africa is transforming young innovators are propelling change building communities creating your point and solving problems. challenging systems and shaping. creative thinkers continents future. africa. i really feel liberated as a journalist while. getting to the truth as it always does with his job. sporadic attacks and reports of syrian troops trying to push their way into. the second humanitarian pause.

hello i maryam namazie in london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up an olive branch for the taliban the afghan president offers to recognize them as a legitimate political party as students return to the florida school where a gunman killed seventeen people two weeks ago a major u.s. retailers stop selling assault style rifles and the arctic weather disrupts transport across europe and forces some people to find new ways to guess about. syrian government troops reported to have launched a ground assault on the edge of eastern despite a russian ordered pause in hostilities russia and syria was supposed to stop their offensive between nine am and two pm local time to allow for civilians to leave but no one has left and no aide has been able to get in some opened of aid has this report from. digging more graves is how some spend the five hour pause in the daily

bombardment of eastern guta with many deaths every day the local council arranges for mass burials on the syrian government side of the buffer been crossing buses and ambulances waited for civilians to cross but people deny a claim by the russian president that some civilians crossed over on the second day of the pod and fighting. we have managed to get out quite a big group of those who wanted to leave but the second group could not leave because the militants just did not give them an opportunity to do so people in eastern good called a five hour daily pause in hostilities a joke they ask how can anyone expect them to want to cross to the same people who bomb them for the other nineteen hours of the day not much has changed for the nearly four hundred thousand in besieged east and many have been stranded in basements like this one manager this woman says her family has survived on pieces of radish for the last few days. there is human flesh everywhere says this man who

also tells how he has been disabled by his injuries there are similar tales of despair in other shelters have the situation here is just hunger and sickness no showers the children sleep hungry here. activists say the price of bread is one hundred times more than just a few kilometers away in the syrian capital damascus and very expensive rice is rarely available. this woman says she found some spinach near the river and that's going to be their meal medical supplies are limited and many hospitals have been destroyed doctors in eastern hold to have recent a list of eighty five people to the united nations who are mostly women and children among the more than one thousand people who we need medical evacuation but in the east of water no aid has come in and then on the people who are sick or wounded have been able to go out. on the turkey syria border. well president clinton's claim that large numbers of civilians were evacuated from

eastern good has been contradicted by the un humanitarian affairs chief during a heated discussion at the un security council at diplomatic editor james bays reports from the united nations necessary approved just days after these are as unanimously demanded a cease fire their resolution continues to be north and repeatedly violated the u.n. undersecretary general mark local christabel the world's most senior humanitarian official told them he would answer some of the question is he's received in recent days have there been any medical evacuations. have any civilians left eastern ghouta. is there any actual improvement in the humanitarian situation in eastern guta since the passage of the resolution demanding as it did unimpeded access. he ended his briefing with one last question for the ambassadors when will your resolution be implemented when the u.s. and the u.k.

put the blame squarely on russia since we adopted resolution twenty four zero one russia has announced a daily five hour humanitarian pause in the it in the aerial bombing of civilians in eastern. this is senekal callous and flagrant defiance of the demands of twenty four a one. the russian ambassador didn't repeat earlier claims by his boss president putin that a large number of people had been evacuated but he said some medical help had been provided to eastern ghouta underscores the need for the parties to agree on human opinion pauses these of time he read part of the resolution passed on saturday before giving his explanation why it was not yet halting the violence there's a new stooge attorney. did you read the resolution the whole resolution we stated that any enduring pulls must be preceded by agreement by the parties for

deescalation demanding an overnight and immediate halt toss deliveries suggests either a failure to understand realities on the ground or a deliberate exploitation of human tragedy. the three main opposition fighting groups in eastern cooter of written a letter to the president of the security council they pledged to kick out the group the council still refers to parts formal name. they also say they will give the un resolution their full support the syrian government's representative ambassador bashar jeffrey was in the council chamber he gave a typically rambling nineteen minutes speech but he made no such commitment james days out of the united nations alan developments a leaked u.n. report suggests that north korea has been supplying the syrian government with the means to create chemical weapons and ballistic missiles according to the u.n. report pyongyang made more than forty shipments to syria between two thousand and

