five countries. four days. three thousand konami tents. two generations. one by. syrian refugees on assume real journey to sweden. on the bright side. a witness documentary at this time on how disease. more deaths in the syrian rebel held districts of east and go to where government forces have been pounding the area with strikes. i'm jane doesn't this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up a warning from the u.n.

democratic republic of congo faces a disaster of extraordinary proportions of ethnic violence in the east. survivors of the high school shooting in florida take their demand for gun reform to the state capitol as chum proposes banning some modified guns plus. i'm scott hardliner in bangkok where the buddhist leadership some nine decades ago and female monks there's now a movement going around the system and they're getting support their story coming up. we begin in syria where the rebel held enclave of east and go to continues to come of the heavy bombardment by russian and syrian forces more than two hundred fifty people have been killed in intense bombing since sunday it's the highest death toll in the area since a chemical attack in twenty thirty in the bombing has damaged or destroyed. six

medical facilities activists are describing the death toll as a massacre and there are fears the bombardment could lead to a larger ground operation eastern good has been besieged by the government since twenty thirteen four hundred thousand people are estimated to be trapped the rebel held enclave is only a few kilometers away from the syrian capital damascus that's made it a key target for the government and its allies eastern good was agreed as a deescalation zone last year where there isn't supposed to be any violence penelas montas is the un's regional humanitarian coordinator for syria he says the bombing has been so relentless that it stopped humanitarian help getting the situation inside is really is extreme and we've seen a dramatic escalation during the forty eight hours close to four hundred thousand civilians who are living really through an extreme situation with a heavy bombardment that is taking place people described as their bombs falling

really just minutes apart a lot of civilians are in basements id ing women children people who are really in fear of their lives because there's so indeed high number of casualties no health facilities no water no electricity very little food available in an area which is besiege an arsonist many terrorists were not able to. meanwhile pro syrian government forces have been pushed back from northwestern african region by having shelling by the turkish military kurdish fighters have asked the syrian government to help fend off the texas old turkish president or one has valid to capture the area within days is controlled by the kurdish y p g which anchorage regards as terrorists. the un's refugee agency is warning of a humanitarian disaster in democratic republic of congo of extraordinary proportions in the eastern part of the country it says poor security conditions in

the region are hindering efforts to help thousands of people in need each other bella says more. the eastern border of the democratic republic of congo isn't who moro reports of violence to reach one thousand kilometers north to south clashes between a ugandan rebel group and sees military in the north east has pushed civilians to make the dangerous crossing into and some are attempting to roll across lake albert one of africa's great lakes and the tail of pedals and you know some died of hunger some drowned and the like there's no one to help you there's nothing to eat surviving in the bush like animals. now the south east is reaching a tipping point where humanitarian disaster extraordinary proportions is about to hit the south eastern part of the democratic republic of the congress the province of plunges further into violence triggering spiralling displacement and human

rights abuses the southeast has been plagued by ethnic violence but new armed groups are popping up in congo leads in the area traps fighters don't know who is on whose side so civilians are targeted murders abductions and rape a common good i know they be heated people they can't open this stomachs full moved the guts. and left them to die that's how they killing people. in twenty seven tane in the estimated one hundred twenty thousand people fled into neighboring countries this latest violence has displaced five times that in just two months that the un thinks the number of refugees is probably much higher but they are in areas two or more years and dangerous to reach those that make it to tame pre-campaign tell stories of their escape while among women who are not ones that i had to take all my clothes off and jump into the river i was completely soaked but i didn't

have a choice i was running for my life. the head of the norwegian refugee council says aid agencies are overwhelmed and underfunded the situation is worse now because more armed groups are doing more attacks than ever before just outside of town here and been there where several massacres in recent days and therefore more people have fled into town violence began to increase in eastern d r c when president joseph kabila refused to step down at the end of his mandate in twenty sixteen now it's reached a new level charlotte dallas al-jazeera microchip bangor is president of the association for development and democracy in congo he says the situation is likely to get worse. this new group that used to come to my mind these are the local people local still to cope. with it is insecurity in that the government is

