especially for. the right. to ask questions and freedom of expression and people you know are. students teachers activists. it's. been intimidated on the. block on the streets to protest. attempts to. get. reports of more chemical attacks the syrian government forces. rebel held eastern. sami's a dam this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up china promises to respond to

any potential trade war as the u.s. president plans to hike tariffs on steel and imports. a day long response from a curfew in central sri lanka tensions are high after violence against. the u.s. state of florida approves new restrictions on rifle sales in response to a school shooting that killed seventeen people. activists have released new video they say is phosphorous bombs being dropped on a rebel held enclave in syria people struggle to breathe after the residential area in the town of. the pictures emerged after eighty eight people were killed in another aerial assault on the east and that's one of the highest number of casualties in a twenty four hour period pauses and fighting began ten days ago. syrian civil

defense says there's also been a gas attack in the town of south east of the massacres at least fifty people have been affected france is promising to respond if there's proof chemical weapons were used in france as i mentioned there warning of action if the reports of those attacks are indeed true in terms of involving chemical weapons we can get more of this from a hold of a joins us now live from beirut so where do the facts stand when it comes to those reports. well this is not the first time activists on the ground as well as the civil defense report a chlorine gas attack in eastern. they've reported this more than once since the latest bombing campaign began just over three weeks ago they are reporting suffocation cases of suffocation breathing problems and such and how maria but it's not just the chlorine gas that is being used there is a relentless bombing campaign extreme shelling in airstrikes that is continuing

really and the government does this when it wants to help its ground forces who are pushing into advancing into the enclave already the pro-government alliance controlling approximately fifty percent of the enclave the rebels really losing a lot of territory in recent days but civilians are really caught in trapped in this war zone more than eight hundred fifty have died since the beginning of this bombing campaign many of them women and children so the situation is desperate on the ground the pro-government alliance bent on recapturing. making that very very clear in their pro pro-government media saying that the government campaign will not and even the president himself say that their war against what he called terrorists and will that will continue despite international criticism and outrage . so given everything that you said is there any hope for those eight deliveries which were planned to take place today. well yes the united nations the

international committee of the red cross they were supposed to deliver supplies today to eastern huta a short while ago the i.c.r.c. saying that the whole operation has been postponed saying that the conditions on the ground are not conducive for this operation to happen they didn't provide any more details but there is a five hour pause in the fighting right now so it's not clear why they didn't enter . the syrian government you know tell them that they can't enter we understand. the united nations has been in talks with the syrian government yesterday trying to explain to them that the cease fire has to take effect past the hold while the distribution of the supplies are underway now some sources have told me and i'm trying to confirm this is that there are behind the scenes negotiations between the syrian government the russian government and the rebels on the ground and that is one of the reasons why this aid operation has been postponed so really the

situation is very precarious on the ground desperate for the civilians the rebels say publicly that they will not accept the russian amnesty offer the russian defense ministry yesterday saying some herbal groups are willing to accept so the situation is still unclear and i'm trying to confirm those reports of behind the scenes negotiations. from beirut. china says it will make a quote justified and necessary response in the event of a trade war with the united states foreign minister says china has no intention of displacing the u.s. in such a war would only hobble sides he added the two countries should strive to be partners not rivals president don trump is expected to impose a twenty five percent tariff on imported steel and ten percent. china correspondent adrian brown has more from beijing. this is one of those rare occasions when china's foreign minister faces both the international as well as the chinese media the news conference happened on the sidelines of the national people's congress to

avoid embarrassment questions are submitted and screened in advance but clearly the foreign minister had expected to be asked questions about the prospect of a trade war with the united states he said the china wanted to avoid that but if one happened the response from china would be both necessary and justified he said that in a trade war it's not just the target country that gets hurt but also the initiator and he also said that china and the united states have to be wary of the impact a trade war would have on other countries his language was measured but the warning was implicit lucia cheer. history tells us that a treat or is never the correct solution which is specially in the era of globalization you choosing a tree or definitely a wrong remedy the result will hurt yourself which and others and china would take the necessary response for sure. the foreign minister spoke