twelve and two thousand and seventeen the syrian government has repeatedly been accused of using chemical weapons in rebel held areas most recently on sunday when civilians in east showed symptoms consistent with exposure to coin gas the government has repeatedly denied using such weapons. the afghan president has offered to recognize the taliban as a legitimate political party ashraf ghani made the offer join the kabul process peace conference where twenty five countries were meeting to initiate a meaningful dialogue aimed at ending the sixteen year long war tony burton reports from kabul. 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 the leadership today the decision is in your hands accept peace a dignified peace will come together to safeguard this country which has been the result of our sacrifices and struggles of they were his most conciliatory words as president ghani 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 it 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 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 berkely al jazeera kabul. students from the florida high school where a gunman killed seventeen people have returned to classes for the first time it's been two weeks since a former student allegedly stole marjorie stuntman douglas high school with an assault rifle the principal called it a day of hailing and they gallacher reports from pot plant. show that shall i tell you she was despite the fears and despite the trauma these students have been through they came back to marjorie stillman douglass high school just two weeks

after losing so many local police on hand to greet them many wearing the school's colors upon shakes and hugs were plentiful the acts of walking through these gates hard to imagine i'm a little nervous way back but i definitely feel safe person hundreds so much security here and to speak back to my friends and teachers i'm pretty certain to be back at school for. a little bit nervous to see how different everything feels but i'm excited to be back in. the fire that was right. over the past two weeks the students have become a force for change the calls for gun reform a fueled a national debate they're rallying call of never again echoed by parents who lost children you see me here i don't want to do this but you guys look at me i want to be the last fall there of a murdered kid that's ever. in this country that's it this is me i'm the last father everyone's going to say yep that's the way that was his daughter that died

that was the last one from protesting at the state capitol to social media campaigns many here trying to keep pressure on politicians next month many of these students will march in washington d.c. with the hope their voices will be heard i lost one of my really close friends in this massacre and. so never again is just we refuse to be sophistic we refuse to let anything else happen we're going to actually advocate for gun control for the students of marjorie stoneman douglas high school this has been a traumatic but important day many were keen to be reunited with friends and teachers in what was a day of healing going forward students will only attend half days the building where seventeen lives were lost is likely to be demolished and turned into a memorial and a gallacher all deserve parkland florida. one of us president donald trump's longest serving aides has announced she is resigning hope akes will step down as

the white house communications director it's reported she told colleagues she felt she had accomplished all she could in the position the white house says her departure is not related to the ongoing russia collusion investigation. without as they are still at. i'm kathleen sawyer in bria central african republic a town that is controlled by one of the largest rebel movements in the country i'll be telling you why they are here despite the presence of u.n. peacekeepers. and reverend billy graham becomes the fourth private citizen to lie on the u.s. capitol rotunda a distinction normally reserved for presidents and military that's now.

welcome back let's start by looking at a straight in weather conditions and for the most part things aren't looking too bad we've got a southerly flow keeping temperatures just nineteen degrees from melbourne certainly warmer in sydney still some showers across the coast of northern parts of queensland but across the top and generally weather conditions are better down the thirty one and a few showers across parts of western australia pursed quite warm temperatures edging back slightly as we head through friday stage again change wind direction so we should see the temperatures rising slightly from melbourne but those showers continue some big storms there with the risk of some flooding as they had across into new zealand before the weather system moving across both on into the remains rather cloudy here we shower some longer spells of rain and some quite strong winds coming in from the northeast so temperatures remaining quite high but the risk particular the western side of both the north and south on and remains quite high let's head up into northeastern parts of asia where for japan has seen some pretty stormy weather some very strong winds some thunderstorms some heavy rain and across

more northern areas of japan as well as the far east of russia and northeastern parts of china the chance of some heavy snowfall that system will tend to push away as we head through into friday brighter conditions behind in fact should be quite pleasant tokyo with highs of thirteen. also did in less than one generation of developing countries one of the developed countries in the world we have one point you. were pretty rough and. singapore's founding father created a nation of political dynasty but a family disputes undermining that legacy what's happened to the family and what's happened in singapore's institutions i just don't know what would of course the more grief people in power investigates the house that leap in at this time on al-jazeera.