absent so the local people having to form different militia groups and then to fight the fight amongst themselves and then in the causing people to flee and a lot of suffering a lot of violence are actually going in that part of the country that raped children being killed villages in them down so a lot of atrocity have been committed in that part of the country and a hundred survivors of the florida school shooting have arrived in the state capital tallahassee to push for better gun control they said to hold talks to state legislators over making assault style rifles illegal after florida's house of reference representatives earlier rejected a proposed ban seventeen students and staff were killed in the attack in park and last week. i knew that they were that they were going to hear a city just a state one in his apartment forty we have to give them a heads and we have to you know show them how louder voice you want to get is we

don't know how they ever been to listen to us the u.s. president says more needs to be done to protect america's children following last week's school going to tack in which seventeen people were killed on a trump has called for a ban on bumper stocks a device that allows a semi automatic rifle to fire at the rate of a machine gun he's due to speak to survive as a wednesday what's being called a listening session but gun safety advocates say the government is doing the bare minimum castros more on the renewed debate on gun control. the bum stocks a deadly threat was witnessed in october when a gunman used them to rain down bullets on a crowd in las vegas killing fifty eight people the call to bamba stocks was swift . but it took until now four months later for president donald trump to take action . after the deadly shooting in las vegas i directed the attorney general to clarify whether certain bob stock devices like the one used in las vegas are

illegal under current law that process began in december and just a few moments ago i signed a memorandum directing the attorney general to propose regulations to ban all devices that turn illegal weapons into machine guns announcement came six days after yet another mass shooting dominated the headlines seventeen people mostly students were killed in a florida high school there's no indication the shooter also used a bomb stock in the attack but trump's move to ban the devices now appears to be the president bending to growing pressure. polling shows the majority of americans think trump in congress haven't done enough to stop mass shootings and while gun safety advocates say banning bomb stops is good they say there's still much more that needs to be done as it was shot and this isn't to say.

there's a. shot thank. the young survivors of the florida shooting are expected to meet with trump on wednesday for what the white house calls a listening session expected to join them are survivors of past school shootings at sandy hook elementary columbine high school and many others. heidi joe castro al jazeera washington are going to bring you more now on our top story the airstrikes on the syrian rebel held area of east and go to that have killed more than two hundred people as friends in a hot issue joins us live from beirut and what do you think they're hoping to achieve by bombing these residential areas the strategy behind all this carnage. well they are bombing the rebels and the people of eastern into submission more

than two hundred people killed among them sixty children in three days there was intense bombardment intense airstrikes almost continuous really what they were trying to do is make the rebels say enough is enough fine we will lay down our arms we will leave the area this is what the government wants to do this is a military tactic it has happened in the past it has happened in other areas so far the rebels and the people of eastern who are remaining defiant saying that no we will not leave our homes we don't want to you know to go to live this has happened to people elsewhere they've left their homes they've gone to another rebel held territory and they are not never going to be able to go back to their homes so this is a way of forcing us to render now whether or not you know they'll be able to force the rebels to do that is still too early to say and the ground offensive i mean is that likely to. well the ground offensive has not begun yet it will be very costly for the government they've sent reinforcements to the edges of who

they've been you know drumming the war drum saying that you know we're going to have a decisive victory we're going to this will be total victory but it's not going to be easy these rebels are dug in for years there are underground tunnels so it will be a costly operation as of yet the ground offensive has not begun so they're going to keep on bombing and we're hearing from the what the newspapers syrian paper close to the government saying that this is the bombing campaign is the beginning of a vast operation on really a lot of saber rattling to force the people to surrender thank you for that. still ahead on al-jazeera. in southeast and france as the french government reveals its new plans for an immigration law the mayor of this city says the state should be doing all to protect refugees. and scientists send a warning that official intelligence may not always be a small side. hello