a lot about china's role in the world he said china had no intention of displacing united states as the world's number one economy but he also said that china's rejuvenation was unstoppable but that its rise would be peaceful and throughout the news conference there were repeated references to xi jinping thought it is a reminder the chinese foreign policy is also very much she jingping policy. dog trump is refusing to back down on those planned tariffs on steel imports though he's due to sign off on the measure by the end of the week reports. the u.s. stock market did not respond well to news donald trump's top economic advisor is leaving it opened rattled over fears of losing gary cohn's moderating influence in the white house cone with the chief architect of trump's business friendly tax cuts but investors are nervous about the president's protectionist tariffs plan for for

an aluminum and steel at a meeting of the world trade organization america's trade partners expressed displeasure the european union has also announced plans to retaliate with tariffs on products like american tobacco and orange juice trying follow through with his threat if it does happen we would have to take measures to protect european jobs and workers thank you very much at a white house press conference on tuesday with sweden's prime minister trump was undeterred and lashed back at the e.u. threat but the european union has been particularly tough on the united states. they make it almost impossible for us to do business with them and yet they send their cars and everything else back into the united states and they can do whatever they'd like but if they do that then we put a big tax of twenty five percent on their cars and believe me they won't be doing

it very long the position of trumps commerce secretary who clashed with cone trade policies with the e.u. are out of date concessions made to rebuild a post-war europe don't make sense in the context of a strong modern european economy concessions that were perfectly reasonable to make to germany in one nine hundred forty five or trying to nineteen forty five don't go exeunt certainly more than those in the very mature big strong economies and winston social media trump continued to deflect fears of a global trade war arguing the us has lost more than fifty five thousand factories six million manufacturing jobs and accumulated trade deficit of more than twelve trillion dollars the white house says donald trump will make his announcement on steel and aluminum tariffs official by the end of the week just in time for a planned visit this weekend to the u.s. state of pennsylvania it is

a key steel manufacturing state trying one in two thousand and sixteen and the republicans need to win again in this year's congressional elections can really help that al-jazeera washington a curfew on sri lanka's central district health candy has been temporarily lifted off the police managed to contain violence against muslims the government declared a nationwide state of emergency earlier this week and blocks several social media sites but this group swept through towns and villages targeting muslim homes and businesses but it smith has more from candy. with the early lifting of the curfew in kandy business life is beginning to return to normal but what should be a very very busy time of the day is still much quieter many of the shops were closed since four o'clock last night still shuttered but it was we understand a relatively peaceful night to muslim homes were a time when compared with the previous nights this curfew has been much more

rigorously and heavily enforced by a strong police and military presence so they are keeping a lid for now on the trouble have also slowed down whatsapp they've also closed access to facebook and nationwide and the curfew will return at six o'clock and can be deceiving the underlying challenges this area faces the simmering resentment that some sinhalese groups have to what they perceive to be the muslim minority that owns too many businesses of a lot of businesses very powerful those simmering resentment fueled by nationalist sinhalese those issues remain to be resolved. politicians in florida have passed laws raising the minimum age for buying rifles from eighteen to twenty one it comes after seventeen people were killed in a high school shooting in the u.s. state last month and the gallagher has more from tallahassee. i see in

florida state capitol building student staged a die in this was a last ditch effort to persuade florida's politicians to ban assault rifles and not on school staff on the chamber floor emotions run high representative jarrett moskovitz is from parkland where seventeen people were killed you don't need to stand with me i don't need you to stand with me. i need you to stand with the families push the green button the bill bans bump stocks raises the minimum age to buy rifle to twenty one and imposes a three day waiting period for all gun sales such measures were unthinkable in the republican controlled legislature before the park and school shooting controversially the bill proposes that some teachers and school staff who carry out the required training can now carry firearms the concept is to for those schools and those communities that opt to do this as they have in texas and have the as

they haven't pulled county in other places around the country to have people who are expert in being able to defend and having lots and lots of training in order to do so in part when students return for their first full day since their classmates and teachers were killed the alleged shooter nicholas cruz was formally charged with seventeen murders but for many the proposals don't go far enough we wait to see what happens and angie gallo is a legislative chair for florida's parents teachers association and says the bill potentially puts children's lives at risk if we lost you know seventeen and park one seventeen people wish never vos we lost forty nine impulse that we shouldn't have lost and we didn't act after that we've had that nashua thing in las vegas where we've seen too much carnage and i think we'll continue to see unless we come up with some common sense gun laws the bill also provides almost four hundred million dollars in funding for increased security in schools mental health counseling and child welfare investigations the bill will now go to florida's

