this is really an attack on the truth itself is a lot of misunderstanding a distortion even of what free speech is supposed to be about the context is hugely important we have a right to publish if you have a duty to be offensive or provoked it's all about otherwise people do setting the stage for a serious debate. up front at this time on al-jazeera. al-jazeera . where ever you. more people are killed on the ground in syria as talks get underway in russia to try to end the conflict.

logs or rather this is arms there are a lot of my headquarters here in there are also coming up in the next thirty minutes turning off the taps the drought that's left cape town on the verge of running out of water. also protests cigars overplan job cuts that could be thousands of palestinians out of work plus. lives away said let's follow the a.b.c. rules anyone but china there's an outcry over a book to go to plan to allow a chinese expedition into a been all rich underwater region in the philippine sea. welcome to the program syrian president bashar al assad's main ally russia is hosting talks aimed at a political solution to the nearly seven year civil war the meeting in sochi is also backed by turkey and iran. but the main syrian opposition groups are

boycotting the meeting the rebels want russia and the syrian government to stop bombing parts of it live province so far on monday the strikes have killed twenty civilians including women and children and elsewhere in syria a russian brokered cease fire in eastern guta near the capital damascus seems to have collapsed activists are reporting repeated violations by the assad government with at least eight people killed so far the rebel controlled on place has been besieged by the government for almost five years the kurds who control almost twenty percent of syria are also not the sort she talks the focus of a turkish military operation in northern syria and views their fighters as terrorists seventy deca said this update from a kilis on the turkey syria border there's just been incoming from syria into turkey we were actually preparing for a live when we heard a whiz over our heads would watch. and then we

saw the smoke landing around five hundred meters from our position when the police now come to inspect the crater this is a reminder of course that this is an act of conflict and there are consequences for these border towns these border cities kilis has had rockets and shells land here before also they hardly on the other side of the border but people that residents that we've spoken to here will tell you that they are concerned they're used to it because i still was here just a couple of years ago along the border and there was this kind of tense situation as well but one gentleman we spoke to yesterday said he was worried and he was already know it is most wife and children away you can see people are tense and they want us to move on. chalons has more from salt she where the latest round of talks on syria are taking place. well the news earlier on monday the another group of opposition figures was going to be staying away from sochi really exposes i

think the shortcomings of this congress russia has tried to make this as inclusive as possible inviting people and groups from across the syrian cultural religious and political spectrum so the robot is here there are these there are sunnis and shias allo whites and various different political platforms including the moscow platform the rest on a platform but there are a few notable exceptions now those are the s.n.c. the syrian negotiation committee which has said that it will stay away from sochi believing that this is undermining the geneva process the kurdish groups such as the y. p.g. then not here either they are considered persona non grata by turkey and of essentially being shut out i don't think they want to come anyway because of what's going on in africa and so this all basically steers towards the moscow and damascus perspective on the syrian conflict the upshot of this congress is likely

to be the endorsement of the new what they're calling a constitutional committee made up supposedly all of the syrian government on one side and opposition representatives on the other but if the main groups of the opposition are not here then this allows damascus to essentially say that the opposition groups boycotting sochi boycotting this process are saboteur of peace the big question of course is where the u.n. stands on the of this and whether stefan de mistura will approve of these measures and not allow this to filter in to the geneva process the russians believe that he is on board rafters wait to see whether the u.s. that suggest that is confirmed goma. well at least four people have been killed in raging battles between government forces and secessionist fighters in yemen the two sides in the southern port city of

a loss of order by different countries within the saudi led coalition who are jointly fighting the who think the rebels the international aid organization oxfam is warning about the escalating violence including the city of days where it's had to actually have to close its office down a suburb in java it reports. fighting has intensified in the city of guys in central yemen government forces have been fighting who the rebels who are aligned with iran since two thousand and fifteen the saudi led coalition backs the government but fighters and guys say they're exhausted and not getting the help they need. they say military aid is being provided on the basis of their alliance with members of the coalition some say the brigade to go into the u.a.e. get them or supplies that can see that has. been receiving the required support the city would have been liberated by now so apart from whatever military gear we have the army and resistance are barely surviving we are abandoned by the coalition and we do not know the reasons. has not been liberated to not due to the lack of