there we've got a lot of stormy weather across parts of the mediterranean at the moment the satellite picture is showing plenty of cloud there across italy and up into the southeastern parts of europe and also plenty more heading through greece as well so lots of wet weather around at the moment and still plenty of disturbed weather as we head through the next few days as well as our system works its way across towards the colder air in central europe you see we see a fair amount of snow there in that clings on even as we head through the day on thursday so the northeast still staying cold for now minus two is the maximum temperature in warsaw for now it is warmer for with the air towards the northwest six will be our maximum there in london now some of the unsettled weather across the mediterranean is making its way into the northern parts of africa as well we're expecting a few more hefty showers there around the coast about syria including audi's on

wednesday and a few more showers will be making their way through tunisia and maybe just scraping the coast of libya as well as we head into thursday for about though here it should stay dry in our maximum temperature will be around seventeen degrees even further towards the south and we have a few showers here particularly over parts of uganda and into deal congo some of these are looking rather lively but towards the west for most of us in west africa it should be more or less dry. the cards.

are you watching i was there on mind of top stories this the rebel held area of east and go to is and more heavy bombardment by russian and syrian forces of these two hundred fifty people have been killed in the bombing attacks since sunday eastern goods has been besieged by the government since twenty thirty the un's refugee agency is warning of a humanitarian disaster of extraordinary proportions in democratic republic of congo it has put security in the region is hindering the tens of thousands of people. survivors of the florida school shooting of arrived in the state capital to

meet politicians over banning assault style rifles the u.s. president has already called for a ban on devices that allow a semiautomatic rifle to fire much faster. the u.s. state department says north korean officials decided at the last minute not to meet vice president mike pence during winter olympics it says pence seen here sitting in front of north korean leader kim jong un sr was willing to see her and other officials from pyongyang they were in south korea for the opening ceremony of the pyung chang games the meeting would have been the first between seen senior officials from the two countries attach a good name is more from seoul. this aborted meeting was two weeks in the making the cia learned that the north koreans wanted to meet with u.s. vice president mike pence while he was attending the opening ceremony of the pyong chang olympics it was slated to take place in seoul the following day at the

presidential blue house the south koreans would act as an intermediary but only the united states and north koreans would be present two hours before that scheduled meeting the north koreans backed out they were apparently angry because earlier that week pence had said that the toughest round of economic sanctions has yet to come and that the united states would continue exerting maximum pressure on north korea to denuclearize he also said that he wouldn't allow quote north korean propaganda to conceal its human rights abuses north korea was also said to be angry because pence met with north korean defectors now the intent by the united states in having this meeting was not to negotiate or deescalate in fact it was to send it face to face a message to the north koreans that the united states plan to continue its policy of maximum pressure this comes as the north korean leader has invited the south

korean president in to come to pyongyang for a meeting moon says that any way that the relationship between the two koreas improves must involve dialogue between the united states and north korea the north koreans are saying they have no desire publicly at least to engage in dialogue with the united states the palestinian leaders proposed an international peace plan with israel that rules out the u.s. as the chief broken mahmoud abbas told the u.n. security council that palestinians have lost faith in the donald trump government's ability to mediate for medicare to james base reports. president abbas's presence here was rare and carefully calculated normally his ambassador attends this monthly meeting he came himself to express his displeasure at the trumpet ministration he suggested its decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's

capital and to cut funding to the un agency that helps palestinians disqualified it from leading peace efforts instead he proposed a new approach very early on. i would call for the convening of an international peace conference by mid two thousand and eighteen based on international law and relevant un resolutions with broad international participation including the two concerned parties and regional and international stakeholders present a bias left immediately after his speech nothing unusual there in terms of un protocol he was the only head of state in a room full of ambassadors and had another engagement to attend it didn't stop the israeli ambassador using it to score a point i expected news that a bass to stay with us and have a dialogue unfortunately is once again running away. the u.s.

