it was very greek and turkish villagers returned to their roots a century later. and reconnect with the past they thought they'd lost forever. people shouldn't be forced to move from the born rich or. the great population exchange at this time. we don't regard that as the behavior of a responsible international player the animation of a nuclear attack on america that's triggering a new war of words with russia. colleagues are robbing you watching al-jazeera live my headquarters here in doha also coming up in the next thirty minutes the number of wounded and dad keeps rising in syria's

eastern cooter whether it's meant to be a partial ceasefire also the propaganda war and its deadly fall after afghans trapped in fighting between government forces and the taliban and an underwater wonderland that doubles as a hiking trail we'll tell you how that happened. welcome to the program two of the world's super powers are flexing their military muscle russia's president showcased its nuclear weapons arsenal putin says it'll make russia invincible the u.s. has reacted to the threat by approving plans to sell more than two hundred anti-tank missiles to ukraine and is accusing russia of violating global arms treaties. i certainly did not enjoy watching we don't regard that as the behavior of a responsible international player president putin has confirmed what the united states

government has known for a long time that russia has denied prior to this that russia has developed been developing destabilizing weapon systems for more than a decade in direct violation of its treaty obligations president trump understands the threats facing america and our allies in this in this century and is determined to protect our homeland and preserve peace through strength u.s. defense capabilities are and were main second to none the lot of a putin unveiled the missiles during his annual state of the nation speech raising concerns of a new arms race with the west journal reports from the russian capital. is in and the speech that it seemed relentlessly domestic suddenly took an explosive turn. no one expected led to me at putin's annual address to parliament to involve advanced missile systems and strategic weapons and maybe talk of job creation and better roads in the years ahead it was

a response he said to years of unchecked advances by the united states in missile defense. russia has always been a big nuclear states you know wanted to speak constructively with us in the past and no wanted to listen well listen to us now one missile in development putin explained could travel the globe with unlimited range and entirely undetected by radar defense systems but there's three weeks before the presidential election it was all greeted with extatic applause by russia's political elite president putin made a strong message to. russian audience which can be spelled out as the fall of one of the situation in the world this prevents reus surrounded by a dressers but. you'll have to be rest assured that he'll the countries are run by a person whose name is of like given to putin. you will have nothing to worry about

as well as showcasing these extraordinary new defense capabilities for the mere putin speech was full of inspiring promises of investment lifting people out of poverty improving their lives in what was expected to be his last major speech before the election this was putin presented to the russian people as a pillar of political stability economic stability and perhaps above all security. it's full impact may have been intended for a domestic audience but there was more than a hint of menace in putin's warning that any outside threat would be met with annihilation russia's current defense spending is only about one tenth of that of the united states obviously combined defense spending is even much larger than that of the u.s. the trumpet mr asian in our supply and increase defense spending and russia over its economic conditions is unlikely to be able to spend much more than it

currently does. i don't think there will be a real arms race after eighteen years in power this was a mere putin reminding russians that their country is a world power once again the strength of its conventional military on full display in syria he said its nuclear capabilities now soon to be more than a match for us might join a home al-jazeera moscow. where there's been more bloodshed in syria's eastern guta despite a russian and falls partial ceasefire at least nine hundred civilians were killed in the rebel held in the russian and syrian government strikes of aid groups say more than six hundred people have died in nearly three weeks and there are hard reports now from beirut in the neighboring lebanon. eastern hooters the last major rebel stronghold around the capital damascus un satellite assessment of sixty two point five square kilometers and the enclave shows major damage in most areas the

offensive is the latest in a series of attempts by the government to recapture eastern huta but it has been described as the deadliest the opposition controlled area has been under siege since two thousand and thirteen. this is a checkpoint through which civilians have been told to leave it's day three of the five hours humanitarian pause no aid has entered no medical care. evacuated and no civilians have left the besieged enclave apart from an elderly pakistani couple and the residents say they don't trust the truce. we will never leave our homes i hope god will take revenge against them we will die. they open the crossings but you cannot trust them they open them and then they bomb them they want to displace us now russia is calling its daily humanitarian pause a failure president vladimir putin is blaming the rebels for preventing civilians

