is case and media repression in egypt journalism is not a crime this time on al-jazeera. facing new realities growing up when did you realize that you were living in a special place a so-called secret city getting to the heart of the matter why is activists to live in jail just because she expressed herself hear their story on talk to al-jazeera at this time. oh. look book more dates in the syrian rebel held district of east and go to where government forces are pounding the area with air strikes killing more than two hundred people.

in this is al jazeera live from coming up a warning from the u.n. democratic republic of congo faces a crisis of extraordinary proportions of ethnic violence in the east survivors of the high school shooting in florida take their demands for gun reform to the state capitol plus. i'm scott hardware 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 gaining support their story coming up. we begin in syria where the rebel held on klav of east and go to continues to come under 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 casualty figure in the area since

a chemical attack in twenty thirteen the bombing has damaged or destroyed six medical facilities has moved from beirut. the targeting of civilians is a military tactic their aim is to bomb people into submission to force them to surrender more than two hundred people killed at least sixty of them children in the past three days intense bombardment intense artillery strikes the government wants the rebel enclave to surrender they want the thousands of rebels in eastern who've had to lay down their arms and agree to leave to move to other rebel held areas in the north of the country and this has happened in the past in other rebel controlled territories so far the rebels and the people of eastern are remaining defiant but how long will be it will they be able to continue to endure this suffering hospitals are being hurt there's very few medical supplies the area has been under siege there's no food there's a lack of a lack of medicine now the government is sending troops reinforced reinforcements

to the edges of eastern and it is promising a ground offensive that ground offensive has still not begun it will be very costly for the government they've tried to storm in the past on numerous occasions but they were not able to take any land so all is the reinforcements the bombing campaign all just the way to put pressure on the rebels to surrender so this is the aim of the bombing campaign but there is no doubt that the suffering that has been causing those international outrage international organizations saying this is unacceptable the opposition saying this is a war of extermination but as of yet there's you know nothing is stopping the syrian government and its allies from continuing this assault. isn't go to was agreed as a so-called deescalation zone last year which was supposed to make civilians safer but the space siege area continues to be a target several rebel factions operating the enclave there are said to possess heavy arsenal including tanks machine guns and anti aircraft weaponry isn't go to

is only a few kilometers away from the syrian capital its proximity to damascus international airport and other military sites has made it an important focus for the government and its allies pornos montes is the un's regional humanitarian coordinator for syria he says the bombing has been so relentless it stopped humanitarian help getting. the situation inside this. extreme and we've seen a dramatic escalation during that 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 describe that there are bombs falling really just minutes apart a lot of civilians are in basements id women and 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

besieging us and many journalists will not be able to do it the un's refugee agency is warning of a humanitarian crisis of extraordinary proportions in eastern democratic republic of congo it says poor security in the tangle province is hindering efforts to help thousands of people in need salah bellus has. the eastern border of the democratic republic of congo isn't whom world reports of violence reach one thousand kilometers north to south. clashes between a ugandan rebel group and seize 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 attain a paddle and you know some died of hunger some drought and the like there's no one to help you there's nothing to eat surviving in the bush like animals.

now at the south east is reaching a tipping point where humanitarian disaster extraordinary proportions is about to hit the southeastern part of the democratic republic of the congress the province of plunges further into violence triggering spiralling displacement and human rights abuses the south east has been plagued by ethnic violence that new armed groups of 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 goodbye now they be heated people they can't open this stomachs removed the guts and lift them to die that's how they killing people. in twenty seven tane an estimated one hundred twenty thousand people fled into neighboring countries this latest violence has displaced five times that in just two months that

the u.n. 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 in been the where several massacres in recent days and therefore more people have fled into town violence began to increase in east and do you see 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 ballasts al jazeera an aid worker has been freed by

kidnappers or killed two of his colleagues in the democratic republic of congo it happened in the eastern province of north kivu the congolese aid workers were working for a french charity specializing in water purification it is one hundred survivors of the florida school shooting have arrived in the state capital tallahassee to push for gun control they said to hold talks with state legislators and call for a ban on assault style rifles after florida's house of representatives earlier rejected a proposal to make them illegal seventeen students and staff were killed in the attack in park and last week. we knew that they were that they were going to hear as if you just a state enemy and park in florida we have to give them a headline and we have to you know show them how our boys you know get it we don't know how everyone's right donald trump has agreed more needs to be done to protect children in the wake of last week's shooting his call for a burn on so-called bomb stocks devices that allow

a semiautomatic rifle to fire at the rate of a machine gun but gun safety advocates say the government isn't doing enough as how to jocasta ports from washington. the bomb scott's deadly threat was witnessed in october when a gunman use them to rain down bullets on a crowd in las vegas killing fifty eight people the call to ban bomb 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 saied a memorandum directing the attorney general to propose regulations to ban all

devices that turn illegal weapons into machine guns drums 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 while gun safety advocates say banning bum stops is good they say there's still much more that needs to be done. and this is. 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 sandy hook elementary columbine high school and many others. i do joe castro al-jazeera washington the u.s. says vice president's mike pence was scheduled to meet north korean officials at the winter olympics but pyongyang canceled at the last minute the state department says penn seen here sitting in front of north korean leader kim jong 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 tests are going to aim as 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 pyung 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 as was still ahead on the edges there. our negotiators are sitting right behind me ready to talk but we will not chase after. a warning from the u.s. about the peace plan that the palestinian president has proposed to the united nations thus families torn apart venezuela. make desperate choices know what it is a vibrant economic crisis.