governor rick scott if he signs it the proposals will become law within fifteen days for the survivors of the park one school shooting there's a grudging acceptance that this is a step in the right direction but ultimately they're disappointed that assault rifles weren't banned and some teachers will be armed and gallacher tallahassee florida. still ahead on al-jazeera. in. the pool. world marks international women's day with demonstrations against sexual abuse and harassment plus. i'm wayne hay reporting from vietnam where we look at how this country has in just a few decades emerged from economic isolation and how it stands to benefit from a new multilateral trade deal. nice pink skies by the time my heart. or as the sun sets in the city of angels.

hello the mild weather is getting ever further in cross europe in fact it's just about pushed across the border and is heading towards moscow but immediately is still freezing here but you look at the number of lows around europe and the amount of cloud you know what's happening is likely to rain as temperatures in double figures now is feeling pretty mild for the most part kiev is the exception and you get the blue sheen here in the background and it still matters for moscow as to freezing in starker that's the area where snow will fall out of the sky not a lot this is early but grain is done this stuff across the scandinavia sweden in particular and then there's rain running through portugal and spain that's is across the picture for thursday there's more running through the balkan states and into western turkey otherwise just bit of a breeze a fairly mild bit of rain maybe the north and a frost in the british isles in the day after temperatures rise even more as more significant rain for portugal i wouldn't have plus two in kiev but marna six in

moscow so much of the action in second place really in europe and bits of metal tray that don't really affect north africa the street supplier to the certainly the potential for rain to come through morocco and focus all now geria this is come thursday to come friday even that's gone through and the sun returns. the weather sponsored by qatar and nice. the scene for us where on line what is american sign in yemen that peace is possible but it never happens not because the situation is calm but because no one cares or if you join us on sat there people that there are choosing between buying medication and eating they say is a dialogue i want to get in one more comment because this is someone who is an activist and just posted a story join the global conversation at this time on al-jazeera.

you're watching out just zero time to recap our headlines now syrian opposition activists have released video they say shows phosphorus bombs being dropped on a rebel held on place eighty eight people were killed in another aerial assault on these to the front promising to this if there's proof chemical weapons we use. china is promising what it calls a justified and necessary response if there is a trade war with the u.s. president dog trump is expected to approve the tariffs on steel in alameda imports saying they're needed to protect american jobs a curfew on sri lanka's central district of candy has been temporarily lifted after

police managed to contain anti muslim violence the government declared a nationwide state of emergency after the fighting began. british prime minister series in may is defended the red carpet welcome given to saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin sandman he's on a three day trip to the u.k. aimed at developing economic ties but critics say the british government is ignoring rights abuses in saudi arabia due out of shell reports from london. mohamed bin some man started off as you can trip with a visit to the queen who hosted the young prince of buckingham palace a sign of just how eager the u.k. used to bolster its ties with the saudi kingdom children from the saudi king crab academy work busking to cheer on the palm prince a continuation of the massive p.r. campaign that included huge adverts across london announcing been ten months visits human rights groups however chose to focus on children by highlighting the killing of thousands in yemen by the saudi military an army under the direct command of

m.p.'s as he's known but eleven million children in yemen who are dependent on humanitarian aid that's the entire population of belgian this is the world's worst humanitarian disaster so the trade deals for the niceties we have to remember that saudi arabia is a key player in this conflict the crown prince's visit is a very controversial one in parliament the leader of the main opposition party question the prime minister what message he would become bring in some man tomorrow is international women's day a chance to vote celebrate how far we've come on equality for women but also to reflect on how far we have to go not just in this country but around the world later today mr speaker the prime minister is due to meet crown prince mohammed bin salman as she makes her arm sales pitch will she also call on the crown prince to hold the shocking abuse of human rights in saudi arabia her response to the link that we have with saudi arabia is historic it is an important one and it's saved it

has saved the lives of potentially. hundreds of people. and i will be raising concerns about human rights with the crown prince when i meet him can i just say is the right honorable gentleman started on the issue of international women's day i welcome the fact that the crown prince will be sitting down with as the guest of a female prime minister to build on that relationship the prime minister left parliament to meet with m.p.'s at downing street prince mohamed when will you stop bombing innocent civilians in yemen when will you stop killing innocent civilians in yemen bridge behind me. as you can see this trip is not just a high profile one but it's also a very controlled trip with the both the british government and the saudis not wanting to have clear access there is no press conference that took place this is