ambassador came to the meeting accompanied by the two men president trump was tasked with leading negotiations jason greenblatt and his own son in law jared coercion or she said president abbas had a choice the united states stands ready to work with the palestinian leadership our negotiators are sitting right behind me ready to talk but we will not chase after you the choice mr president is yours it was a security council session full of drama and theatrical but the reality is depressingly familiar this meeting in no way brings very close a resolution to a conflict that's already lasted over seventy years james bros outages era of the united nations the french government is reviewing a new immigration bill that expected to streamline the asylum process but make it harder for people seeking jobs some m.p.'s in the president's own party say the

proposal betray france's humanitarian tradition other say the bill's not tough enough to touch about a report from quinn over a nineteenth century fort overlooks the french city of grand old it was built to defend the city that is close to the swiss and italian borders and tucked into the foothills of the alps these days the town council is doing its best to welcome people who arrive here it provides emergency shelter for refugees many from africa kosovo or albania people are coming squats settlements in the city and this is a first possibility for them to get stable life. with more refugees arriving in france each year the government's decided to change the country's immigration policy the government's proposed immigration speed up asylum procedures it would also provide more refugee housing at the same time it would mean longer

periods in detention for the recent had their asylum requests rejected and it would increase deportation the french president says it's all about france continuing to welcome what he calls genuine asylum seekers cracking down on so-called economic migrants critics of the proposed law say it's too tough mayor says the city seen an increasing number of refugees and the state has a duty to protect them in the ground and decide to have a very strong and armed. police iraq. but actually it doesn't work at all don't these citrus you know the immigration plans of also created re divisions in the president's own party some n.p.c. french values are being forgotten they sought how dare they toss your deviancy detention centers are becoming prison switch on one of the of our republic. in last year's presidential election emmanuel mcconnell's main rival was the anti

immigration candidate marine le pen for some analysts the planned law is an attempt by the centrist president to stop the resurgence of the far right the voters of haven't vanished haven't disappeared and when you see what happened in germany. chancellor merkel agreed to a million refugees and migrants and then ninety two far right. before in the next elections i think this has been seen as a lesson for the neighboring countries of germany and particularly france where the far right is very powerful. for macro it's a political gamble he may police on the political right and far right but he risks and many on the left have supported him until now in the meantime refugees like these will continue to try and reach france in the hope of a better life natasha butler al-jazeera. venezuela's opposition says it won't put

forward a candidate for april's presidential election calling the vote a trap set up by president nicolas maduro the exiled opposition leader and four years there is masses the poll will be rigged in favor of metol. we're not going to participate in the presidential elections because it would be suicide it's not an election it's a trap and it would be absurd for the democratic opposition which represents the vast majority of venezuelans who want real change in the country to a regime by the far better frequent fraudulent elections venezuela has become the first government to launch its own digital currency the petro president maduro hopes it'll ease a deepening financial crisis and offset a collapse in venezuela's currency the petros price is tied to the cost of a barrel of oil the government has promised that venezuelans will be able to use the coins to pay taxes and public services. before superman the perfect

kryptonite was made the cryptocurrency the petro superman would be able to handle us we have our own cryptocurrency brazil's senate has approved a presidential decree allowing the military to take over policing in rio de janeiro soldiers began patrolling the streets on friday the government said the move is needed to combat rising gang violence but it's prompted protests with some saying it could lead to the use of excessive force. that is the woman in thailand who are defying a ninety year old ban they want to be ordained as buddhist monks and their actions are gaining popularity scott heard the reports from bangkok. it's a common sight with an uncommon twist buddhist monks collecting all names during the pre-dawn hours and rural thailand but beneath these saffron robes are women female monks are not recognised by thailand's buddhist leadership or by the government in one nine hundred twenty eight the thai buddhist supreme patriarch

banned them even though the constitution guarantees religious freedom the government has always supported the ninety year old declaration yet despite this the number of female monks is growing when. was the first taiwo meant to be ordained she had to go to sri lanka because it's the only a theravada buddhist country that allows it she runs a temple for female monks sixty kilometers from bangkok we have not done anything against the law so that that's why right now after seventeen years of my ordination now you have widened two hundred seventy women ordain. one top ranking male monk in bangkok yes these types of temples for women called should be shut down. that they refer to the constitution says they are allowed the religion is not knowing nor can be amended any time. soon this is wrong and cannot be pickaninny