from leaving and the russian officer is warning the truce may not last if there are no results the russian government could be sending a message that the relentless bombardment on eastern during the first week of the military campaign could resume civilians are dying even with the pause in the fighting but before the temporary truce took effect dozens were killed on a daily basis doctors say the medical situation is desperate even before the latest bombing campaign began the un repeatedly requested permission from the government to evacuate hundreds of patients who needed medical care now the list includes one thousand names people who were wounded in the assault. on loved it in the past ten days there was a lot of pressure on medical care and we had large numbers of were injured and now seem to there are thousands of wounded and more than five hundred matters there is a shortage of medical supplies. three main rebel factions are proposing taking out

fighters linked to the former al qaida affiliate al nasra front as a way to stop the government assault the pro-government alliance wants. to leave. we will be ready to discuss our repeat any options which will neutralize the terrorists stop their activity if they can be taken out somewhere we will not bad but this must be discussed we will be ready to discuss any options which first of all help to save people's lives. there has been limited advances in ground fighting but the front lines are not just on the edges of the enclave residential neighborhoods are also under fire the syrian government and its allies don't seem willing to compromise for them this is the final battle for eastern. senator there . it will further north in a free truck convoy carrying aid for fifty thousand people has been allowed into the area it's the first since a turkish offensive against kurdish fighters began in january a somber binge of it. on the turkish syrian border. more details of deaths

despair and misery out of eastern huta as this united nations security council resolution passed on saturday continues to go ignored by warring sides we've been hearing from the ground more reports of more attacks artillery shells an air strikes happening in residential areas people saying that everywhere is a frontline in eastern guta activists on the ground saying that the net now the death toll that has been climbing in the last few days has gone over the grim mark of six hundred people more than six hundred people have been killed in eastern router people have been besieged since two thousand and thirteen food aid and medical supplies have been very limited and they've been waiting on these promises that have been reiterated by the syrian government today as well that aid will be allowed in but so far no aid has come in and none of the evacuations have happened in for the north of syria into our free region we've been hearing that the

international committee of the red cross has been able to take aid inside africa this is an area which has been under attack by turkish military as well as turkish backed rebels who have been trying to take this area from kurdish rights in the fighters who they called terrorists this aid that is being provided by the i.c.r.c. makes the first convoy this air that has gone into help about fifty thousand people in the rough area and it's surrounding people who have been displaced in the not just the last few months since turkey began its operation in january but also earlier where they have been displaced by the because of the fighting with isis and in other areas across the turkey syria border this aid will be provided to people predominantly to try and give them much needed help against the very bitter winter but they have been saying that they need more and they need this aid to continue. now north korea has denied it sense applies to syria to produce chemical weapons

state television quoted a foreign ministry spokesman dismissing the accusations which were made in a confidential un report even if the us incited the un security council sanctions committee to fabricate the theory of cooperation between us and syria this is only a mean trick to create an atmosphere of sanctions against our republic and enforce of course scale sea blockade by railing at us as a state of possession and polar bear ation of chemical weapons and to justify its military invasion into syria now the taliban is yet to respond to the government's offer of unconditional peace talks to end the sixteen years of war president assad guarding her suggested the taliban could be recognized as a legitimate political party but many afghans are weary of what the government and the armed groups are saying about the conflict tony betty reports are from kabul. in the conflict in afghanistan like in most wars it's sometimes difficult if not

impossible to see clearly what is happening and why the first casualty of war they say is the truth. away from the bombs in the bullets there is another war being fought here that of propaganda the winning of hearts and minds each side bombard the people with their message of success. we're having many successes against the terrorists were killing many the afghan forces with their allies are getting stronger people are skeptical that they are being given the true casualty figures and whether the successes are as successful as both sides claim war zones a breeding ground for fake news. if you really look at it from the neutral perspective. i think both of them are are trying to hype whatever they're doing and reality. quite far from from reality it's always been hard for many afghans especially those who are educated to believe everything they're being told in this murky world of warlords corrupts military officials and politicians and shady

profiteering businessmen people here long ago lost trust but it's not just distrust of their own for sixteen years the u.s. has given afghanistan support and promises visiting troops in december american vice president mike pence made a declaration i believe victory is closer than ever before. gen john nicholson head of u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan sais they are on course to win he is the eighth u.s. commander to claim victory was in sight so far the afghan campaign has cost america a trillion dollars and two thousand four hundred lives in the propaganda war the taliban is not an amateur the group has professional websites in multiple languages uses twitter and other social media pumping out its message twenty four hours a day suicide attacks are choreographed with media in mind the tone of

