al-jazeera. when injured you were. lucky to be alive oh i'm going to blow up children are among the over eighty five killed in syrian government airstrikes on rebel held eastern ghouta. tensions escalate further in syria's north as turkey warns the government against helping the kurds in a frame. i'm

richelle carey this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. this is going to be a levy if the link is clear we will cross if you don't spam haiti threatens action against a british charity over allegations of sexual exploitation by its staff. hidden tragedy unicef raises an alarm over the rising number of newborns dying in parts of africa. and protesters take their message to the white house as pressure mounts on politicians for gun control after the florida school shooting. united nations is calling for an end to the targeting of civilians in a rebel held on klav near syria's capital damascus at least eighty five people were killed during an tense syrian government and russian bombing of a rebel held on clay near damascus local observers believe the attacks on. a

prelude to a major offensive which has been under a government since two thousand and thirteen to reports in beirut in neighboring lebanon. rockets missiles air strikes activists fear the renewed bombardment on the besieged opposition area of eastern could be the beginning of a large scale military operation. it seems russian broke at the go to bring about. we have so far failed a week of relative calm yet again civilians were the victims since the end of december a stepped up military campaign killed more than four hundred people at least one hundred of them were children the fear now is that the numbers will only rise if a wide scale attack begins. the syrian government and its allies are sending military reinforcements to the edges of the rebel enclave just outside the capital damascus program of the media are promising victory and what they say will be a decisive battle it will be the first time they will try to storm. past ground

offensives where we by rebels and people are defiant. we have man who. they won't be able to capture one inch of. this is what we have been steadfast for seven years they tried many times and he was all kinds of weapons but they weren't able to take anything. the syrian government and its allies haven't taken ground but over the years they have continuously bombarded residential neighborhoods the syrian government and its allies have been recapturing one opposition after another. has been their target for some time now but more often than not the government captures territory after securing local ceasefire deals that involve opposition fighters and their families evacuated and sent to other rebel controlled areas mainly to the problems of the in the north west. so far the people and rebels

of eastern who are refusing to surrender but the reality on the ground is becoming harsher about four hundred thousand people are trapped there the violence is only for the sake of them. in. a child's cry from underneath the rubble. he is alive civil defense volunteers say it's not usually the case. northern syria with possible military confrontation between turkey and forces loyal to. a turkish operation was launched over a month ago to oust the syrian kurdish which controls the area commanders deny making a deal with the government that say syrian troops are expected within hours reports . syrian state television and now says that forces loyal to president bashar al

assad will be deployed to. turkey launch an operation against the people's protection units. who are in control of the province almost a month ago and. terrorist organization the united states considers the group its most effective in fighting until. this new move by damascus in a could mean it's. directly confronts turkish troops turkey's foreign minister was defiant you know certainly. if the regime is interested to clean. up he whitey and there are no problems however if i come in to defend the white p.g. the nothing and nobody can stop us this applies to efren as well as ma'am and to the east of the euphrates river the developments hence said behind the scenes negotiations the details of which are unclear if the kurds are going to accept the major conditions of the syrian regime will decide on that very heavy weapons.

or will they be exiting the city because the syrian regime is. democratic forces to exit the city. of to the east of the euphrates the kurdish why p.g. holds the areas in yellow which include the region of the green areas land controlled by the syrian opposition supported by turkey and they are advancing on africa and under the turkish operation olive branch president assad's government controls the area to the south and the i.p.g. is territory to the east of the euphrates is where the u.s. has military bases and personnel on the ground syria's seven year war seems to have entered a new phase with the foreign powers who have long backed different sides trying to solidify their spheres of influence stephanie decker al-jazeera the presidents of turkey and russia have discussed the african operation and a phone call turkey's. over the actions of the syrian government which is russia's

