we are going to announce the biggest step in the monkey. decades activists in seats of government we didn't want to be part of this institution and all we really didn't want technologically challenging politics and implementing democracy open source code to use the freedom for everyone to look we are innovators we are activists we are geeks madrid at this time and i'm just you know. sporadic attacks and reports of syrian troops trying to push their way into eastern huta during the second humanitarian pulls. you're watching live from london also coming up on all the branch for the taliban

the afghan president recognized as a legitimate political party. turned to the florida where a gunman killed. two weeks ago. prime minister. proposes a common area across the northern ireland border post. syrian government troops are reported to have launched a ground assault on the edge of eastern hutto the spite her russian ordered poor. footage from inside the damascus suburb appears to show renewed airstrikes on the rebel held enclave russia and syria were. there offensive between nine am and two pm local time to allow for civilians. the syrian observatory for human rights

government. clashes reported. the five. well there are around four hundred thousand trapped in the damascus suburbs. and ambulances waited. crossing point. to go in and evacuate people moscow and the mosque this have accused rebels of shelling the corridor to prevent people leaving rebels than i'd say that people will not leave because they fear that. the people of syria face a direct humanitarian crisis u.n. security council resolution two four zero one has established a framework for all parties to agree upon conditions to elevate the plight of civilians throughout the country russia together with the syrian government have already announced the establishment of humanitarian corridors in east now it is the turn of the militants and their sponsors to act the militants entrenched there

continue the shelling of damascus blocking a delivery is and the evacuation of those wishing to leave well this was contradicted by the russian president vladimir putin he says russia managed to get quite a big group of civilians out of some a binge of itis following the story of that. sources on the ground have not confirmed this large number as reported by the russian president who has crossed over from the crossing into government held parts of damascus many people are still stranded in besieged easton who the home to nearly four hundred thousand people that the second day of this so-called truce and pause went away without any major developments on the ground no aid convoys went inside because the united nations and other aid workers have been saying that this is too short of a window without any guarantees of if they're allowed in whether they'll be able to make it back and also medics on the ground have been saying that they have sent an additional eighty five people to the united nations this is this list is from the

more than one thousand people who are already bit the united nations and the names are read the united nations aid workers have been saying these are people mostly women and children who need urgent medical evacuation because you have to remember that eastern huta has been under siege since two thousand and thirteen there is very limited capacity and capability of medical facilities who are operating in this area they're also running out of medical supplies because in the last eleven days of the onslaught no medical supplies have been out in and the tunnels that were operating in the last year around eastern with which some supplies were able to be smuggled in have also been shut down so it is. a more airstrikes and more shelling is being reported on besieged eastern and rebels are saying that the united nations security council resolution is just words well they're currently discussing the ceasefire so to speak in syria at the u.n. security council so let's go live to a diplomatic editor james bays who is at the u.n.

in new york james we haven't heard from the russian ambassador yet we have heard from other key countries the u.s. china or what are they all saying about the situation on the ground. well each of the fifteen ambassadors getting their chance to speak remember these are the same countries the same security council members who on saturday unanimously agreed to that sees far resolution but despite some of the words coming from moscow the u.n. is pretty clear that that resolution is not being implemented humanitarian aid is not getting in and people are not being evacuated the beginning of the security council meeting had a briefing from two top u.n. officials one of them was mark local he's the undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs the top humanitarian official of the united nations and he said since the resolution had passed on saturday he'd received quite a few questions and he decided to start his briefing by altering those questions

have you got any interagency cross-line convoys through to hard to reach your besieged areas. have you been given permission to access any of those locations. have you received the necessary facilitation letters for convoys. have there been any medical evacuations. have any civilians left eastern ghouta now. is there any actual improvement in the humanitarian situation in eastern guta since the passage of the resolution demanding as it did unimpeded access. well those were the comments of mark local who's the humanitarian chief of the united nations a pretty clear and now the russians will get their chance to make their point. of the russian ambassador is now addressing the security council and the secretary

general mr local and under secretary general mr feltman and incidentally i would i think the opportunity to meet the ask of mr lowcock from where does the u.n. receive information. well you about one of those dead for example is that in damascus according to the syrian authorities information for example from twenty two january february into what twelve people died in damascus and the u.n. says eleven in all the entire month holy whore providing you with the info the information is at the white helmets who are providing you with this information. the u.s. delegation today as is customary recently focused the entire statement on the russian federation. and reported that they know what we will state today. you do not know what we are going to say today i'm very pleased that they didn't see our statement before the beginning of today's meeting. on twenty one