a member of the thai human rights commission says that the government's approach that people need to issue is done with one eye closed the monks have made several failed attempts to become officially recognized herself an ordained novice mikko legal gone thinks the issue of female monks needs to be properly revisited is a racist in this conflict it already. referred to a d n a supreme. in one thousand nine hundred twenty eight despite the growing number of piquante there's a difference of opinion among thais. it's time people nature where will be his dad and sells carefully and respectfully he would just rest by them and the picu need to behave well and respect the mob. as i see it the temple should be shot down because it's not right it looks inappropriate to when not only

r.p. could be helping the community and setting an example for all monks in thailand. but as women they are better equipped to deal with the contemporary social issues that have not been addressed by either the government nor the buddhist leadership it's got harder al-jazeera banco warning down the threats of artificial intelligence twenty six world experts in emerging technologies say cyber crime will grow and drones will be misused in the next decade and the hayward reports from cambridge in the united kingdom. it is the stuff of science fiction or at least it used to be a computer able to master and a chinese boardgame without human help to win every time and a truck that drives to itself computers and vehicles powered by artificial intelligence now leading a demick so warning not to put the brakes on ai but that the technology is increasingly being used for malicious purposes for political or financial gain to

extort and to gain influence cyber attacks on infrastructure as we've seen in ukraine attacks on computers in hospitals manipulation people for example we've seen some. attempts to manipulate political elections in the us and in europe recently now those have been varying degrees of effectiveness with the techniques we have today but artificial intelligence will allow new types of cyber attacks that might be more capable than we had before very safe. from health care to walk their machine based thinking is revolutionizing the way we live exposing us to the benefits and the risks the robot here has been designed to pick up these little bricks and put them back on the green mats now this is just a laboratory setting but in five or ten years time it could be developed to work on a construction site or support in the design or wouldn't want the technology

hijacked the report's authors a calling on governments and the industry itself to do more to protect us from all the pitfalls experts warned of the serious consequences it's absolutely right that we issue warnings with ai because the capabilities of the possibilities for it going wrong are absolutely they could be actually tragic we need to be able to get to grips with this now ai is clearly here to stay and staying one step ahead of those who were. to abuse it will be a constant challenge emma haywood al-jazeera cambridge. and i get a quick run for the top stories the rebel held enclave of eastern go to is under more heavy bombardment by russian answer and forces since sunday at least two hundred fifty people have died in the bombing attacks santa has more from beirut.

they are bombing the rebels and the people of eastern huta into submission more than two hundred people killed among them sixty children in three days there was intense bombardment intense airstrikes almost continuous really what they were trying to do is make the rebels say enough is enough fine we will lay down our arms we will leave the area this is what the government wants to do this is a military tactic it has happened in the past it has happened in other areas so far the rebels and the people of eastern huta are remaining defiant saying that no we will not leave our homes the un's refugee agency is warning of a humanitarian disaster of quote extraordinary proportions in the southeastern part of democratic republic of the congo the u.n.h.c.r. says poor security is hindering attempts to help the thousands of people who've been displaced by violence survivors of the florida school shooting of a arrived in the state capital to push for better gun control the u.s.

president has already called for ban on devices that allow a semi automatic rifle to fire much faster donald trump is due to hold a listening session with survivors of several mass shootings later. the u.s. says north korean officials decided quote at the last minute not to meet vice president mike pence during the winter olympics the state department says pence seen here sitting in front of north korean leader kim jong un sr was willing to see her and other officials from pyongyang the meeting would have been the first between senior officials from the two countries the u.s. says it's ready to talk peace with the palestinians but won't chase them the reaction from the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. comes after palestinian leader mahmoud abbas proposed an international peace summit with israel but he wants one that rules out donald trump's government as the chief broker israel ambassador to the u.n. accused of us of insincerity saying he's refused to meet its prime minister those

are the headlines the news will continue here on al-jazeera but first we're going to take you over to inside story to say what. news has never been more available but the message is a simplistic and misinformation is rife the listening post provides a critical counterpoint challenging mainstream media narrative at this time on al-jazeera the world is failing its newborns that's the warning today from unicef in a report that says the death of babies globally is alarmingly high so can child mortality be reduced and if so how this is inside story.