enthusiasm on the part of the coalition residents are capable to liberate the city not time honored to receive military and financial support. aid organizations including the red crescent say their staff are stranded oxfam says it has closed its office in dies. but there isn't the only place there conflicting interests within the saudi that coalition emerge this is a view with the airport remains closed for a second day prime minister ahmed bin that has visited his office after his troops took back control of government buildings from southern secessionists that accuse the separatists of mounting the coup reinforcements from beyond were able to secure some areas but sporadic fighting continues. there is no difference between the who these and anyone else who rebels against a legitimate government no matter who they are if he's not with the legitimate government then he's rebelling against it and considered an enemy to the entire country. but it's not as simple because the fighting sides are supported by members

of the same coalition saudi arabia backs government forces and the secessionist are allies of the united arab emirates many and they didn't have traditionally supported the idea of a separate state similar to the structure before yemen's unification in one nine hundred ninety two did it during the millennium we want a civilian government a government of law a government made according to the principles of the southern transition council was. the internationally recognized government pulled in saudi arabia and united arab emirates to fight the who these but since two thousand and fifteen the gulf regions. country has suffered from the world's largest cholera outbreak in almost half the country needs and famine like conditions. and there seems to be no end to the fighting and job of the zero. nice also as it was behind an attack on a military academy in afghanistan's capital kabul eleven soldiers were killed and sixteen others wounded in the gun battle near the marshall for him national defense

university five of the attackers were also killed now the same side who was the target for a suicide bombing in october in which fifteen officers died it comes two days after a suicide bombing also killed many one hundred three people in kabul afghans are blaming the government for failing to improve security which stark rahim is a regional security specialist he says the recent attacks by eisel and the taliban against government targets have very different aims. first and foremost they have been fighting each other on the battlefield they have been facing off more often against each other instead of the government particularly in eastern afghanistan we have experienced a lot of fear she is fighting between the two groups. as late as two months back there they faced each other in who get a district of eastern afghanistan where they fart and release c.d.'s back to us against each other and they have been trying to challenge each other in terms of

captured in the territory are trying to send a message in terms of who holds authority in the afghan context and then you object gives our different taliban look at that effort to take or the up on government whereas isis believe in lot of this. sort of governance attaching themselves to the middle eastern isis and the bit they try to announce themselves as a wing as as a province as a state of that big isis governance structure so they're pretty differ different in terms of the interviews in terms of the object is and the way they operate it. thousands of union workers from the u.n. agency for palestinian refugees are protesting in gaza against planned budget cuts and it follows the u.s. decision to cut millions of dollars worth of funding to the aid agency in bangkok possible from gaza. because this was one of the largest protests seen here in gaza

city for a very long time officials are saying at least thirteen thousand people came out was all going to rise by the unions clearly a very big organization here they were able to get numbers out onto the streets and protest was really about the austerity measures that the united nations relief works agency has had to put in place because of the u.s. funding cuts to its budget for palestinian refugees last week the u.s. announced that it was cutting sixty five million dollars from us funding and then they followed up very quickly with a further forty five billion dollars for food aid now the is in crisis mode right now is having to deal with all of these budget cuts and what they're doing is they're immediately putting into place hiring freezes for people like teachers health workers people that put money into the economy had their families rely on them for the work that they do also they cutting graduate employment programs and they're also warning that if something doesn't happen if the money is in place

saying that they're going to run out within about two months time and they'll have to shut down all of programs and clearly that's a concern to a lot of the palestinians here let's hear from then see what they have to say generally no nor should we say we came here today to show our anger and our worry for the future and our destiny as refugees we came here to send a message to both sides first to the side that wants to influence the policies of the agency and clinch the budget the second is for the international agency to respond and intervene in need of the refugees now whether the international community is actually listening or not remains to be seen the u.s. is clearly taking a hard line towards an wrote this. is concerned the united nations general said that the united nations relief works agency is a part of the u.n. that shouldn't be playing politics with it and that the funding should be given to them as soon as possible they're going to launch another campaign another round of looking for financing something it's just that we looking for about eight hundred