the closest we've had to access through the crown prince and the big reason behind that is the widespread opposition and criticism that has been accompanying this trip. part of the opposition was demonstrated in this protest outside downing street organizers here say the u.k. government should not be turning a blind eye to saudi human rights abuses no matter how much the crown prince pledges to invest they want their politicians to demand real change and reform in saudi arabia and not to cheer on what they consider to be propaganda aimed at punishing the image of a man who's knocked up many of his political opponents. al jazeera london nato signed an agreement with carter to cooperate on military and security issues the qatari leader is in belgium for talks with the alliance and the european union shake to mean that one of those than he was welcomed by e.u. foreign affairs chief for that he cannot get any his visit to brussels comes as the

gulf crisis enters its ninth month saudi arabia the u.a.e. behind in egypt imposed a blockade on qatar in june. british police say a nerve agent was used to try to murder a former russian double agent and his daughter sergei and yulia scripture were found slumped on a park bench in solsbury on sunday they're both critically ill in hospital the russian government has denied any involvement the leader and deputy leader of a british far right group have been jailed for hate crimes tjader franson and paul golding of britain first were convicted of religiously aggravated assault how rassmann rather they were arrested last year for distributing leaflets and posting online videos during a gang rape trial involving three muslim men and a teenager franson was handed a thirty six week sentence golding received eighteen weeks u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson is in ethiopia and his first official visit to

africa he's hoping to build bridges following president dodd transfer importantly foul language to describe african countries earlier this year ahead of the trip to the us and announced a five hundred thirty three million dollar humanitarian african aid plan he also criticized china's economic engagement in the continent saying beijing encourages corruption stephanie decker is live for us in. first of all what do we expect will be discussed then. well the u.s. secretary of state comes at my desk and it's a pivotal time in that me at the moment is meeting with the chair of the african union. foreign minister later today and also with the outgoing prime minister you know top of his agenda will be the issue of the state of emergency that of course one closer surely all to the prime minister resigned the americans done something quite strong it really did cause a very close ally of the i'll just read you some of the experts. at the statement

issued by the u.s. and this didn't go down well with the authorities they said that they strongly disagree with the government decision to impose a state of emergency they believe in these concerns but also should be greater freedom not less referring again to some of the measures being echoed and said to step back from some of the recent progress the government made as an example the release of thousand political prisoners and that it undermines and they strongly urge the government do you think this will be high on the agenda stymie how to move forward at this crucial time their close allies the u.s. will myself very strongly women when you that are going to fight. in somalia of course is a country that borders the state of mind as you've done. you know thousands and thousands. on the ground in areas trying to keep the peace and certainly when it comes to the american do you think not as we were well into chaos because certainly

the entire region in their eyes that we go downhill in terms of instability. a high profile foreign secretary is here what do we make of reports that there might be a meeting between him and his russian counterpart. correct we have that in the region partly in way that the russians did now a couple of days ago that there could be a potential for a meeting between the two men in the capital. we've been speaking to the american officials here and we're getting a sense that that's not the on the agenda of the line from the americans that tradition is here to focus on the african union and focus on ethiopia and that is it now from what we understand in country whether or not becoming liturgy they were early tomorrow morning is not clear we don't others in is expected to declare that

also a short trip. and that there will be a spawn the one you know indicate that perhaps the markets will be back because there's so much to drink that so don't we don't doesn't think this meeting is going to happen but as we know it. can change the very last minute those two men have a lot to take when it comes to syria when you know. it's actually going on but i think the americans very keen to stress that it's enough market because you're not because they're not going to be distracted. all right by so much stephanie decker. trans-pacific partnership trade deal will be signed in chile later on thursday was in doubt after the u.s. pulled out of the agreement last year for the remaining eleven countries all forging ahead with the pact one of the biggest weather is expected to be vietnam reports from hayes you want. the oldest porcelain factory in vietnam hasn't changed much since it was opened in one thousand nine hundred sixty back then it was