communication and tonight the penetration written of one as long as is getting higher and higher day by day not just another one of one of them but also in rural understand. so it sort of helped them in recruiting new officers in recruiting recruitment of new. partners and conveying the message to their audiences i think it's quite effective absolutely media in afghanistan are said to be flourishing and independent but they're now on the frontline of the propaganda war last year twenty one journalist were killed doing their job afghan media certainly one of the success stories of the past seventeen years is paying a very high price for telling the food for giving the afghan people the voice they deserve. haseeb sadat is a camera man who suffered i damaged when a taliban suicide bomber targeted their vehicle seven colleagues died in the blast but i could be done every time i go out i'm scared my family want me to stop but i

need the job many times where i have no choice but it's a risk. the true story of this war could be seen in the hospital wards in graveyards across the country to date hundreds of thousands of people most of them civilians have been killed and wounded in forty years of conflict that in itself is almost unbelievable. tony berkeley al-jazeera kabul. well still ahead here on out as a ridiculous but irresponsible foothold on power why delay the vote in venezuela because the president's chances of reelection. as hollywood gears up for the oscars we turn the spotlight on the bias against women in the film industry to stay with us. through a tranquil review can you. i didn't mean. anything come to my. head over there we've got plenty of wet weather across parts of the

middle east at the moment lots of cloud here in the east making its way across parts of afghanistan and further up through tashkent and in south marty and behind it there's a bit of a break before the next system here is making its way across turkey that will make its way across that caspian sea there for friday still giving a few outbreaks of snow behind it is a little bit quieter than it has been so many of us seeing some drier weather on saturday twenty one in beirut but do expect the winds to be picking up in the western parts of turkey again with a few outbreaks of rain particularly around the coast now for the south and for us across the arabian peninsula there's a good deal of cloud around for some friday with a chance of one or two showers most likely over parts of the u.a.e. but all of that moves away as we head into saturday and then things will return to normal buddy of sunshine around we're looking at the top temperature doha of around twenty six degrees as we head down towards the southern parts of africa here there's a fair amount of rain it's been very very wet for some of us recently and we've got to watch out for this little circulation here because it's

a developing feature and it could turn out to be rather sinister giving us a very heavy rain as a pretty strong winds for the south just a handful of showers in the southern parts of madagascar and force across cape town looks like it should be dry twenty five degrees temperature there with sponsored by the time. the scene from. well there on line what is american sign in yemen that peace is always possible but it never happens not because the situation is complicated but because no one cares or if you join us on sat there are people there are choosing between buying medication and eating this is a dialogue i want to get in one more comment because this is someone who's an activist she's close to the story join the global conversation at this time on al-jazeera.

welcome back you're watching al-jazeera i'm so whole robin a reminder of our top stories president vladimir putin has revealed russia's develop nuclear weapons but he says it can't be intercepted the u.s. is accusing russia of violating global arms treaties and responded by approving plans to sell antitank missiles to ukraine also russian and syrian government strikes so killed at least nineteen people in the rebel held on play very soon cooter un for teachers some of the damage caused. by. a truck convoy carrying aid for fifty thousand people has also been allowed into three to northern syria it's the first since a turkish offensive against kurdish y p g fighters began in january. russia's expansion of its nuclear arsenal goes against efforts to prohibit the weapons by

one of the country's most supportive of its new zealand but its neighbor australia is opposed the two countries reaffirmed their conflicting positions at a meeting in sydney under thomas was the. in wellington on tuesday to center i don't get her first big speech on foreign policy and central to that speech was committed in her government to the ratification of the probation on nuclear weapons treaty my government will be looking at the early ratification of the tree she on the preservation of nuclear weapons which new zealand signed last year so that we could contribute to its really intrigue and to force the treaty has got the support of well over one hundred countries but none of the nuclear armed countries nor australia that sees protection by us missiles as very important to this country's defense of the press conference here i asked both leaders about their conflicting positions can you promise to persuade malcolm turnbull to take that treaty more

