it's been covered. and there's more people around the world struggle to find drinking leaders and researchers gather in brazil to address a critical issue march on al jazeera. struggling to breathe the doctors accuse the syrian government of another chlorine gas attack. hello again without is there life and also coming out. protests in seoul against

a controversial north korean general leading the latest talks in the south. warnings from the united nations is more than half of south sudan's people face hunger. how an israeli tax plan has led to the closure of one of christianity's holiest sites. in health authorities in syria say a child has died a dozen more people are being treated for injuries after a suspected chlorine gas attack but this is of reported smelling that gas after an explosion in the rebel held district of eastern ghouta this is video that purports to show the victims who as you can see all struggling to bring the syrian government has denied using chemical weapons in the war and the mathematician today we have more than thirty dead dozens of minutes long. of chemical weapons with

chlorine sarin and other gases from iran we don't know what they are russian accommodate don't care about un council decisions they still bombard us and use chemical weapons against us america france turkey saudi arabia what are they waiting for britain what are they waiting for are they waiting for us to be exterminated in eastern. at least eighteen people have been killed in government and rocket fire. and that's despite the cease fire resolution that was passed by the un on saturday then a hall that has the latest from beirut. there has been no letup in the violence activists reporting more civilian deaths women and children killed in yet another airstrike also activists reporting a chlorine attack now there has been a drop in the intensity of the bombardment if you compare it to the first few days of this bombing campaign which were really relentless and more than five hundred people were killed a drop in the intensity but nevertheless this bombardment continues the alliance

putting more pressure on the people of. the pro-government alliance at the same time trying to advance on the ground trying to push and to. have been able to hold their ground they're deeply entrenched in eastern governments really concentrating in front line areas in areas and towns close to the front lines with makes it easier for them to advance because people start fleeing fleeing the area so no letup in the violence clearly the security council resolution calling for a cease fire there was a lot of loopholes one of them is that terrorist groups are excluded and everyone understands a terrorist group to mean something else the russians and the iranians making it clear they believe still held by terrorists yes even the rebel groups there say. is present a few hundred of them but they're ready to leave but what is clear is that the government wants all rebels to leave including. people who are from they don't want

to leave with their families but clearly the government is going to push ahead with this bombing campaign one objective and that is to recapture. some of invade has more now on the fighting and a warning you may find some of the images disturbing. this is what the united nation agrees house to stop. me. hours into the u.n. security council's thirty day ceasefire declaration bombs dropping on. injuries from more than one hundred airstrikes. and artillery bombardment all of which was supposed to and continues in the rebel held area home to four hundred thousand syrians. what experiences from b.b.'s these fires in in syria don't give us high expectation it's the fish and when this fishing what's what they say about the cease fire will start as soon as possible one this possible we don't know we

don't we don't know when this will stop and and then here this is a big number of population it wants to be a solution that feeding them one or two convoys and one be the solution and that's we evacuated one thousand or two thousand of them to be seated out of rudolph as feared government forces try to enter eastern huta from three sides attempting to seize as much landis possible before the cease fire is implemented reinforcements from the syrian army's fourth and tenth brigades have been circling east and who different days special forces and troops from the elite tiger battalion are also on the frontlines. bulldozers and tanks are deployed to breach rebel defenses iran and syria maintain that the security council resolution allows the targeting of what they call terrorists thank this by keeping large numbers and heavy rebels in. their front lines or for killing and capturing some soldiers.

we welcome the security council's decision regarding a ceasefire because of the burden on our families and he said this suffering must be lifted of the decision to stop the bloodshed caused by the regime in eastern guta as usual we didn't find any commitment by the syrian regime and its russian allies. northwestern go to southern with almost every front and has been stalled by the regime on sunday in order to achieve some advance but they haven't succeeded. many besieged people have been stranded in underground shelters for days and feared worse to come. we can't eat because there's nothing to eat our sons have no work my son has five children and he doesn't know how to feed them we will die hungry without food we've been targeted now homes have been destroyed we have done nothing to be treated and targeted like this but eastern good has been intensity