operated by the communist government of the former north vietnam when the country was divided today it's united under communist rule but the government has embraced capitalism like most state owned enterprises this factory has been privatized and will soon move to a new purpose built industrial park and a moving to a new factory will help us develop you can see all our machines our old so will invest in more modern production lines for more than twenty years vietnam was torn apart by war it ended in one thousand nine hundred seventy five with the north defeating the south which was backed by the united states communism emerged victorious but the leaders soon realized that the centralized economic system had to change it can in the worse your best. the government embarked on a series of reforms to open the country up and allow market forces it now has one of the best performing economies in the world when vietnam began reforming in one

nine hundred eighty six its total trade was worth only six hundred forty million dollars a year it was really only doing business with the likes of china and the former soviet union just over thirty years on as its economic borders have opened that figure has slipped to more than four hundred and twenty billion dollars but some believe it could do even better and say the government must continue with valving to combat problems like rising inequality it coes by corruption. in an informal economy and vietnam must try to reduce it and now that now might create new into the to modernize economy the process is ongoing and reforms like increasing efficiency and breaking down bureaucracy may be pushed along by trade deals like the trans-pacific partnership some may question the pace but certainly there are direction of the reform is very welcome but some of that will need to be accelerated for for the domestic private sector to be able to grow more that it has

been so far that certainly the goal of this company which used to import its clay and export the finished products price fluctuations minted eventually became a domestic supplier only. and a new modern factory may allow it to realize its goal of returning to the international markets wayne hay al-jazeera has on vietnam politicians in the philippines house of representatives voted to impeach the country's first female juvenile justice. is accused of corruption but those against the move say she's being targeted for criticizing president or a very good the territories policies the house must pass the case now to the senate was so very no is expected to stand trial in october. pakistan has elected a woman from its hindu minority to the senate for the first time krishna commodity callie is a member of the pakistan people's party of former prime minister benazir bhutto the party nominated her for

a seat reserved for minority candidates from the sindh province where it holds a majority she comes from the so-called untouchables the lowest level of the caste system still practiced in pakistan and neighboring india thousands of south koreans are marking international women's day by rallying against sexual abuse and harassment. they marched to a square in seoul carrying signs of the global need to move the. government says it plans to toughen the punishment for employers failed to address sexual abuse. let's take you through some of the headlines here in algeria now syrian opposition activists have released video they say shows phosphorus bombs being dropped on a rebel held enclave eighty eight people were killed in another aerial assault on

eastern the call to france's promising to respond if there's proof chemical weapons were used so in a holder has more from beirut in neighboring lebanon cases of suffocation and breathing problems are being reported by activists and medics on the ground in eastern the civil defense accusing the syrian government of using chlorine gas it won't be the first time they've accused the syrian government of using chlorine gas as a weapon of war since the latest military operation against the besieged enclave of eastern would have began almost three weeks ago china is promising what it calls a justified and necessary response if there is a trade war with the u.s. foreign minister says china has no intention of displacing the u.s. and such a war would only harm or sides. u.s. president don trump is expected to approve steep tariffs on steel an aluminum imports saying they're needed to protect american jobs u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson meanwhile is in ethiopia in his first official

visit to africa he's hoping to build bridges following president donald trump's reportedly foul language to describe african countries earlier this year ahead of the trip to the us an announced a five hundred thirty three million dollar humanitarian african aid plan a curfew in sri lanka's central district of candy has been temporarily lifted after police managed to contain anti muslim violence the government declared a nationwide state of emergency after the fighting began some social media sites have been blocked the minimum age for buying rifles in the u.s. state of florida will be raised from eighteen to twenty one controversially some teachers can be trained and armed it follows a school shooting in the state last month in which seventeen people were killed british police say a nerve agent was used to try to murder a former russian double agent and his daughter so again yulia screwball were found slumped on a park bench in solsbury on sunday they were both critically ill in hospital

those are your headlines the news continues after the stream. facing realities growing up when did you realize that you were living in a special place a so-called secret city getting to the heart of the matter while activists to live in jail just because she expressed herself hear their story on talk to al-jazeera at this time. hi are family ok and you are in the stream today we look at how passions across pakistan are rallying to end discrimination against their people or hear from activists taking part in the past in long march a movement aiming to improve the rights of one of pakistan's most marginalized groups.