seriously and promise to turnbull can you ever see a time when you could support a prohibition treaty or nuclear weapons we will continue to be advocates around. nuclear. program. we are seeking to expedite the ratification of their it agreement but that's obviously a domestic matter for us and one that we advocate internationally not in any one particular territory with one particular leader the treaty that you referred to the probably treaty. the weakness of it from our perspective is that the nuclear powers are not a party to we clearly all of us everyone would like to aspire to i world which is free of nuclear weapons but we have to focus in the here and now is our perspective in a very clear and pragmatic way on preventing proliferation whether it's in the korean peninsula or elsewhere and in doing so we obviously have to work very

closely with the existing nuclear powers including outright ally the united states those like malcolm turnbull oppose the prohibition treaty say that it's a distraction from more pressing issues like north korea but those who are in favor of the prohibition treaty say their game is a long term one. as well as presidential election has been postponed by a month to may the decision follows an agreement between the government and opposition parties president nicolas maduro plans to run for a second six year term against a background of severe economic problems. venezuela is expected to elect a new president this year but the date of when the elections are expected to take place has been changed once again. this year the government announced they would happen on april twenty second but now they're expected to happen in may. it is establishing the agreement for the election to be in the second half of the next

month may of two thousand and eighteen there is no other alternative the only option is an election critics accuse the authorities of shifting the vote forward to wrong foot the opposition in a bid to improve president real action chances the leading opposition coalition is boycotting the poll describing it as a farce to legitimize a dictatorship however one presidential hopeful and refiled gone has already launched his candidacy and. that's the government that we want for venice who are a government of national unity that includes and doesn't exclude a government that can save us from this misery from this tragedy this debacle that the government has turned us into i repeat this incapable inept government. that's what we want for venezuela and that's why we're here at the national it world council and we demand all these conditions. on a fifty six year old former state governor believes he can win by taking advantage

of widespread dissatisfaction with the ruling socialist over venice way less dire economic crisis that have millions struggling for food and medicines. two strongest opposition rivals among them former presidential candidate and they kick up i barred from standing the united states it's also considering imposing sanctions against modest government due to what it says are unfair conditions for the presidential vote for venezuela it is another attempt from the u.s. to interfere in the country and its avowing to hold the presidential vote in spite of the criticism from abroad. of the americas because the u.s. ambassador to mexico her resignation a bit strained relations between the two countries roberta jacobson told embassy staff assure leave the post in a times between the two neighbors have been tense with president donald trump pledging to build a border wall. and u.s.

politicians are considering changes to cardinals following last month's school shooting in florida in which seventeen people died that's been told of change before but this time the campaign seems to be making headway one hundred has the story. arrived across the u.s. a crusade by the country's young is pushing for gun control the youth of our nation are shaming the adult world into action in florida the teenage survivors of the parkland high school shooting are pressing state lawmakers devote on a new three day waiting period and raising the age limit to buy a gun in oregon the state legislature is barring stockers and domestic abusers from owning firearms and in illinois the state house is backing a new law to license all gun sellers restrict sales of assault weapons in ban bump stocks. which allow a semiautomatic weapon to fire almost like an automatic this is a watershed moment in illinois history after

a long long dry spell. without any comprehensive gun legislation the teams of parkland florida and their classmates across the country are doing what u.s. lawmakers and gun control advocates for decades have failed to do forcing the beginnings of change it shows that with really local. work on the part of our representatives and others you can actually get something done but you have to be buried the liberal about it the biggest fan of the second amendment even gun friendly president donald trump is proposing limiting access to guns for the mentally ill and raising the age limit for assault weapons so i'm just curious as to what you did in your bill you know if you didn't get interest in the president i think i want to be your friend of the n.r.a. . that has put the powerful national rifle association on the defensive they want to sweep right under the carpet the failure of school security the failure of

family. the failure of america's mental health system on capitol hill there is tentative talk of change there are things that we can do that have widespread bipartisan support that we can act on that we can get passed that will actually make a difference. but these student activists and other americans have heard talk of change after almost every school shooting without national action to follow it up this time some young americans insist they are taking no chances pressing for a change in u.s. gun laws state by state john hendren al-jazeera chicago. u.s. president says he'll impose steep new tyrus on steel and alibi in polls and he's announced a twenty five percent levy for steel imports and a ten percent tariff on imported oil a billion while meeting industry officials at the white house trump is a promising to rebuild steel and believe industries saying other countries have treated the bun family for decades. well those hollywood gears up for its biggest