welcome back the satellite imagery for southeastern parts of asia is useful in that it reveals very little western difficult share activity across the philippines and that's likely to continue during the course of thursday further towards the showers across the borneo java a few thunderstorms are likely here and as you move up through them are a potential weather conditions geria looking too bad all the way towards the southern parts of thailand but we head into friday we'll see a few more showers developing around the gulf of thailand but it should be largely dry across up more eastern parts of cambodia and into central and southern parts of vietnam now heading down into a straight here we've got to trust that low pressure giving summary severe storms across parts of queens and at the moment we've also had the remnants of tropical cyclone kelvin sinking southward and that's going to moving away from south australia as we head on through into thursday so just out into the bite stage but those storms still continue across parts of queensland so they could cause some

real issues elsewhere should be largely dry for sydney with highs of twenty seven degrees down into new zealand then and the remnants of moving away now so we're seeing improving situation across the country in fact not looking too bad for oakland highs of twenty one and christchurch that should also become dry and bright here. in the heart of the amazon libyan families clan lives in peril to harvest brazil nuts. which can sing the congo to the capital is an even more dangerous challenge. risky new tool to believe you know. at this time on al jazeera.

they are watching al-jazeera mind of our top stories this hour the rebel held area of eastern goods is under more heavy bombardment by russian and syrian forces at least two hundred fifty people have been killed since sunday eastern goods has been besieged by the government since twenty thirty. years refugee agency is warning of a humanitarian crisis of extraordinary proportions in eastern democratic republic of congo thousands of people in tegan the province have been forced from their homes because of fighting u.n.h.c.r. says push security is hindering attempts to help those in need survivors of the

florida school shooting of arrived in the state capital to meet politicians of a banning assault style rifles the u.s. president has already called for a ban on devices that allow a semi automatic rifle to fire much faster. turkish forces say they've pushed back pro syrian government militia from the northern region of offering kurdish fighters had asked the syrian government to help fend off a turkish assault present rigid type as valid to capture the air. within days the young clave is controlled by the kurdish y. p.g. which ankara regards as terrorists some avenge of a dismal from gaza and top. free syrian army fighters backed by the turkish government into this military say they have effectively separated the city of offering from the turkish border and sounded from the front they say they have been in control of about ninety sites around the city of offering pushing them closer to inserting the whole city this comes off the back of the latest developments in the

last twenty four hours very cruel syrian government fighters have made it inside the city of offering for the first time after the kurdish fighters asked for the help a number of these five just try to enter the city of offering but after heavy shelling by the turkish government they turned back but some of these fighters have made it inside the city this would be this would make a defers to reinforce them and that has arrived in the city of often enough with the asked for help they are saying that they have been facing heavy bombardment and shelling by the turkish government and called on the syrian government to provide help the syrian government said that it will not send its regular forces but what we are forces or militias loyal to president bashar al assad will be entering the city and some of these fighters have finally made and the turkish president says that they are also moving ahead in trying to capture the city of offering and they are pushing closer and closer to the words the city center and in his words it is only a matter of days the u.s.

says it's ready to talk peace with the palestinians but won't chase after them the reaction at the u.n. comes after palestinian leader mahmoud abbas proposed an international peace summit with israel but he wants one that rules out stronger chum's government as the chief diplomatic editor james space 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 battle 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 has tasked with leading negotiations jason greenblatt and his own son in law jared coercion 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. 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 a television station led mostly by women has launched in gaza despite efforts by hamas authorities to block a type of t.v. says it's the first channel of its kind in the palestinian territory and aims to highlight the role of women in building society are a force that has the story. gaza has a new broadcaster from its title sequence its unique selling point is clear will make up the heart of its content and its intended audience it's called type t.v. tuesday is launch day and

a big moment for its volunteer presenters that i have in my and we're going to start discussing women's issues and try to find solutions for their problems and we will also celebrate their successes. type is going out on facebook twitter you tube and telegram so a local production company provides its facilities free of charge the plan is for programming on issues like inequality and violence but also fashion makeup and comedy down the corridor or the next pair of presenters are running through their lines more student ruba tyler says she's braced for criticism said he and i me and i remember as a society is too conservative they say i should cover my hair and i'm using too much makeup and i shouldn't wear short skirts we need to increase awareness to change this after we launched our first primer i received a lot of negative comments on facebook a few minutes later it's time for her debut. just getting to this point hasn't been easy the production company behind this project had its launch party cancelled on

