a man has decided to break with tradition and train to sail competitively maybe not that we want to present a positive image and change this to your typical expectation of women for them it's about more than just racing it's you can still be a good woman and also a very talented sailor going off around the world showing everybody how strong omani people are al-jazeera world meets the first female sailing crew in the gulf sailing stars at this time on al-jazeera. u.s. president accept an invitation to meet north korean leader kim jong un within the next two months. and i'm jane dutton this is al jazeera live from doha it was a coming up donald trump makes it official imposing stiff tariffs on imported steel

and other many i'm as asia pacific nations sign a deal against protectionism. united in a global fight for quality woman across the world hold rallies to mark international women's day. and saving the coastline of can occur in the host of the world ocean summit steps up its own environmental efforts. the u.s. president says he will meet with kim jong un within the next two months signaling a potential breakthrough in relations between washington the north korea south korean delegation meeting with donald trump at the white house delivered chung yang's invitation to the president the north korean leaders also agree to stop nuclear and missile testing for now the announcement comes after weeks of diplomacy between seoul and north korea. he expressed his legalism to meet the president from

that so as possible. president trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet. by may two or cheap homan on the. bride joins us live from chiang i'm wondering how this is being received and how this is likely to play out. south korea like everybody else during i think really trying to absorb it all given the pace at which this has all unfolded figuring out what it will mean a meeting between donald trump and kim jong un in particular of course just what preconditions have been set all will be set between now and then and also speculations that it doesn't look like they've had any time to set any hard and fast preconditions it's almost as though the diplomatic rulebook has been thrown to one side donald trump has said yes to

a meeting and let's see where it leads to but there is a feeling here of great expectation if you like that given the kind of relations the vitriol that we had even only a couple of months ago and they're tweeting back and forth on the attacks that any kind of meeting just a handshake and a smile might indeed lead to a breakthrough that lend leads to substantial negotiations that might go somewhere so this is being seen as a major breakthrough in the president of south korea's policy of engagement with north korea he is probably just a surprised by everybody else at the speed of developments also a lot is being made here just about the role of kim jong un in all of this and about the diplomatic moves that he has made yes people will point out that he has probably been forced to this by the sanctions which have been biting that have been hurting but he does not give an impression of somebody who's been pressured into

submission at times jane it's almost looked as though he has been driving the timetable by talking in these new year address about a new start in negotiations and then proposing that they have this dialogue if he does so if they do have this meeting he will have achieved what his predecessors his father and grandfather failed to do and that is a meeting with the leader of the free world the president of the united states on equal terms right rob thank you japanese prime minister shinzo says his government will continue to put maximum pressure on north korea until it gives up its nuclear weapons program helps to meet with next month. if i killed off or i'm hoping to visit the u.s. as early as april to hold a u.s. japan summit i agreed with the us president that we would continue the close cooperation between our two countries to resolve north korea's nuclear and missile issues north korea's nuclear program has escalated since kim jong un took power in twenty eleven his first nuclear test which took place underground was in february

twenty thirty two years later north korea claimed to have tested a submarine launched a missile in january twenty sixth seen young and mounted it had successfully tested its first hydrogen bomb but this was made of skepticism from international analysts it also continued to make strides in its ballistic missile program in november north korea announced it had tested a new long range missile armed with a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the u.s. mainland joining us on skype from seoul is say his managing editor of korea expose a cultural news magazine on contemporary south korea very good to see such an imagined that south korea is celebrating setting up this meeting i guess with donald trump what's going to happen now world first thirteen came a great deal of short people were amazed on the just how fast

a recession has been moving forward but the reaction to the developments really has been quite positive to say the least and the president's approval rating really reflects you know as john seven points just in the last week which only goes to show that people are really hoping that it will be this great true and the president has delivered it and i'm sure donald trump will hope that this helps his approval rating as well what can come out of that meeting from both sides and what should the conditions be or preconditions. well first let's not forget that there is supposed to be on into korean summit first in april kim jong un has tentatively agreed to meet a south korean president once again into the militarized zone and what is so significant about this is dead kim jong un will actually be stepping on south korean soil the first north korean leader to actually do so here we're going to expect to see a lot of talk about intercourse and economic cooperation which is currently not

possible due to all the international sanctions imposed in place by improving these economic and cultural ties has been a priority for the government here and one stead set in place the government will try and push the u.s. and north korea to discuss seriously the possibility of denuclearization about which of course there's a lot of skepticism died in one that minute as i actually live and there's a lot of skepticism and then you would wonder why kim jong un who had handed over his strongest card when he's spent so much time money and effort in it yeah so of course the dominant interpretation we have seen is that in fact these economic sanctions the. effectiveness of which has been questioned by many people remain fact be taking its toll on the north korean economy but it is same time we must not forget that when north korea has wanted for decades is to have direct