million dollars if they don't get that money that doesn't just affect people in gaza this five million palestinian refugees across the region it will affect all of them and in many cases a lot of those palestinians rely on any the little money the little support the little help that they get now it's also a concern to israel as well in the local media in recent days the israelis security agencies have been talking them saying that actually a poses a security threat to israel because it's not just about the gazan economy here is very fragile it's about to collapse according to a lot of the palestinian business work is if the economy collapses and if there's no money if that does present a significant security situation for israel and a humanitarian disaster for the palestinians themselves well still ahead here on al-jazeera good. bringing good girls fall prey to human traffickers with some of the refugee sold presidential sixty dollars we have an exclusive report in

bangladesh plus. music problems troposphere our time in st. louis street using performance harmonized relations between cuba and the united states to stay with us. welcome back it remains pretty chilly across central and southern parts of china taiwan and indeed across parts of indochina to temperatures here about six or seven degrees below where they should be at this time of year shanghai seen temperatures just beginning to rise a little bit as we head through next twenty four hours but still hanoi looking rather cloudy some drizzle pretty miserable conditions here once you get across into laos a mere modern temperatures are where they should be at this time of year into the high twenty's and low thirty's across into south asia the satellite imagery shows

some showers pushing into ward for lancaster the risk of a few showers turning up for colombo during the course of tuesday otherwise all dry and fine a say fine across northern parts of pakistan india through towards bangladesh we still have problems with mist and fog so head in to wednesday we may just see some snow developing up through the hindu kush and northern parts of pakistan but otherwise it's a largely fine picture kharaj the sunshine and twenty seven degrees here in the arabian peninsula we've had a fairly brisk over the last day or so slightly cooler conditions still ok at twenty degrees celsius you know some riyadh is struggling with highs of just sixteen degrees still getting thirty degrees in mecca as we head through into wednesday we're just recovers with temperatures rising to eighteen. we understand the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world

so no matter how you take it al-jazeera will bring in the news and current affairs that matter to you al-jazeera. i really felt liberated as a journalist when i was getting to the truth as i would that's what this job. welcome back you're watching al-jazeera i'm so whole robin a reminder of our top stories strikes by russia the syrian government have killed twenty civilians in the rebel held areas of the bombardment is underway even as

moscow holds its own talks on serious political future but the main opposition groups on the kurds are not attending the talks in sochi. also are behind the attack on a military academy in the afghan capital that killed eleven soldiers but five of the attackers were also killed did the clash. at least four people have been killed in the raging battles between government forces answer session his fighters in the southern yemen city of eight or elsewhere aid groups are warning of civilian casualties as fighting against the rebels intensifies in days. human rights groups are warning that rohingya refugees are being increasingly targeted by human traffickers at camps in bangladesh they say the problem has been made worse by the influx of refugees fleeing b. and ma about six hundred ninety thousand people have left since a military crackdown began in rakhine state last august bangladesh is hosting about

a million refugees in its camps and many of them are in dire conditions the u.n. warns that in the chaos trafficking is often overlooked because that urgent needs like food and shelter come first and the u.n. says refugees are often exploited and recruited with false office of paid work from because of a long refugee camp in southern bangladesh charles stratford has this exclusive report. my darling daughter she cries. she asks me when we talk oh mother what shall i do now how can i come back to you how will you get me out of india to be with you again. my own accounts and says her daughter years mean was thirteen years old when she was snatched by a man in the refugee camp and smuggled to india. that was three years ago known and the as mean fled the military crackdown in myanmar in two thousand and twelve. says the trafficker was arrested in india and yasmin was rescued her daughter is living

at a safe house for other trafficking victims in kolkata myanmar stripped the regime jury of citizenship in one thousand nine hundred to be the noyon no or yes mean have passports so they cannot be reunited with a owner says every month she saves a little money to chat to her daughter for a few minutes on the phone. only god knows the pain i experience every day she says i don't have money to go to india my daughter warns me not to try and cross into india without a passport. my own story is not uncommon in the ricky refugio camps rights groups say that trafficking gangs have thrived in the ranger refugee camps here in bangladesh for years but the recent arrival of more than six hundred fifty thousand new refugees means the situation is getting even worse now we met a trafficker and he told us that men come from outside the camps they pay range of