targeted for the past week the u.n. called it hell on earth. the calls the victims in syria martyrs that have been conversations between the leaders of france germany and russia to drive persuade the assad government to stop attacks and allow in humanitarian aid that's when the people continue to face what they see is annihilation. of the turkey syria border. all right let's speak now to the chemical weapons expert hey mr breton. from london thank you for joining us what are your observations having seen the footage that we've all just been looking at as to what's going on in. well particularly from the chemical perspective i think we are looking at a chemical attack according to sack a lot of the doctors who are treating the people who were injured or doctors that i know have trained myself in my role as the chemical voice that you know syrian

medical charities run a lot of the hospitals and groups are so. if they're saying it's chlorine then that is pretty good i think secondly of course looking at the images that you show and looking at images of people sent to me. it seems severe respiratory problems are occurring i got a synonymous with corey. it seems the loans mixes with the fluid in the loans to produce a very powerful acid which then destroy some certainly cherishing is very consistent with an attack on i think the third element. of this at all in any way is we know the charge to start we know that children are more just to sex of all adults in january cope with a couple of long hauls of gas and survive children car and anderson ok amy i'm just i'm just wondering because chlorine is not actually banned is it it's not a

a banned chemical how treatable is it and of cools the children it's much more a much more difficult a much more dangerous prospect isn't it having inhaled some of this stuff. well chlorine is a violent chemical that is a misinterpretation of man and i expect also the russians and syrian regime for it was the first chemical weapon in the first war the geneva convention and the chemical weapons convention very clearly states that any toxic substance used to enjoy or kill people is illegal so it is an anathema to say but chlorine is not a chemical weapon it is i think the second thing i would say is this is a classic tactic in your piece earlier you were describing how people sheltered on the ground for many days what we seen in both aleppo in december sixteen and in goose or more recently it is used to force women and children out of the shelters where they're susceptible to attack and so your children are much more susceptible

than loans and others are passed as adults and of course the civilians who do so none of them have gas moss to be able to protect themselves so it is a really dreadful weapon and of course the regime in claiming they are attacking just a little more struck another jihadists well we're yet many of them dead it seems just civilians who are dying and coming to the attacks at the moment and more than twenty four hours after the u.n. security council approves a ceasefire for the whole of of syria how long realistically do you think it will be the thought of the people of eastern go to and elsewhere in the country can expect the guns to fall silent. well i like everybody else it will be as soon as possible that house although the guns are still far away it does seem a bit less than on saturday before the ceasefire came into a fact i personally believe and i've been lobbying the british government to do this that but we need your own wallaces and gives us the un monitors who went into

eastern alaska to allow the evacuation that were very effective and i think without impartial monitors on the ground at scaly very difficult to make sure that those who need evacuation and there are a hundred seventy five children dying in neutral the moment we desperately need medical support and many others get out and we conversed of course we need to get massive amounts of aid in to get it to feed those starving people and i think the u.n. have a key role to play. but the u.n. security council will also arise you are more nurses to be in use or to ensure that this happens hey mr breton golden thank you very much indeed. now the united nations human rights council is meeting in geneva these are high level discussions that were lost in the next month and they're expected to cover the state of human rights across the globe the u.n.

secretary general antonio he will officially open the session in a little while but that's a see now on the scene as we hear from the u.n. secretary general and indeed the u.n. human rights chief will go back to this session in geneva to hear exactly what their priorities are for this meeting of the council there are about three of these meetings usually every year and they can be fairly controversial so we'll keep you right up to date with developments in geneva here at al-jazeera. south korea in the meantime though is pushing for both the u.s. and north korea to compromise says the talks can go ahead soon but the white house remains resolute that any meeting with the north must lead to its ending its nuclear program a north korean general who's visiting south korea has suggested his country is ready for talks with the u.s. kim young presence has been met with protests in seoul many play in the general for the deaths of dozens of south korean sailors in twenty tand mcbride is at the