conversation with the u.s. they always want to be taken seriously as a state a legitimate state and that meant having this face to face meeting with the leader of the u.s. and it seems that they're going to get it very soon thank you very much say that one co. defying opposition from his own party and outrage from overseas president trump has signed in sweeping new tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum he temporarily exam to these north american neighbors canada and mexico but on capitol hill in europe and around the world leaders are warning of a potential trade war john hendren reports. a defiant donald trump fulfilled a promise that helped make him president the american steel moment in the district has been ravaged by aggressive foreign trade practices it's really an assault on our country. accusing china and other countries of dumping cheap steel

on the u.s. market in an attack on american industry he said punitive tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum many of the countries that treat us the worst on trade and on military are our allies as they like to call them. so we just want fairness the controversy old plan will take effect in fifteen days exempting canada and mexico as they renegotiate the north american free trade deal with the u.s. and reserving the right to change the terms for other countries which changing things something the steel workers that helped put trump in the white house over his promises of protectionism is going to bring steel back. had his own protectors been over a million dollars and alone in kentucky in granite city illinois hundreds of workers laid off when the u.s. steel plant closed two years ago will be going back to work but on capitol hill the plan was criticized as the first shot in

a certain trade war i'm disappointed as well i should say because we just passed a tax bill and this kind of flies in the face of democratic senator dick durbin compared it to dropping a bomb on a fleet a fellow republican senator jeff flake vowed a bill to reverse the tariffs in canada the foreign minister faced questions about whether the deck was being stacked against her free trade negotiation team her answer was diplomatic we think a win win win outcome for all three countries is absolutely possible and not going to go sheeting table we are absolutely defending and standing up for the national interest at the european union talk was much tougher to hang and that's we are now imposing tariffs on motorcycles harley davidson on blue jeans the visor on bourbon we can also do stupid. newly planned easy tariffs on those and other u.s. products are designed to hit swing states in american elections florida ohio

pennsylvania that trump's republican party will need to hold congress in midterm elections later this year despite days of opposition trump remained a man of steel on tariffs yes of that even if you needed a reminder to sign john hendren zero washington nod to the trade deal didn't want to be a part of the transpacific partnership spin signed in chile that's been held as a powerful move against protectionism its future was in darts for more than a year after trying to pull the u.s. out of the increment the revamped deal will reduce terrorist for eleven countries and connect economies with ten trillion dollars to pan's economic ministers says he hopes other countries will join the agreement in the future. is a historic achievement create. over the twenty first century in the asia pacific region. to make the

most effort to expand the experience just entry into force and implementation of this agreement if. it was sexists through we could attract a number of countries and economies to this high standard and. remain in c.e.o.'s ok a latin america editor listen human has more from santiago. well nobody believed it could happen but the comprehensive and progressive transpacific partnership is now signed a very very long name for a much shorter trade deal which now brings together three asian pacific nations minus the united states it was going to be twelve countries but the united states as we know pulled out three days after president donald trump took office now for a commerce and foreign ministers gathered here say that this is an antidote to washington's increased protectionist policies and in fact the timing of this deal

that was signed just one day after the european union and the i.m.f. one president donald trump that he is on the verge of unleashing a trade war if he insists on making good on his promise to impose duties on steel and on aluminum imports into the united states still ahead on al-jazeera a new video posted by syrian activists showing what looks like a chlorine gas attack in eastern time and stuck with no way to go embassy workers caught up in the gulf crisis seek help. from the waves of the south. to the contours of the east. welcome back it's quite an unsettled picture around the events and the western parts of asia a moment we have a bit of snow over the hindu kush otherwise temperatures in kansas stop at twelve

degrees to nineteen degrees becky stan but we've got this some subtle area without rain snow between turkey and through the caucasus so unsettled picture for georgia armenia we've got some rain in northern parts of syria perhaps but he won't bite value versus twenty seven degrees with visibility has been quite poor has been some dust blowing around and i think it might just improve the situation over the last twenty four hours temperatures just coming back a little bit in beirut nineteen degrees. so let's set down into the arabian peninsula where it is very warm at the moment around the gulf states temperatures above what they should be as always seems as summer's here already thirty degrees and fight as a week progresses we'll see temperatures rising to thirty one in tow on the other side the potential is also looking pretty warm there for mecca of thirty six degrees just a bit of cloud across northern parts of so. heading down into southern parts of africa we've got fine weather conditions across much of south africa just a chance of a share in the eastern cape threw up into mozambique looking fine across much of

botswana from the movie a to plenty of sunshine here we're looking at highs of thirty one in winter. the weather sponsored by qatar airways. the scene for us where they're 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 eating this is a dialogue i want to get in one more comment because this is someone who's an activist just posted a story join the global conversation at this time on al-jazeera.