ally a sum avenge of a house more harm istanbul. the first batch of kurdish fighters has reached the city of free and that's according to s.d.f. which is a u.s. backed force and these kurdish fighters have travelled from the city of aleppo this is a city which is under the control of the syrian government forces syrian fighters have been saying that this group proves their point that kurdish fighters off the viper e.g. the people's protection units have been allied with the syrian government all along there is expectations that more contingents off who government militias not regular syrian government forces will enter the city of against this operation that has been launched by the turkish forces called all of branch on the diplomatic front we've been hearing from presidential sources that the turkish president has been speaking to his russian counterpart and he's told them that there will be consequences if the syrian government continues on its path this is the part that

the foreign minister had also alluded to saying that the turkish government has no problems if the syrian government contains and controls its own territory and borders but it will have a problem and it will confront anyone who allies itself with the by p.g. with these kurdish fighters that turkey sees as terrorists. i'm asking her all has been held in the iraqi city of basra for sixteen shia fighters killed by eisel. was. they were among a group of at least twenty seven pro-government forces ambush near the northern city of kirkuk on sunday attackers disguise themselves and police uniforms pretending to be on duty at a fake checkpoint last week the governor of a kook warned eisel still poses a security threat in the area. or to charity oxfam has apologized to haiti's government after a staffer accused of sexual misconduct it's released an internal report into allegations that aide workers choose prostitutes during a mission or port also revealed that three staff members threatened witnesses spoke

to investigators john hendren reports. the regional director of oxfam came to haiti with an apology to the country's government and to pledge we've communicated that to the minister. and we've given as best we can explanations to as to what happened in two thousand and eleven. and we are open to collaborate as much as we can in further investigations as necessary with the haitian government the allegations involving oxfam staff in haiti emerged earlier this month they were accused of hiring prostitutes at oxfam properties while working in haiti after the two thousand and ten earthquake one of those said to be involved was the n.g.o.s former country director roland van how are myron but it was decent it was just the same as meeting the lady in belgium on monday in oxfam report dating back to two thousand and eleven was released it detailed allegations of sexual misconduct and threats to the safety of those investigating them haiti has

warned oxfam its future in the country is now in jeopardy uselessly i've met. believe oxfam admits the use of prostitutes by their staff in two thousand and eleven they admitted with all the evidence they even used their offices for such activities now we are aware. to see if they were corrupt because their report never made it to the haitian authorities this scandal has dealt the reputation of oxfam a devastating blow and threatens to complicate the work of other charities oxfam's funding in the u.k. is now under review and on tuesday oxfam's chief executive will testify in front of a british parliamentary committee john hendren. palestinian president will tell the un security council that on later on tuesday that he wants to set up a new international alliance to mediate with the israelis. abandoning a quarter of a century old policy of accepting the u.s. as the main and immediately follows president donald trump's recognition of

jerusalem as israel's capital bernard speth reports from ramallah in the occupied west bank. donald trump's promise of the deal of the century turned into what the palestinian president called the slap of the century it's forced mahmoud abbas on to steam back to the drawing board. has been involved in palestinian policy making for decades he now believes the u.s. is losing its dominant role in the world in a world that is changing i mean the calculation is not only on our wishes it's also an analysis of what's going on in the world including what israel now practices israel is seeking very much better relations with the russians was the chinese was the indians with the with the japanese israel itself knows that the world is changing and it cannot ignore these other important forces abbas has been telling leaders from europe russia china and elsewhere that he wants them to have a role in mediation with the israelis while retaining u.s.

involvement. for any new form to work though the israelis would have to be willing to take part with trump at his back there seems little incentive for now the prime minister binyamin netanyahu to change tack i doubt that can be and the renewal of the peace process especially that. the alternative sponsorship will be refused by israel we will witness a period of no process no solution what's a period i mean probably the coming one to two years at least a massive fairly bleak outlook isn't it that's right but this is less harmful to the palestinians from continuing with a process in which this sponsor of the united states might come up with a proposal. that can be even more harmful than the continuity of the current

difficult and political reality that we're living angle with donald trump's recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital came with criticism of the palestinian leadership for depending on u.s. mediation for the last twenty five years it's felt the pressure to come up with an alternative we have no other option we don't want to go back to violence we are not abandoning our commitment to the peace process and when you do that then you really have to find a new international alliance a new legal methods and ways and means of really saving our country from being totally overtaken by the israeli colonial project as the palestinians cast around for a new mediation the reality on the ground is that illegal settlements are expanding day by day eating up more and more occupied land time is not on the palestinian side but it's with al-jazeera in the occupied west bank. and egyptian company has agreed to buy fifteen billion dollars worth of israel