protest. continuing protests in seoul at the presence of general kim young child on south korean soil a man that many people here blame for the attack in twenty ten that sank a south korean warship with the loss of nearly fifty lives the north koreans have denied they were never involved but people here believe it's an evidence that the north korea can never be trusted under the current leadership but it's true to say that all of the people here share the same kind of optimism of many people in south korea after the build up of goodwill over these olympic games the talks though continue between the visiting north korean delegation and their south korean counterparts according to moon jay in the south korean president it is the only way forward to try and deescalate tensions here looking for the ultimate denuclearization of north korea but in the background is the united states

concerned that this is a continuing charm offensive by north korea and that the south koreans are being beguiled the united states and also many protesters here believe that north korea has not changed despite all the smiles and that now is the time for a united front against what they believe is still a potentially very dangerous adversary and another of our correspondents in south korea is natasha good name she has more from come. from protesters at the border and the stadium too uncomfortable questions asked by reporters. it was a controversial arrival at the closing ceremony of the winter olympics for the north korean delegation. some south koreans are angry about the delegation leader general kin the young chore is thought to be behind attacks against the south

including the sinking of a warship in twenty ten that killed forty six sailors know. president of korea is most zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero north korea hero. role in a protest. no prisoner and the north korean dictator this is. south korean president moon j. in use the games to reboot intercooler ian relations the so-called peace olympics included a joint women's hockey team athlete celebrating korean nationalism by marching under a unified flag as well as a visit by kim yo jiang the sister of the north korean leader she arrived with an invite for moon to visit pyongyang that's a two hour test it was a good olympics are so concerned about it last year but when so well many north

koreans came in i wish this could lead to unification i didn't it was interesting it was an honor for us to host it i really enjoyed it and. even the choice of olympic venues was symbolic gang one province is divided between the north and south. of them and if the tension continues tourists don't come so peace is very important to our economy north korea participated in the olympics and this has become a basis for establishing peace here and that means a lot to us. for the russians the games and did as they began marching without their flag two of their athletes were disqualified after testing positive for banned drugs four years on from the sochi doping scandal russians were only allowed to compete under an olympic flag. as all athletes return home the question here is what happens after the olympics. the u.s. announced its toughest package of sanctions against north korea on friday with the

hope it will pressure the country to denuclearize whether that will work when other sanctions have failed remains to be seen and there's no word yet on when president moon might travel to the north if he does he'll become the first south korean president to meet kim jong un since he became leader seven years ago natasha going to al-jazeera south korea. now the un has called for an investigation after security forces in the democratic republic of congo opened fire on protesters two people were killed dozens of others were injured in violence across the country that gathered to church on sunday to call for the president to resign pay to shop ripple. the catholic church has been at the forefront of demonstrations calling on the congress president joseph kabila to stand down. and after morning service on sunday protesters took to the streets again. since december more than

a dozen people have been killed by security forces in protest like these and today there was an all too familiar response by police. to gas quickly followed by gunfire the earth for the local candy was shot dead before the march started. his body taken to a nearby hospital in that. city two others were seriously injured one of them a student serge moca a washington george i'm not protesting by accident or in vain and not because i don't know why i'm protesting but protesting today i was just claiming my right and this is what happened to me. organizers said the protesters no longer believed in the political will of current leaders to ensure a peaceful transition of power if capital is forced to stand down let me just get there is killing here is kabila condemning them he's not condemning the metol we will not end these protests we will maintain our fight and we will go up to the end

with this fight. as with previous protest marches internet data and messaging services cut across the congo the more you can if you want. but the opposition message is getting out. in the shooting by the security forces is for the stoking up anger peter shop al-jazeera. the nigerian government has sent its air force to search for more than one hundred girls who are missing after a boko haram attack gunman targeted a school in the country's northeastern state of you know the last week one hundred ten of the schools nine hundred students remain unaccounted for president bihari called the abduction a national disaster. the number of people in south sudan who don't know where their next meal is coming from has risen to an alarming level a new u.n. report says more than half the population is now totally dependent upon handouts