sunday by hamas police said they didn't have the licenses necessary for a new channel they are challenging that saying they are operating legally and they go to press ahead. in gaza women have to contend with life under the israeli blockade and within a conservative restrictive society female unemployment stands at seventy one percent women with jobs on average about a quarter less than men one recent study suggests more than ten percent of females have suffered physical abuse. a woman isn't free to make her own decisions to choose her education the husband she wants or how to plan her family we see this during our work men a dominant political decision making despite the fact that there are lots of well educated intellectual women in the public arena. it's a picture those a type t.v. want to help change by talking directly and frankly to goes as women are if. gaza. then israel has become the first government to launch its own digital currency the

petra prison because madonna hopes it'll ease a deepening financial crisis and of says a collapse in the country's currency the petros price is tied to the cost of a barrel of oil the government has promised venezuelans they'll be able to use the coins to pay taxes and public services economic crisis has led to widespread shortages that send thousands of people across the border into colombia to buy food and medicine there many others are leaving for good in search for a better life and is on the run here to report on the on the colombian venezuelan port. in this central plaza and hundreds of business well and stand in line for up to seven hours they wait for a wire transfer that will help them and where the economic crisis back home cattlemen travels to this colombian border town every month she needs the money her son sends from the children to buy medicine i don't know but it's not ok honey you

might think that we're happy to come here you receive a little money but instead it's very sad that we can't afford the basic things we need it's painful to be here but it's a sacrifice we have to make it's an excruciating but essential wait in a swell and scam to receive remittances at home due to the exchange controls imposed by the government of president nicolas maduro they used the money to buy basic items for ever more often bus tickets to reach those who already left in search of a better life. oh if they would leave us i'm here to go to korea with my son my husband is already there he saved for fifteen months to pay for our chickens we wanted to stay in venezuela but it's becoming impossible with the upcoming presidential elections where the worried they'll shut the corridor so we decided it was time to go oh my goodness well an immigration experts say a fifth of the population has left the country in the last two years some stay in colombia but increasing numbers continue to other south american countries where it

might be easier to find work the number of buses leaving the station for the ecuadorian border the next stop on these migrants journey has passed from six or seven a week to more than seventy every single day but even that is not enough and some people after wake up to four days for a ticket i finally struggle to save enough for just one bus ticket but when it's time to separate the heartache is palpable. that i mean this sold all they could to get their eldest son a passport in a bus fare to argentina. what i make is not enough to feed us it's sad because we used to have jobs but not me more that's why my son is leaving and my heart is broken no one can resist forever that's why he must go a scene that repeats itself with painful regularity as each bus takes off and more families are torn apart by me says city leaving behind

a sad trail of troma in tears i listen to them as you know. me and has agreed to take back more than six thousand muslim rangar stranded along its border with bangladesh they were among the first to flee military crackdown in rakhine state last august the refugees are refusing to return home without guarantees of citizenship and security within seven hundred thousand have escaped to bangladesh details of a deal aimed at cutting trade barriers in some of asia pacific fastest growing economies have been unveiled the deal known as the t.p. p eleven will be signed next month trade ministers say it will eliminate more than ninety eight percent of tariffs and trades and that accounts for about thirteen point five percent of the world's economy the original pact was thrown into limbo last year when president donald trump withdrew the u.s.

from the agreement that's the woman in thailand who are defying a ninety year old band they want to be ordained as buddhist monks and their actions are gaining popularity scott had a report from bangkok it's a common site with an uncommon twist buddhist monks collecting all during the pre-dawn hours and world toilet. but beneath these front 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. despite this the number of female monks is growing when. was the first taiwo meant to be or days 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 more than two hundred seventy women or did. one top ranking male monk in bangkok you know 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 picking me 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. referred to

a d n a supreme patrick in one thousand nine hundred twenty eight despite the growing number of piccoli there is a difference of opinion among thais. it's people's nature where we're behaved gracefully and respectfully just rest by them and the picu need to behave well and our respect. as i see it the temple should be shot down because it's not right it looks inappropriate. to women not only r.p. could be helping the community and setting the 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 bangkok.

again the top stories on al-jazeera the rebel held on cave of eastern go to the more heavy bombardment by russian and syrian forces since sunday at least two hundred fifty people have died in the bombing attacks zana has moved 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 easter who are remaining defiant saying that no we will not leave our homes the un's refugee agency is warning of a humanitarian disaster of extraordinary proportions in the southeastern part of

democratic republic of congo the u.n. h.c.r. says put security in tang uneek a province is handing 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 u.s. president has already called for a ban on devices that allow a semi automatic rifle to fire much faster. the u.s. says north korean officials decided 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 listen leader mahmoud abbas proposed an international peace summit with israel but he wants one that rules our donald trump's government as the chief broke up those are

the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera but first it is risking it all . show. thank you. thank you thank i. thank you you. thank.