a natural gas operators of israel's team are in the via an offshore gas fields will supply a private and gyptian firm around sixty four billion cubic meters of gas over a decade israel hopes the deal will strengthen diplomatic ties. anymore head on al-jazeera. somalia's busiest market has been shut for two days. i miss finally good news for independence trying to get a footing and mexico's politics. hello there is a river flooding in the ohio valley as rain keeps falling and given the warmth an east around is too melting so this whole area where things going from the southwest is relatively warm twenty one dollars eleven in washington it's even above freezing

by quite a long way in chicago so what snow is on the ground has got to go somewhere where the still the cold here minus sixteen winnipeg minus twelve in calgary and it took time to denver denver's dropped to minus one that's like a twenty degree drop the last few days it goes out to minus ten this is daytime maximum just remember it's fabric is the coldest months but you know we've just forgotten these temperatures recently chicago's back up to a mild sixty so the potential for heavy rain is still there foetal snow or some maybe and what was happening in the desert southwest and the high ground is dried up and the sun's come out as follows temperatures seattle four or five degrees and here is the picture on wednesday snow's crept back into chicago temperatures dropped result but it's a river of rain all the way from texas right up to all the teria and again given how long it's going to be there italy and how it's all make in this case the flooding in the ohio river valley and anywhere else where the still snow on the ground.

oh and the benefit of. being bald and all these. documentaries that open your eyes. at this time on al-jazeera.

you're watching al-jazeera let's recap the top stories right now united nations is calling for an end to the targeting of civilians in a rebel held on klav near syria's capital damascus at least eighty five people have died during syrian government and russian eastern cuba. turkey says it will fire forces loyal to syria's president if they enter a fraying as part of an agreement with the kurdish why peachey turkey launched an offensive last month to push kurds out of the area. british charity oxfam has apologized to haiti's government after its staff are accused of sexual misconduct that's released an internal organ to allegations that aid workers use prostitutes during a mission. the united nations children's agency in effect unicef says the world is failing at newborn babies and the report has found that infants born in the world's poorest countries face the worst odds out zero reports. every year more than two and a half million babies die before turning one month old one million of them take

their first and last breaths on the day they were born another two point six million are still born newborns in pakistan have the least chance of survival with one in twenty two dying within their first month of life central african republic afghanistan somalia and list so throw around out the top five nations were infant struggle to stay alive the average mortality rate is twenty seven deaths in every one thousand births more than eighty percent of newborn deaths are the result of premature birth complications during labor and delivery infections poverty conflict and weak institutions are being blamed those with the best chance of survival are babies born in japan iceland and singapore compared with those countries newborns in the riskiest places are fifty times more likely to die and there has been some success in reducing child deaths the number of dying before their fifth birthday

has halved over the past twenty five years but millions more could be saved if mothers and babies had access to affordable quality health care good nutrition and clean water and central african republic one in twenty four babies die before they are even a month old the unicef report has ranked the central african republic second in the world in newborn baby dads it says many women are unable to access health care to about conflict there's displaced only half the population catherine sawyer reports . new life in the second worst country in the wild for a child to be born in the only pediatric hospital in central african republic nasa's and sure that baby's little hearts keep beating of the roughly thirty children born each day in this hospital in the capital bondi an average of two die it's a free government hospital taking in hundreds of patients daily but medical supplies

are hard to come by the hospital is understaffed and badly needs more specialist doctors. dr gaddy chrysostom is one of just five pediatricians in the whole country he says they try the best they can to keep mothers and their children alive . see central african republic us sixteen regions in the or depend on this issue raised again we are in a crisis we. centers because this attrition is not sustainable. example arisa cradles her son in a human incubation care system called kangaroo it helps premature babies when there is no incubator baby man diarist queen brother died when they were born arlie zambia has been assured that men die or will be fine but you are is about him and how for the children back home only. where. my husband doesn't work i do