and health a third is are on the brink of starvation show that paris has more. half of south sudan some five million people of facing malnutrition and even starvation this map shows how hard it is to get food in south sudan people in yellow areas can find just enough food to survive all are into areas represent a crisis phase where many people mel nourished and red areas are one stage more severe where there are high levels of malnutrition and people at risk of starvation in january one million people in the raid areas a forty percent increase on the same time last year and this is the u.n. forecast for the middle of the the orange and the raid areas grow to include areas with seven million people living what is in these maps is to mit's what the u.n. calls catastrophe areas where there could be widespread starvation from zero in january one hundred and fifty five thousand people will fall under the category

within the next six months south sudan had only just experienced a famine last year was the first to be declared in any country since twenty eleven the struggle to find enough food since of war broke out and twenty three are saying a quarter of the population is displaced food prices have soared and fighting has prevented many farmers from planting and harvesting crops. four people have died following an explosion in the united kingdom of gloucester ripped through a convenience store and a home is about that in the city of lessons for more people were injured police don't yet know the cause of the explosion but say it's not believed to be linked to terrorism. the philippines is celebrating the country's return to democracy it's been thirty two years since the end of the federal and local state data ship but some fear the current president rodriguez to ted today is trying to bring back the

era of the strongman under schapelle ripple. for thirty two years filipinos have come together to celebrate a watershed moment in their history when a revolution forced president ferdinand marcos from power. in recent years that unity has been tainted by partisan politics between political dynasties and concerns of the current leader rodriguez deter take his tuna style joke of the marcus era it's important to stand up now especially since last year we saw that this administration blatantly disregarded our history that they buried the dictate our marcos and now we are very independent she's from the current regime of the current government after twenty years in power marcos was toppled in an army back to revolt after he was accused of cheating in the presidential election when filipinos flooded at a main road in manila demanding an end to corruption and human rights abuses

thousands were killed for voicing opposition to his rule do territories were on drugs reminds many of the darker time because thousands more filipinos have been killed. despite that and opposition from these protesters and others such as the roman catholic church to tear to remains popular able to withstand whatever criticism he gets from rights groups the media and his political opponents and several new show on the. we are celebrating decades more than three decades there could be news to define what we are a nation which is a democratic society. are republican government where there is a rule of law not the man the problem with he's after that's all we all would. deter to wish the protesters well calling the anniversary a time for unity in the name of democracy but unlike his predecessors he wasn't there to deliver his message or hear how polarized his policies have made these

filipinos feel and are chapelle al-jazeera. australia has a new deputy prime minister after weeks of mounting pressure falls barnaby joyce to quit he's been replaced by veterans affairs minister michael mccall mack the conservative joyce campaigned on family values and came under fire when it was revealed he'd had an extramarital affair with his press secretary he also faces a sexual harassment complaint caribou melhem has the latest from sydney. well the government is now hoping that it can move on from the toxicity and the sniping back and forth between the two parties who make up the governing coalition you've got to remember that the coalition is the most successful political arrangement in a stranger's postwar period and neither side wanted to see that arrangement derailed a prime minister malcolm turnbull had been calling barnaby joyce is affair with

a former staffer a shocking error of judgment barnaby joyce retaliated calling his comments inept so that relationship really deteriorated but now they're hoping for a fresh start with the election oath michael mccormack as nationals leader and deputy leader of the country he says that he wants to focus on uniting his team and on building up teamwork and on really bringing back the focus to governing and keeping the opposition labor party out of government who have been really enjoying the spectacle of the last three weeks the german chancellor angela merkel has unveiled her pick for a new coalition cabinet as she gets ready to begin a full term in power she's given her toughest critics from within a room christian democratic party the role of health secretary thirty seven year old yens spawn wants the party to take a more conservative focus than mrs merkel centrist approach other fresh faces of

also being offered positions in a sign that she has heeded calls to revive the party. the former taliban prime minister silvio berlusconi has addressed hundreds of supporters of his fourth party ahead of next weekend's elections he's hoping he can win enough votes to form a right wing coalition government. records. this is not an operation of elections past but the return of the great survivor of italian politics despite the scandals the humiliating political defeats and a conviction for tax fraud anyone who gambled on never seeing silvio berlusconi again might feel shortchanged but not the process faithful in a theater in milan to hear his message. yesterday i read a quote from former u.s. president reagan which says they told me that politics is historically the second activity of man and i thought it was very very close to the first activity with therefore need to be respectable in politics. for his supporters it was the one and

