason and if that bill becomes law students press council would have the power to indefinitely ban any journalists who write or broadcast anything that opposes government policies that a journalist detained this month we're covering protests over hyped bread prices the government failed to respond to requests for comment on the arrests or on the freedom of the press so how does he get it the right way to regulate the press is through the courts since the rule laws more than a single law confiscating papers or things like that is not a good idea and journalists who are detained should be presented to court and if they have any fault they should bear responsibility but the shouldn't be put in jail without any clear charge directors for editors like last month the concern is

not about being charged for what they report on but being prevented from reporting in the first place and the shutting down of any outlet that doesn't follow government lines people morgan al-jazeera cartoon to head on al-jazeera we have castanets and western are slim golfer and brussels as us why is president mike pence is set to address israel's parliament. hello there let's look at weather conditions across asia now in northeastern areas with a complex frontal system which is going to result in a big area of low pressure developing with some heavy snowfall and behind it some really cold air max from temperature minus fifteen in blood of all stock they sense a low is out into the pacific but on its northern side across the car there we're

going to see some heavy snow fall some snow is also going to push in across more southern parts of japan for to go in through into wednesday and you can see tokyo temperature just five degrees there could be some snow showers here certainly across northern parts of honshu could be some significant snow accumulations those are my son temperatures for pyongyang and soul there so really really cold there is pretty chilly in beijing too for the south only four degrees in shanghai which is pretty low across more southern portions of china and taiwan well the same temperatures not great for foods you failing to reach twenty degrees or hong kong is fine twenty two and still fine across much of indo china but we're going to see an area of rain developing across more central areas and certainly change to region will see some heavy rain later on as we head into southeastern parts of asia northern parts of the philippines are looking dry and fine otherwise usual scattering the showers but from lazy in-born it should be fine thirty the high include ching.

rewinds returns with new updates on the best of al-jazeera as documentaries. and the moving story of two young turkmen girls in afghanistan. at last able to get an education after years of repressive taliban occupation. five years on what has become of their dreams. rewind pencils and bullets at this time on al-jazeera from the centuries egypt to the sword to come on power over the mild event we aren't harming any of the nile basin countries they don't mean from us that if they get their water from rainfall boss upstream this dominance is being challenged by countries who want a greater share i know that some people in asia. on question i guess this circumstances have changed and changed quite a struggle over the mild at this time on al-jazeera.

it's good to have you with us on al jazeera these are our top stories russia has for the first time weighed in on turkey's offensive in northern syria turkey is trying to push out kurdish fighters and create a buffer zone to protect its borders russia says it's keeping a close eye on developments have emphasized the importance of syria's territorial integrity. u.s. vice president pence as in jerusalem he is the highest ranking u.s. official to visit the city since president dollar trump recognized as the capital of israel and december tenth his visit was welcomed by israel by palestinians

protested against his arrival. but we have correspondents in brussels. and ron but we begin in west jerusalem where harry for third is standing by for us and not surprisingly very warm welcome for my pens very warm words between my pens and netanyahu ahead of pence's address to the knesset harry. that's right we're here in the concert at the israeli parliament waiting for mike pence who should be arriving any moment now for a welcoming ceremony and inside of all itself is of course likely to get a very warm welcome as well the israeli prime minister has said that for the first time he's been able to welcome an international leader a guest. and both of them being able to share the same words that they view jerusalem as the capital of israel that is obviously something that he will

reiterate in his remarks inside the knesset he's also likely to talk about regional issues such as iran and also continue what he has been saying so far on this regional trip but united states remains open to process the. specs of sponsoring a two state solution if both sides agree to that of course the palestinians utterly reject that idea the palestinian leadership says the united states is no longer a potential sponsor or even mediator in any peace process going forward what's interesting is how the reception will be inside the knesset we hear that the u.s. ambassador to israel a longtime supporter of settlements in the occupied west bank has invited leaders of the settlement movement that's thought to be unprecedented a sign of just how close the bones are between this particular u.s. administration and the right wing inside israeli politics as far as the israeli

palestinian members of the knesset the members of the joint arab list they are planning to stage a very obvious walkout a senior member of the joint most telling is that tense and trump are now part of the problem not part of the solution between the israelis and the palestinians perry thank you very much for that we will of course be a going back to have a after that address from vice president mike pence let's go to him on con now who's turning us live from gaza from what's been the reaction there to the u.s. vice president and her slim. but i have to say their reaction here has been subdued to say the least have us use the rule this trip is now under the control of the palestinian authority have mass issued a statement saying that they were going to engage with the visit all of the u.s. vice president because of the move of the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem and they also.