february the security council unanimously adopted an important resolution which is designed to alleviate the humanitarian situation in syria and specifically in those parts of syria where the danger persists of hostilities or where there obstacles so for people receiving the necessary assistance which they need today there were many questions raised the emphatic rhetorical questions questions directly addressed to us and responses or to the questions addressed to us were provided by us when the resolution twenty four zero one was being adopted. many enjoy selectively to quote resolutions and they pass over what is inconvenient and i will quote two phrases from this resolution the first is as follows the two bodies whose whose did it is will go duly and then gauge immediately to ensure full of good

brilliance of implementation of these the mambo will be at this for you double that in pools with these thirty consecutive days through i would ceded to mabel the city finally be to the insisted that he would or he would that in the medical relief. well the same as it is underscores the need for the parties to agree on human need that imposes these a time guillotine look almost seems wise and to says he went there in the agency and then he and the banks do all the think that is in syria there's a new stooge then you did you read the resolution all over the whole of the resolution. we stated and reiterate now that annie and during the pause must be preceded by an agreement over the parties for deescalation demands or to overnight immediately halt hostilities a test either to him a failure to understand reality is on the ground or a deliberate exploitation of human tragedy. and the u.s.

delegation in their statement rewrote resolution twenty four zero one. what kind of a collective effort and the collective efforts that the permanent representative spoke of what kind of work can we speak of after we heard what we heard from the u.s. delegation russia has announced the establishment in eastern guta of daily five hour humanitarian pauses everything possible is being done to ensure their effective operation including a temporary a medical point of emergency teams have been organized vehicular transportation has been provided we call upon the un and the i.c.r.c. and other recognized humanitarian organizations to join the efforts that have been undertaken however on the very first day the militants use the announced pause to stage an onslaught. and the second day the same occurred mortar

shellings continued including targeting the core doors designated for humanitarian operations not a single individual was able to leave the dangerous area we noted in the relevant letters on behalf of the illicit armed groups we were informed in advance of the most convenient means are being sought to inform members of the security council about them you. and this was found and it was a very unique original or one directly through the professional e-mail addresses of all political coordinators this means that somebody deliberately handed over the relevant contact to dubious individuals from the ranks of the radical syrian opposition this is very similar to when information about close negotiations on humanitarian resolutions was made available for western information agencies.

however we trust that the opposition leaders have a serious of minded approach and that their words will meet be met with deeds we anticipate clear guarantees on that count from the foreign sponsors of the fighters that is many of those who are seated here at this table above all what is necessary is a definitive this is so see action from terrorist organizations we need to understand that terrorists remain a legitimate target for military operations and there will be no ceremonial prochoice for them on the whole we need to take a look at how it is possible to effectively neutralized in eastern guta why not demonstrate an intent to cooperate in this or is this something which you do not wish to do. the informational smokescreen has been heightened to an unprecedented level now if resolution twenty four zero one were not to have been

adopted then one can hardly even imagine what would be cooked up now by western media outlets what hughes they would use to depict the russian federation but now when the resolution has been adopted our western partners are pretending are portraying the situation as if everything that is inscribed there in partain exclusive these the mask and the russian federation and that successful implementation they assert of the implementation almost. apparently entirely depends on the will of our country our countries and they are the champions of humanity for some reason fancy themselves in tight at being entitled to read out lectures to us about humanism media outlets above all of us media outlets have mendacious allegations that allegedly we are more are mocking the tragedy of the war the situation in eastern guta that we are calling this campaign overblown and

false in. this thing which humanist once again i ask you where were you when you an aviation raised rocket to the ground where were your wells and hand-wringing after the terrorists were routed from that city moms have elapsed and yet it remains uninhabitable moreover new reports are being received about twenty four civilian casualties as a result of coalition air strikes in paris or province. are these second class citizens or is the death of innocent civilians from democratic bombs something trivial or perhaps even honorable. we call upon the united nations and we insist upon this for the united nations to expeditiously deliver to iraq and assessment mission and a coalition which defacto controls that region to provide all the requisite conditions for this to be done further we expect the coalition leadership instead

of creating quasi administrations in regions liberated from eisel for them to create a plans to bring them to accountability before the central government in the light of what has reaffirmed been reaffirmed by as you get a council that is aligned with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of syria this would be far more constructive then and with lee seeking. what does what do not exist under international law that is justifications for their presence on syrian territory if you have interesting ideas as to how to raise the standing of local government bodies and how to skillfully rebuild the ethno religious bounds ahead existed prior to the war then present them to the syrians at the geneva platform and let them themselves decide under the mediation of the united nations. visit the bends and we've been listening to the russian ambassador to the united

nations business address and the security council there james bays are a diplomatic editor it is on standby he was listening to that and james obviously they're providing a different narrative of both events in syria and to the resolution that was passed just a few days ago by the security council. yes he has a very different view of things and always had has a different view of things but clearly russia on saturday supported the resolution voted in favor of the resolution and the terms of the resolution are not being met he certainly says that russia is on the ground with medical teams and they are trying to help people on the ground in eastern good or not repeating his basra tamir putin's claim of actually evacuated a large number of people that claim from the russian side seems to have disappeared remember when he talks about the russian efforts at a five hour pause it's not at all clear what he said that it's the the rebels who