welcome back here without is there other top stories this hour syrian government troops have reportedly carried out air and ground attacks around the rebel held and eastern ghouta despite a russian ordered poison hostilities afghanistan's president has offered to recognize the taliban as a legitimate political group as part of negotiations aimed at ending more than sixteen years of war and dozens of armed police were on hand to make students feel more secure as they return to marjorie stoneman douglas high school in florida for the first time since a former student shot and killed seventeen people inside the grounds. of the stories we're covering fighting in the central african republic between muslim and christian armed groups as for smaller than a million people from their homes and more than hoff the population need

humanitarian aid in the first of a three part series catherine sawyer reports from ria a diamond rich region in the northeast that's controlled by one of the largest rebel movements here is her exclusive report. yes rebel gunmen make sure that everyone entering bria is unarmed and don't belong to rival groups the checkpoint is controlled by the popular front for their innocence of the central african republic the f. p.r.c.'s one of the largest factions of what was a mostly muslim group called seleka the town is on important supply routes and has the largest diamond mines in the country. so we are all abundant we are not bundy it's all militia we organize uni we have structures we're not so just get out of line we deal with them when a civilian commits a crime we have

a judicial system to deal with. the hobbles business is a town center which is only now coming back to life after armed groups which had previously quite exhausted began fighting just over a year ago this is the main markets. they keep people here. and support them and the arrangement that seems to be working well now. at one end of town and right on the doorstep of the un peacekeepers base is a competition placed people all a christian more than seventy thousand people in brianna have been forced to flee their homes the un says this kompas been infiltrated by gunmen from. a largely christian group in the competent high that. during the fighting it is the un to block a woman sure that a good year safely out of the ones who protected us where they are not in the comp anymore. what you see in bria plays out in many other towns and villages across the

country people who are living together have now created their own religious and ethnic boundaries. binoy need leaves on the christian side of town he says he can go to the muslim dominated market during the day but has to return before nightfall . even at night i don't sleep well i'm always afraid that people might come and kill me i always have to be prepared to run. most of the countries controlled by armed groups often fighting over men drooled cattle and trade routes forging an easy alliances and then violently breaking up un peacekeepers in the central african republic are overwhelmed and caught up in all this central african such as who are just trying to stay alive catherine zero bria central african republic at least fifteen people have been killed in a train crash in northern egypt forty others were injured when a cargo train and

a passenger train collided in the hara province egypt's railway system has a poor safety record due to badly maintained equipment and poor management president sisi recently said the country's rowing system needs upgrading to avoid more deadly accidents. donald trump has invited the emir of qatar to visit the united states in april scheft i mean how much fun is said to receive the offer during a phone call with the u.s. president on wednesday both patients are keen to strengthen cooperation with the sane is a political expert at the trim a national security project and told us earlier that the trump administration had a key role to play in ending the saudi that blockade of cattle. the strength of the u.s. qatar relationship is incredibly important and i'm happy to see the president playing a more active role in ameliorating the crisis i think that it's important for the diplomats at the state department and the leaders in the trumpet ministration to have an honest conversation which will definitely be in private with the saudis and

the emer in order to incentivize them to lift this blockade but at the same time do it in a way where the optics are managed so that each side can claim a win certainly the saudis in the will not agree to any kind of deal but make them look like a loser at the end of the blockade at the same time i don't think that there's going to that they're going to be able to continue it here in the u.k. dozens of women at an immigration detention center they say is an indefinite hunger strike hundreds of women took part in a three day hunger strike last week now forty five of them say they will carry on the inmates of protesting against arbitrary detention and violations of the human rights so i go reports the detention center has never been far from controversy it houses some four hundred people mainly women and family groups and reports are rife of desperate inmates driven to extreme situations in the sixteen