only chance to see him campaigning and. even if it's for what he's already done for us he has my support then you know he's a miracle of maturity he has so much energy it comes from his desire to see her rescan tree maybe eighty one years old he may have only just had open heart surgery last year but it seems no better story is back and it's a horrible volatile political stage he is being seen as a safe pair of hands but he is barred from political office because of his tax fraud conviction but in the event of election victory he would have the power to nominate a substitute while the veteran politician has a colorful past in comparison to today's politicians ranging from the populist to the neo fascist scorning is relatively a less controversial figure he remains pro european union a reassuring quality for brussels. despite the fact that one of his political

allies is the al. immigrant anti e.u. leg up party for so italia is seen as a force to keep the far right in check this could be better to score his final comeback his political career has been declared dead several times before but so far that hasn't stopped him taking on to power so here you are jazeera milan. let's go back live now to geneva and the u.n. secretary general you can see him there and tell you the terrorists are about to address the human rights commission let's listen to her body after the security council resolution of last saturday on syria i will allow me please to say a few words in that regards as you know i welcome the security council's adoption of a resolution demanding a cessation of hostilities throughout syria for at least thirty days but

security council resolutions are only meaningful if they are effectively implemented and that is why i expect the resolution to be immediately implemented and sustained but equally to ensure the immediate safe and impeded and sustained delivery of humanitarian aid and services evacuation of the critically sick and the wounded and the alleviation of the suffering of the syrian people as you know the united nations is ready to do its part as i had the opportunity to say in the security council itself a few days ago in particular is them good cannot wait it's high time to stop these hell on earth and that remind all parties of their absolute obligation on international humanitarian and human rights law to protect civilians and

civilian infrastructure at all times and similarly efforts to combat terrorism do not supersede these obligations. miss you liberals you don't you consider god long missile if you don't know solution here are. excel laws. dami the same issue since i don't know why it would do move toward levy is certainly so this is the u.n. secretary general and tony are the terror share opening up this session of the un human rights commission as you've just heard i mean he's highlighted one of the most important issues at the moment as see as he sees it and that is the implementation of that u.n. security council resolution which calls for a ceasefire across syria let's go back and listen a little more and that all governments have the duty to allow each and every one to enjoy their alienable rights and freedoms. in this regard i would like to in

equivocally state that when we talk of human rights we refer to the whole catalogue of civil political economic social and cultural rights recognized in the declaration as being universal wherever we live or whatever our circumstances or place in society are sex or sexual orientation race religion or beliefs we are all equal in rights and dignity. the universal declaration also establishes that respect for human rights is the best preventive strategy it was disdain for these rights that led to the acts of barbarism committed during the second world war in today's world it's also by ensuring the primacy of human rights that we can prevent conflicts. all the crises currently

being considered by the security council invariably intertwined with human rights violations and attacks on these rights they may range from the violation of individual and collective freedoms to blatant hundred fringe mintz of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity i congratulate the human rights council for focusing on prevention in the informal dialogues it's held in plea on during twenty seventeen my office stands ready to support the council in strengthening its preventive role so only by respecting and promoting human rights that we can achieve the goal set in agenda twenty thirty to ensure the future of diverse inclusive peaceful and sustainable societies on a healthy planet diversity is a source of wealth for all societies. i personally i'm aware of the importance of

human rights i grew up under a dictatorship and has high commissioner for refugees i witnessed the terrible repercussions of human rights violations and i'm only too aware that we still have a long road to travel with the president this is not to deny that we have made considerable progress in the past seventy years people around the world have gained progressively greater freedoms and equality. conditions of profound economic music in the exploitation have been improved women's rights have advanced along with the rights of children victims of racial and religious discrimination indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities and perpetrators of horrific human rights violations have been prosecuted by international tribunals but he's also plain that the words of universal declaration are not yet matched.