are stopped that being effective certainly there has been a still shelling from the syrian side as well joining some of those periods so the russians making a case again that they are doing all they can and as he has done many times at the security council trying to she use the example of what happened in iraq where i saw was defeated by the u.s. led coalition and saying that there because there were terrorists on the ground deisel designated by the u.n. as a terrorist group they flatten the city of rocker and making i think a comparison with eastern ghouta where russia says the groups they're fighting there are terrorists that is certainly disputed by other members of the security council and think it's worth also noting barbara that some of the armed groups have actually written to the security council saying they are willing to support the ceasefire and are willing to kick any al nasra elements out of eastern ghouta

gainsborough the latest from the u.n. thanks. to afghanistan where the president ashraf ghani has offered to recognize the taliban as a legitimate political party the offer was made during the kabul process peace conference where twenty five countries were meeting the training this year initiate a meaningful process aimed at ending the sixty year long war tony berkeley reports . it was a warm and far reaching speech in which the afghan president offered the taliban a peace deal without precondition he also promised official political recognition and an office in kabul if the armed group joins the peace process of the taliban a machine. i call on the taliban and their leadership today the decision is in your hands accept peace a dignified peace will come together to safeguard this country which has been the

results of our sacrifices and struggle. they were his most conciliatory words as president garny has previously described the taliban as terrorists and rebels but now he says he will not prejudge any group he even went as far as to say taliban fighters and officials could be removed from international blacklists delegates representing twenty five regional and international countries have come together in the afghan capital to try and devise a peace strategy aimed at ending sixteen years of conflict it comes at a time when all sides are showing they are willing to talk the door is still open and they have shown softness in their stand. not just the taliban but the afghan government and its international counterparts as well and i think it's the perfect time maybe in maybe not for the peace deal to be struck at this stage but probably for a temporary ceasefire which could be done pave the path for is sustainable peace in

the long term. the taliban previously insisted on changes to the afghan constitution and the removal of the us military from the country as a precondition to peace talks but it has always refused to talk directly to the afghan government which he describes as american puppets the group no longer mentions withdrawal all the constitutional changes on top of this the americans are said the door to peace is still open to the taliban and they have put much pressure on pakistan to help in this regard the u.s. military has been increasing its bombing missions from the air while the taliban has been stepping up its suicide attacks on the ground but everyone agrees that this war cannot be won militarily. even as president ghani was delivering his speech news came through about how thirty people were abducted by the taliban near kandahar nineteen of them policemen is what their fate is uncertain and it shows that the violence in afghanistan is continuing as normal no one is suggesting that

peace is about to break out in afghanistan but the encouraging signs and language which are coming from all parties are raising hopes here that may be the first tentative steps of ending this brutal war of being taken tony berkeley al jazeera kabul. teachers and students have returned to marjory stoneman douglas high school in florida two weeks after a gunman stormed the school killing seventeen people students will attend half days at the school until further notice the three story building where the shooting actually took place has been closed indefinitely and will likely be torn down pressure is continuing to mount on republican lawmakers to tighten u.s. gun laws in the wake of the attack. gallagher joins us live now from outside the school in parkland that florida and the i guess

a lot of the students there must be quite proud of all the work they've done in the past few weeks to highlight the issue of gun laws and the danger that a lot of students are in in the united states but at the same time this their first day back at school must be very painful and very difficult. i think there is a great sense of pride in this community the students of the past two weeks but i think today was a very traumatic but in. the principal of the school told the children here don't bring your notepads don't bring your pencils and your backpacks this is a day of healing inside this school grief counselors were on hand lots of the students were pretty excited to get back to school to see their friends to talk about what happened here two weeks ago when they lost seventeen people let's just hear from a couple of the students who made that brave walk through the gates of the marjorie high school. i'm a little nervous very. very sick how there's so much security here and i just want

my friends i just hope that we've started to change and that something is going to come out of this and. have so much more faith in safety at school knowing that if we can make a change and that we've done something and we've taken this horrible thing in made sure it won't happen again. so going forward the school will remain on half days the grief counselors will remain on hand but one thing the students say they are determined to carry on is keep on pushing for what they call common sense gun reform they're not giving up they're starting social media campaigns they're planning a march in washington d.c. next month there is a determination not just from the students but for so from their parents and the wider community that this has to be the last time in this country that a gunman is able to walk inside a school with an assault rifle and kill so many people the refrain of never again