families for their daughters promising them work for the girls often never seen again. we sit by the road in the men come to us the man tells me they ask us if we can get the helpless type of people families are ready to provide girls because they don't have enough food. and the man says men often specifically want girls of a certain age he says they pay the families around five thousand talking about sixty dollars for each go. for the girls around twelve to fourteen years old he says they tell me they have difficulty with their domestic work at their homes they say they need someone to cook for them and the man tells me he has stopped providing the men with girls now and only trafficked a few young women. when the parents come to find me that i have to highlight he explains they want information on that delicious but i have no information the look

at the un's refugee agency is trying to help to be reunited with her daughter but he says only the bangladesh all sorts he's to make that decision. leona says yes mean never met her father because he died before she was poor she is afraid that she herself may die without ever seeing me again. i want nothing more than like daughter she says it would be so kind if you get your daughter back well yes mean it is a piece of work. child strafford al-jazeera to prolong refugio camp one with. the philippine government is being accused of cozying up to beijing by allowing chinese research was into an underwater region estimated to have vast untapped natural resources by them rises recognized as a philippine territory by the un but china has said in the past that there was no

exclusive claim on this area critics say present rudiger detector is adopting a pro china stance undermining philippine claims in the neighbor south china sea as well. reports. in two thousand and twelve the united nations confirmed that the bene rise is part of the philippines there are tree it's an undersea plateau located on the country's eastern coast it's at the center of the planet's marine by a diversity and its resources are untapped with more than thirteen million hectares believed to be rich in minerals and gas. which travelled to ben rise a few months ago back then the philippine military boasted of a long term plan to improve its patrols of the area the agriculture ministry also planned to build a reserve that will be a refuge for filipino fishermen the behnam rise was seen as a possible solution to the country's split shortages but that appears to have

changed now president would be good at their decision china may now lead exploration in the area he's government says the research is purely scientific but mark time experts say the terror does a parent can. to china is alarming we can see that this is all part of. this had been given you see this policy of friended their stars change which you know a social game going overboard because it's just about in every aspect of of national life not china is also long in a dispute with the philippines and other countries over the spratleys group of islands in the south china sea its incursions in the area have raised tension with other regional countries some fear the same could happen independent rise it should be a neutral country that have no vested interests that have no claim without that it

on our exclusive economic zone that's why i said let's follow the a.b.c. rules anyone but china. filipinas scientists are demanding barents sea from detectors government they want the government to release the details of the expedition so the public will know the concessions given to china it was the government refuses to address the issue directly we do not have in the bend them rights because what we only have in the rice as part of extended continental shelf is the right to explore and exploit the natural resources found there at filipino scientists have been exploring venom arise for years and want to continue their work although china has become a powerful player in the region many people we spoke to here say they believe the government stands on the issue may endanger the country's interests and those are with longtime allies. al-jazeera manila. now there seems to be some progress in

resolving a deadlock over hydroelectric dams in ethiopia but they are building home the blue nile egypt and if you have been at all over the project but leaders from the three countries met on the sidelines of the african union summit in. sudan's foreign minister has told us they have agreed on a mechanism to reconcile their differences. staying on the conference the south african city of cape town is facing its worst water crisis in a century and protesters say the government is to blame the tops are expected to run dry on a full of twelve from victoria. hot anger on the streets of cape town over a water crisis these protesters say the government should have prevented the city is completely mismanaging the water they're not taking the leaks not to beat using the placing the pipes they want to marry me devices that they know are defective and that but no place in the springs they are not allowing people access to so they

are strangling the water supply reservoirs have been full for more than three years because the hasn't been enough rain. the city is limiting each household to fifty liters of fuel to a day that's equivalent to one full blast with eight people in the house up till now we've managed to bring up with the consumption from one thousand kilos lead to spur month we put all the down now last month it was a killer leaders and we are doing a little bit more in order to bring it for the dough to get it in line with the six beat. that will come in on the first of feeble woody from south africa's will to minister says climate change is to blame for the crisis she said everyone to cut back that water he says it is therefore important that i lose as lead the plants in reducing or to consumption. the agricultural sector has made a commitment to make sure that they explore enough ative solutions so that then