casual work my children fall that means all the money goes to hospital bills then what. the children here are lucky to get some help the farther you get away from bungie the more desperate the health care situation medical aid agencies are helping but even the combi everywhere doctors without borders and the international medical corps support this hospital in bria in the north east after months of fighting between rival armed groups the hospital is now not just taking in patients but has also offered more dated families that have fled from their homes there are places where the. groups continue to stand in the way of accessing people but we also have. funding issues we don't have all the resources that we need. for example for the area of maternal and nato health back in the bungie children hospitals kangaroo ward as they call it the

new mothers continue to bond with their little ones and hope they'll get to see all the milestones catherine saw all jazeera bria central african republic the white house says u.s. president donald trump is open to supporting improved background checks on gun purchases after last week's school shooting in florida tramper is a staunch ally of the us gun lobby will meet with survivors on wednesday speaking to leaders in congress about about partisan bill aimed at improving checks on those wanting to buy a gun it comes as activists staged a protest outside the white house alan fisher has more on that. it started as a social media conversation on friday afternoon and became a mass protest in front of the white house dozens of students from around the washington area backed by the families gathered to mark the speech of school shootings in america and demanded argent action to stop them i don't see this as a republican or democrat issue it's more life or death really shootings happen

every day and weapons don't belong on the streets they don't belong in schools they belong in war have to be hard having read out the names of the victims of school shootings in america since one thousand nine hundred ninety s. and many were caught up in their own thoughts who says seeing their own emotions that we not shootings in america in the past there have been protests in the past but this type of people think something is different but this time change can be achieved. then came the mass die and students live in the growing sending a message that the politicians in action was no longer an option it's about the fact that kids are dying american kids are dying and that they're sitting in classrooms in the crowed a school psychologist who trained at the school in parklane florida where the mass shooting took place struggling to contain her emotions and her anger like holiness are providing crisis intervention at this time in over fifteen twenty years that

they've been practicing they've never seen such heartache typically we train to provide enter vention support for death of a teacher or a student and the stories that they're hearing it's like a war zone the flag above the white house still flies at half staff in memory of the florida victims the young people here know that many of them are too young to vote. but the insist their voices will be headed and they will not be ignored alan fischer c.n.n. washington. according who has ordered former leader alberto fujimori to stand trial of a mass killings in one thousand nine hundred two despite a recent presidential pardon he was freed on health grounds last month after serving less than half of the twenty five year sentence for human rights abuses during his rule but the court found that the pardon doesn't apply to the new case the seventy nine year olds accused of ordering the torture torture and murder of six farmers by paramilitary troops. major parties have declared their candidates

for july's elections with leftist interests and lopez obrador as the front runner and dependent candidates will be allowed to run for the first time john home and us more from mexico city. to some mexican is this is the sound of long overdue change it's the complain music for an independent candidate for the first time in history link twenty political party have been allowed to run in the upcoming presidential race the electoral authorities have made it easy just to get on the ballot each independent has clicked with most will million pledges via cell phone from votes is around the country. three out of almost fifty appear to have managed it each has made their name in different ways right leaning margarita zavala is the next first lady jaime toward the readers who calls himself the wild horse styles himself as a maverick straight talking rancher and

a mandal real's petered a progressive leftist is better known within the senate than to the public despite that he sees this is a chance for independents to clean up politics from the outside wrestling control from parties who become embroiled in corruption scandals and conflicts of interests . of course there's no worse thing in a democracy than parties like the ones we have now they've got addicted to money we have to send to rehab for a while so that someone else can take on the presidency and provide a transparent public servant administration. but there are questions about the independence ability to do that that's partly because all of the ones that are likely to be on the ballot are themselves career politicians nurtured within the system and partly because none of them are expected to win the presidency the major party candidates so far look much too strong that doesn't mean however that they won't have an impact on the race by taking votes away from those candidates

independent candidates may become the king makers of this election. if an independent candy that you know does a good run and gets i don't know between five and ten percent of the question is where are those votes coming from. and where would those votes have gone if there were no independent candidates. ought to miss hope that as time goes by things will change and the independents won't just be influences but instead fresh voices outside of a widely discredited political class able to mount a genuine challenge at the highest level that's unlikely to happen this election but it is a start john home and. mexico city somalia's busiest market has been closed for the past two days business owners and the car market are protesting over a five percent tax imposed by the government in an effort to pay back some of its international debt r.t.c.