is beginning to echo way beyond the sunshine state way beyond here in parkland florida and these students are determined their message will be heard and they gallagher with the latest from parkland in florida and they think. that the european union's chief negotiator has unveiled the first draft text of the legal agreement with britain on the countries the parcher from the bloc next year michel back here says the agreement is a key defining moment in the long and complex process the british government has so far rejected any measure that would create a customs border between northern ireland and the rest of the u.k. that the has more. just over a year before brits it's due to happen brussels and britain still seem far apart european union chief negotiator says one of the main points in the new draft withdrawal treaty is how to avoid a hard border on the island of islands and controversially it contains as

a solution of last resort a common regulatory area in effect keeping northern ireland in a customs union with the you separate to the rest. back to the united nations security council and here is a representative from. organization you can be pursued. this is clear we because it has failed to implement the principles of the charter and international law since its inception. and the palestinian question is a case in point you need. action when you when there is also another failure by the united nations in iraq libya yes it was love you grenada for those who were forgotten grenada nicaragua you know africa and the list goes on like you i don't often don't and a half of my life and one of them are from one of them but i hope we can preserve

the united nations as an organization since it has lost the charitable part of its mandate. i wouldn't wish it in the pot. i would like to make the following points. i wouldn't do a good. one you know the syrian government is committed fully to the principles of international law international humanitarian law as well as syrian laws and the syrian constitution which all stipulate the responsibility for and with the syrian government to ensure the safety and security of syrian citizens and to protect them from terrorist groups to one of the current report just like the previous one he just continues to have a great flaw namely that the authors of the report continue to rely on politics

sized resources open sources and unreliable thinkers at the same time the report continues to ignore credible government sources and even reports issued by the representatives of the united nations in syria those representatives and in their report submitted to the united nations in new york acknowledged the efforts of the syrian government and its cooperation on the humanitarian issue if i were ever it seems that all of these information. are not mentioned in the report in america lesley three times the syrian government condemns the failure of the authors of the report and the. representatives of arts and the human rights commission ltd and specially after the adoption of the resolution twenty four zero one their failure to refer to the turkish aggression against the

syrian city of our freedom this aggression has claimed the lives of many people including women and children has destroyed a number of public facilities and has led to a great humanitarian crisis however it seems that the freen is not similar to eastern ghouta or eastern aleppo or for and freya argue for the syrian government fully rejects and the this regard by the authors of the report to refer to the impact of the so-called international coalition this coalition which has claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians and members of the syrian forces who are fighting isis the coalition has committed to a new massacres yesterday which claimed the lives of twenty nine civilians and injured dozens including women and children in the villages of shot and the head are loony in eastern there is or will be one it seems that the

international coalition is focused on this part of their sword because it has a very well civilians that do not host the terrorists of iceland and the strike from time to libya. the coalition has also media so if you destroyed the city of raka as the representative of the russian federation just said. my government calls once again for dismantling this illegitimate coalition and to stop its crimes against the syrian people immediately yes. she also. the russian military has issued a communique today saying that. the areas under the control of the allies and agents of the united states in syria and witnessing currently the

worst humanitarian crisis in the country. in these areas have become black holes just like the black holes in space so mr president. we're going to eastern. this in government believes that the current deterioration in the situation is due to the fact that terrorist groups in that area has launched attacks against residential areas and military points they have launched more than two thousand one hundred eighty missiles and mortar against the city of damascus until yesterday to show these attacks have claimed the lives of sixty six civilians and injured four hundred seventy four others most of the what. the government forces have been forced to respond to these attacks and to carry out its constitutional responsibility and protecting its civilians and its citizens.

the government of my country condemns the use by the authors of the report of the term besieged areas when considering the situation in eastern guta but they continue to deliberately ignore under pressure from influential countries in the council and outside to ignore the fact that people in eastern are beseeched from within by the different terrorist groups within go to these terrorist groups exploiting civilians and using them as human shields they are seizing humanitarian assistance monopolizing them and distributing them to their supporters or selling them at exuberant prices as was the case in eastern aleppo. so. we regret the failure of the authors of the report it to refer to the suffering of thousands of kidnapped people in. who are being held hostage at the

hands of terrorist groups including women children and elderly these people have been kidnapped from their homes and places of work and have been subjected to the worst form of torture. these people civilians including from drug. and from the talk you have been kidnapped from their houses from their homes five years ago. the syrian government also condemns the statements by the secretariat and the secretary general which continue to disregard the suffering of the civil unions in the city of damascus as a result of the missiles and mortars launched from fetter's troops from eastern. people. and we've been listening to. the syrian ambassador to the united nations addressing the security council and replying to many of the accusations made against syria and russia that they haven't upheld the resolution many mentioned all of the apocrypha see mentioning that similar things happen in iraq in afraid and

the queues in the groups in eastern of using civilians as human shields more in half an hour. as the united nations human rights council continues its conference in geneva there are often discrepancies between what officials tell the u.n. and what happens on the glass so how committed are governments in respecting human rights this is inside story.