there is that the petition to the realities of limiting scientists say the city has made significant efforts to deal with the crisis the time has been incredibly successful with a water the modern management program which began in iran about ninety ninety and the remarkable thing about this program is that it has managed to line the dumond on what a despotic group a city was growing economic development and population city officials who already people who would days there oh the date when taps are expected to run dry that day is now april the twelfth nine days earlier than previously expected it appears that desperate measures to conserve water are having little effect victoria gating be out there. now relations between the u.s. and cuba have deteriorated since donald trump took office he's put limits on trade and made it harder for americans to visit the island but some musicians on artists

are determined to show that the two countries can get along. all the reports now from havana. sharing a stage comes naturally to these cuban and us musicians he was best known pianist chucho this playing alongside american jazz legend. the saxophone player is among the u.s. artists who headline this years have been a jazz festival. musicians turned cultural ambassadors at a time of renewed hostilities between their governments it's now more important than ever music is a common language connects mr countries again politics and politics but the art form is a common language and that will help strengthen perhaps some of the other areas the broader international relationship and that relationship has deteriorated significantly since its high point two years ago today the state department is actively advising americans to stay away from cuba but not all of them are

listening even under tighter travel restrictions reimposed by the trumpet ministration and then president of number of americans visited and performed at this year's just festival here in havana and when asked why they're here they generally gave the same basic answer music from the strongest part time for instance. this cuban pianist couldn't agree more playing for a tour of american jazz lovers but had respect musical overtures can have just as much power as diplomatic ones. cuban music and culture is an explosion it's fire and that is what we transmit to the audiences beyond all the problems that exist i try to express what i. i am not as a musician but as a culture. and the cultural efforts extend beyond music this statue of cuban independence year ago cimetidine was

a gift from new york's bronx of the arts to the people of cuba veiling attended by architects and other artists from both countries hope you are the start of other joint projects it's always been the artists and the cultural organizations that have really kept the conversation going they were responsible for initiating the conversation and opened the doors for relationship building greater connections between cuba and the united states role castro attended the inaugural ceremony in what is expected to be one of his last public events as cuban president perhaps and not of support to those trying to get the relationship with the u.s. back on track. galliano al jazeera have. you want your knowledge is there i'm still rather these are all top stories and strikes by russia and the syrian government have killed twenty civilians in rebel held areas of it labe the bombardment is underway even as moscow holds its own

talks on syria's political future but the main opposition groups and the kurds are not attending the talks in sochi. at least four people have been killed in raging battles between government forces and succession of fighters in the southern port city of aden in yemen elsewhere groups are warning of civilian casualties as fighting against rebels intensifies. eyes all says it was behind an attack on a military academy in afghanistan's capital kabul eleven soldiers were killed and sixteen others wounded in the gun battle the national defense university five of the attackers were also killed. there seems to be some progress in resolving a deadlock over a hydroelectric dam ethiopia is building all the blue nile sudan egypt and ethiopia have been at odds over the project but leaders from the three countries met on the sidelines of the african union submitted and is out of

a sudan's foreign minister has told us they've agreed on a mechanism to reconcile their differences i can tell you that for now the dispute is over and i hope that this would not be a temporary reserve edition. the two presidents and if those who don't met the president met also with the prime minister individually and then today via love to the meeting was held issues were discussed in a very to our spirit and for our commander and the city president to agree to a vis the issue of the. thousands of you need workers from the u.n. agency for palestinian refugees are protesting garza against planned budget cuts this follows the u.s. decision to cut billions of dollars worth of funding to the aid agency. and floodwaters in paris have reached their peak but towns downstream along the river

seine are bracing for a possible breach weeks of heavy rain saw the same as a maximum level of five point eight four meters in the capital the water is now threatening to flood more towns west of paris towards normandy and the english channel do stay with us here talk to al-jazeera is next. on counting the cost the problem with us every day is the rich and famous discuss making the world a better place but for who moves are afoot to open up and travel across the african continent plus the link between seafood forces may but in time and counting the cost at this time on i'll just era. you can fool. proof see. the my at plumbs in the southern year olds birthplace of the soviet union's nuclear weapons program. today it reprocess the spent nuclear fuel but fifty years ago

my ex suffered what's thought to be the world.