night the oscars filmmakers all drawing attention to the lack of job so women in the industry that's a glimpse of how the shiz award nominations because full body changes still too slow rob riggle reports now from los angeles. in this classroom at the art center college of design the numbers of male and female aspiring film directors are about equal and the women feel they have a fair shot at making it professionally the main thing i think as a woman so make is that you have to focus on is really not being intimidated not being intimidated by the amount of male colleagues you have and the amount of the spirit isn't gender that you would encounter on set outside the classroom the gender disparity in the film industry is stark amy adrian crunched the numbers in her new documentary half the picture over about the past ten years women direct

four percent of top feature film so obviously men direct ninety six percent of most movies you see a movie theaters and the numbers for t.v. or a little bit better think its average is about women direct fifteen percent around of television shows some men direct eighty five percent every single way you looked at the numbers they were terrible for women that's despite the fact that women make up about fifty percent of film school graduates this year director gretta girl when has been nominated for an academy award for lady bird not you know because i probably couldn't get you definitely. and the cinematographer rachel morrison is the first woman nominated for her work behind the camera in mudbone but those accolades are few and far between director victoria hochberg was part of a group that sued major hollywood studios thirty years ago nothing has changed radically things have changed. very very very slowly and in

spurts only when the studios or the production companies or even the unions are threatened in some way and they have to worry about lawsuits in some european countries laws mandating equal representation in industries including entertainment adrian says a similar approach may be needed in hollywood i think that it's very likely that the industry will need some kind of outside pressure to actually change despite that long history of gender disparity in the film industry many young aspiring female film directors are not discouraged i know it's going to be tough. and i know that us that woman to give two hundred percent determination to succeed in an industry that has stacked the deck against women rob reynolds al-jazeera los

angeles. now i see that hiking trail in brazil has suddenly become an underwater playground and it happened when heavy rain flooded parts of an ecological reserve close to the southern city of but nieto bridges and forest routes for hikers and bird watchers were transformed into a paradise for marine life but this is only lasted a day before the water levels are apparently going to return to normal course and follow that story all the way covering on our website sites updated throughout the twenty four hours of al-jazeera dot com. we want your to say i'm still raw but these are all top news stories president vladimir putin says russia has developed nuclear weapons that can't be deceptive the announcement has raised concerns of a new arms race with the west the us is accusing russia of violating global arms treaties and responded by approving plans to sell missiles to ukraine.

president putin has confirmed with the united states government has known for a long time that russia has denied prior to this that russia has developed then developing destabilizing weapon systems for more than a decade in direct violation of its treaty obligations australian prime minister malcolm turnbull has rejected new zealand support of a nuclear prohibition treaty he's hosted talks with his counterpart just. sydney the pair say they have conflicting views of the nuclear bad russian and syrian government strikes have killed at least nineteen people in the rebel held on klav of eastern guta now this un footage shows some of the damage caused since december the deaths are happening despite a daily five hour ceasefire to let civilians leave the area. and further north in a free truck convoy carrying aid for fifty thousand people has been allowed into

the area it's the first since the turkish offensive against kurdish y p g fighters began in january also venezuela's presidential election has been postponed by a month to bay the decision follows an agreement between the government and opposition parties to give candidates more time to campaign present they just do it is ready for a second. u.s. president. steep new tariffs on steel imports he's announced a twenty five percent levy for steel imports and a ten percent tariff on imported oil a big trump is promising to rebuild american steel industries saying other countries have treated them unfairly for decades. the u.s. ambassador to mexico has announced her resignation of its trade relations between the two countries roberta jacobson told embassy staff feeling the post of a ties between the two davids have been tense with president shrub pledging to build a border war those were the headlines more news in half an hour the stream is next

. more than forty thousand africans are facing deportation from israel more than ninety percent of. those refugees away in a very european point one percent of the refugees two of those in danger of being thrown out of the country in which they sold refuge talked al-jazeera at this time . today how young people are changing the conversation on u.s. government for the student. to gun laws following an attack on the. high school. seventeen people were killed when a former student opened fire with an assault rifle and.