reports. the streets are usually buzzing with customers but for the past two days shops in somalia's busiest market have been closed. and business owners in book car market have vowed to keep it that way until new taxes imposed by the government are lifted so we want to have today the market has not been closed by the business people but by the government because they do not recognise the needs of business people we request the government to analyze our needs and give us respect and reduce the tax so we can work smoothly in the market. the central government imposed a five percent tax earlier this month as part of its efforts to win billions of dollars in international debt relief. and in your shop and the value of the share in the market. is twenty dollars. i think there's a lot of people ready to do that they're ready to do that. very true bill to

contribute. to the effort to rebuild the country and therefore i don't see any money and any problems but traders say the new taxes stalled business trade union representatives attempted to negotiate the increase with the finance minister but he insisted it was not optional oh i know. the government ordered us to pay on affordable taxes which other markets around the country do not pay we met the finance minister and he told us in english pay the tax or go to kiss my oh he will no longer be a minister to watch if he does not respect our complaints well you must know that other somalis are reluctant to pay more money to a government many consider corrupt and inefficient especially when they see little being done to improve their country that has been ravaged by war for decades. many of those battles fought in the heart of book or a market one of the largest in east africa and an economic powerhouse for somali

business owners are hoping that closing their shops will pressure the government to come to the negotiating table a middle d.c. al-jazeera. people in greece pelted each other with flour to mark the end of the carnival season so take a look at these pictures of the so-called flower war and the seaside town of galaxy every year villagers and tourists are encouraged to lose their civility carnival celebrations and in the orthodox christian holiday of lent weekends the custom is believed to have originated in eighteen a one in defiance of the town's then ottoman rulers. and we shall carry out the headlines right now on al-jazeera the un is calling for an end to the targeting of civilians in a rebel held on klav near syria's capital damascus at least eighty five people have died during syrian government and russian eastern ghouta local observers believe

the attacks are pretty due to a major offensive on the area under siege by government forces for five years now turkey says it will fight forces loyal to syria's president if they enter a frayne as part of an agreement with the kurdish y p g ankara launched an offensive last month to push kurds out of the area. british charity oxfam has apologized to haiti's government after its staff are accused of sexual misconduct it's released an internal report into allegations that aide workers shoes prostitutes during rebuilding efforts after the two thousand and ten earthquake its former director for haiti admitted to the inquiry that he hired sex workers despite public denials the white house says u.s. president donald trump is open to supporting improved background checks on gun purchases in the wake of last week's school shooting in florida activists staged a protest outside the white house demanding action to stop any more mass shootings seven hundred students and staff members were killed by a teenager with an assault rifle in the city of parkland. did not emissions

children's agency says the world is failing newborn babies a report by unicef says and foreign of the world's poorest countries face the worst og's it ranks pakistan as the worst nation in the world for newborn baby deaths central african republic is ranked the second worst. projection company has agreed to buy fifteen billion dollars worth of israeli natural gas operators of israel's tomar and leviathan offshore gas fields will supply a private egyptian firm around sixty four billion cubic meters of gas over a decade through hopes the deal will strengthen diplomatic ties a court in peru has ordered former leader alberto fujimori to stand trial over mass killings in one thousand nine hundred two despite a recent presidential pardon he was freed on health grounds last month after serving less than half of a twenty five year sentence for human rights abuses during his time in office but the court found that the pardon doesn't apply to the new case the seventy nine year

old accused of ordering the torture and murder of six armors by paramilitary troops keep it on al-jazeera witness this next. we understand the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how you take it. we'll bring you the news and current affairs that matter to al-jazeera. about their.