years that it's been open campaign is say many of the detainees are in a state of limbo with no knowledge of how long they're meant to be that we spoke to one such detainee who asked us to call her sarah she would say her real name will which country she's from and she says she's too afraid of the repercussions from the authorities already detained for three months sarah has no idea when she can leave what exactly are the conditions like you and other detainees are facing. psychologically it's very very oppressive because. we've got is losing your life or certainty or card you don't know where you're going to go you don't know where you're going to go this is not the first time that yarl's wood has been under scrutiny the center has been criticized for failing to meet the needs of the most vulnerable women there well the report last year said that the conditions had improved significantly women on strike say that the authorities are failing to

uphold the laws that are meant to protect them. despite various appeals to the british home office little has changed for the women detained there activists for the hunger strikers say that they use who do protest are singled out for punishment the british home office gave this statement to al-jazeera detention and removal are essential parts of effective immigration controls especially in support for the removal of those with no lawful basis to stay in the u.k. we do not detain individuals indefinitely when people are detained it is for the minimum time possible and detention is reviewed in a regular basis opposition politicians who have managed to gain entrance to the center to see the conditions for themselves have also raised concerns about how detainees are being treated one of the issues that are being raised is women. sexually harassed. because the. it was difficult for them to say

everything they wanted to say because the home office never met. men coming and. without permission for sarah and her fellow hunger strike because the hopelessness they feel in their surroundings has called for desperate measures for a lifeline they hope will come soon. london. one of christianity's holiest sites in jerusalem has reopened its doors three days after its leaders closed it in protest against israeli tax measures the church of the holy sepulcher is believed my many to be the site of the crucifixion and resurrection of jesus christ it reopened after the local mayor suspended a plan to make churches pay substantial back taxes on net assets. mourners have been filing past the body of evangelical preacher billy graham in the u.s. capitol rotunda and on a rarely afforded to those not connected to the u.s. government or the military graham died last week at the age of ninety nine he will

be buried on friday in north carolina at a ceremony attended by president trump chaper tensely reports. america's political leadership was refused to let its eulogies for billy graham as he lay in the capitol rotunda the north carolina farm boy walked out of those fields into a great and beautiful history that an evangelical preacher was being owner of this way by those who make the law in the country where in thomas jefferson's words a wall of separation between church and state was intended to have been built is in most small part a result of billy graham success as an evangelist he ministered to all walks from some of the greats to statues lined this very hall. eisenhower king fording reagan to every day citizens lining up to pay their respects his preaching was welcomed by d.c.'s powerful and he used his position as america's pastor to

advocate for war against those whom you felt with the u.s. as enemies of tory asli he didn't win the support of richard nixon for a plan to bomb the dikes of northern vietnam that could have killed millions. of communist stems of their words cried. here against europe unions people that there would be no unions in heaven. you know fear fear and of course the solution always was except she says there's your savior graham's legacy as a force for racial and into faith tolerance is still debated some say he broke down barriers all those that he and his formidable p.r. machine shifted only as necessary his advocacy for soviet jews and the state of israel a notable yet he was caught on tape telling nixon that despite being friendly with jews what he called their stranglehold on american life had to be broken he apologized for the remarks which he said he didn't remember making he said he took

down the ropes restate between the blacks and whites but he changed his story of abuse and he was never sure which city it was. and i could i could find no temporary accounts. here in this room. we're reminded that america is a nation sustained by prayer in later life graham expressed regret at having been so political a figure but he opened the way for the current ascendance of christian fundamentalism in washington d.c. from the white house to capitol hill she ever times the elders era washington. two reuters journalists imprisoned in myanmar of call for press freedom and protested their innocence chore so who and why alone wouldn't deny bail after appearing in court on wednesday charged with illegal possession of state secrets and journalists have been covering the violence against wrangle muslims in iraq and state and were arrested in december over allegations they violated the country's official secrets

act they face up to fourteen years in prison but. we were arrested while covering the news we covered the last great story as you really. knew that the military has admitted to what had happened nobody recognizes that we were the first ones to shed light on that fact you know if you go to the government needs to get the right information the media has to be able to travel to cover and to write news freely not only about the rock current situation but in all issues. australia's government has ordered the recall of more than two million cars with ab bags made by the japanese fund to carter says it's not satisfied with the results of voluntary recalls carried out by vehicle manufacturers last year faulty to car to add bags have been linked to at least twenty three deaths around the world. now some of amsterdam's iconic canals have frozen over as basically cold temperatures grip much of europe authorities have banned boats on the canals so that locals can skate on

the frozen waterways persistence snow and freezing conditions from a siberian cold snap a causing delays in many parts of britain and mainland europe with roads and train services hit particularly hard on hundreds of flights have also been affected as neve barker reports from london's heathrow airport. there be many more disruptions up and down the country is the so-called peace when the east rules seem much more on a much more smooth dumping it up and down the u.k. and across the continent at large here at heathrow airport dozens of flights had to be counsel reshape mainly to other parts of the u.k. or to the republic of ireland a small airport struggled with a deluge of snow there. is a fact for you it takes roughly four thousand lorry loads to shift only tame centimeters of snow from this entire strip and given the amount of snow that we've

seen here recently is pretty much a twenty four hour endeavor cold weather in winter hold lee a surprise you may be asking but what's worrying the climatologists is that for the past few days it's been consistently colder here in europe than it has been in the arctic and they are blaming manmade global warming for causing all of this they say the warm air is being drawn up north over the arctic displacing colder air and pushing it down south over siberia and here first into eastern europe and then it's a western europe here in the u.k. and over in oil and they know we have to do much more research to find out whether or not all of this freak weather is the shape of things to come. a quick look at the day's top stories now syrian government troops have reported the launch to air and ground assault on the edge of eastern despite a russian ordered pause and hostilities footage from inside the damascus suburb

appears to show renewed as strikes on the rebel held enclave russia and syria was supposed to stop their offensive between nine am and pm local time to allow for civilians to leave. the united nations has been discussing the progress or lack of it with evacuation efforts the humanitarian affairs chief said not enough has been achieved. 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. is there any actual improvement in the humanitarian situation in eastern guta since the passage of the resolution demanding is it unimpeded access.

and our other top stories students have returned to marjorie's stoneman douglas high school in florida for the first time since a former student shot and killed seventeen people inside the grounds dozens of police and grief counselors were on campus to help ease students back into their classes the shooting has galvanized nationwide the debate over gun laws with students promising to keep the pressure on leaders. afghanistan's president has offered to recognize the taliban as a legitimate political group as part of negotiations aimed at ending sixteen years of war gardening made the proposal at the start of an international conference aimed at creating a platform for peace talks. donald trump has invited the emir of qatar to visit the united states in april jeff to mean been hammered authonomy is said to have received the offer during a phone call with the u.s. president on wednesday both nations are keen to strengthen ties in a set to have discussed regional cooperation as well as economic issues so much

more in everything we're covering on our website al-jazeera dot com for all the latest on our top stories and analysis that takes you behind the headlines that's it for myself in the team here in london people in power is next. head of the september twenty fourth national election survey showed a satisfied for the state of their economy this is easily a study as biggest tech success story the company was bought by microsoft in two thousand and eleven we bring you the stories that are shaping the economic world we live in counting the cost at this time on ounces era. by the time of his death in twenty fifteen singapore's founding father lee kuan yew at one widespread respect is the architect of the city state's prosperity but he'd also been accused of restricting freedom of speech and repressing critical up.