is there a line of our top stories the u.s. president says he will meet kim jong un within the next two months after a high level south korean delegation delivered in taishan from the north korean leader kim also pledged to stop nuclear and missile testing for now. the top administration has imposed controversial tariffs on steel and adamantium imports despite warnings of a potential trade war. xico in canada will be temporarily exempt from the new levies while the go continue on a regional trade agreement transpacific partnership has been signed in chile what's been hailed as a powerful move against protectionism the revamped deal. for eleven countries and connect economies with ten trillion dollars syrian activists have posted videos showing what looks like a chlorine gas attack in eastern good said comes after another video of what

appears to be phosphorous bombs being dropped on the enclave syrian government forces almost three weeks into a major offensive on the rebel stronghold there are now on the verge of catching the territory and to isolated pockets santa reports from beirut in neighboring lebanon. assault on eastern who is intensifying pro-government forces have pushed deep inside the besieged enclave rebels are finding it increasingly difficult to hold their ground. there has been heavy shelling extreme levels of bombardment to help ground troops. are not spared. over nine hundred people have been killed in nearly three weeks of what many describe as one if not the fiercest military campaigns of the syrian war. medical workers reported yet another chlorine gas attack the government denied the claims and blamed what it called desperate rebels for distorting facts but videos appear

to show victims struggling to breathe. and i was the. most. used. and just the bombs. but me because it's like two thousand and thirteen when the assad regime used. the remaining aid supplies that. we're offloaded on monday because of the shelling were supposed to reach the besieged population on thursday but according to the international committee of the red cross the conditions on the ground did not allow that sources have told us that the russian government and the rebel factions in eastern who are holding the gauche ations over a withdrawal it may involve them one of the main rebel factions leaving two rebel controlled territories in the southern province of daraa the other main faction

failing men will leave to areas under the control of turkey backed rebels in the north of the country. elicia zero also understands that international humanitarian organizations are meeting to prepare for what could be a mass evacuation even though that is not what the hundreds of thousands of people in peace say they want. i swear by god i will never leave our country i'll stay here till death look at the structural around you we are asking for in countries to help them get rid of us this is inhumane and you're killing children and displacing people you are displacing the people of your own country. that has been part of the ceasefire deals reached in the past an effective surrender rebels their families and civilians who are either afraid of arrest or who don't want to return to government areas have little choice but to leave bussed out to other rebel controlled areas that is what the

pro-government alliance wants to happen in eastern it's the deal on the table if it's not accepted it has made it clear it will push for an all out military victory . al-jazeera has learned that a military cargo plane from the united arab emirates breached cattery airspace on sunday the plane was flying from abu dhabi to kuwait when it entered cattery as face without authorization for seven minutes cattery fighter jets intercepted the plane and tried to talk to the pilot by radio but the was no response this is not the first time the u.s. has breached international law by violating this airspace in january cattle filed a complaint with the united nations about two other violations of its as spies but the military aircraft the u.a.e. is one of four arab countries which imposed a blockade on cats are last june several workers at foreign embassies in cats are say they've been abandoned because of the nine month blockade some staff haven't

worked since embassies were closed and diplomats called home as rob matheson reports they seeking. help from the cattery government. for five years ashraf has been a driver for the saudi arabian embassy nine months ago he lost his job the embassy is one of several which shut their doors in doha when countries cut diplomatic relations and imposed a blockade on qatar last june ashraf like many other embassy staff who aren't diplomats is sponsored by his employer that means he can't leave qatar or work for anyone else unless his employer agrees and his employer has left the country. and tonight it's been very tense and i spent all my savings on my daughter's wedding in india and then i came back and lost my job i can't earn money i need to get my sponsor changed so i can work but i don't know how. saudi arabia and other

countries including the united arab emirates and egypt cut ties with qatar accusing it of supporting terrorism which qatari leaders vehemently deny this man also used to work at an embassy which is now shut he didn't want to be identified with. the closing of the embassy affect me i can't change work because the embassy has closed there are no officials to sign my papers and now i want to work somewhere else but i can't i don't know what the future will be. for the last nine months embassy staff are being coming to qatar as human rights department they've made statements hoping that the qatari government will help to release them from sponsorship agreements with their embassies most of the people we've spoken to said they only came here for help today because they thought the blockade was going to be over by now but it's been nine months some of them haven't been paid since june of last year others we're told are living in the embassies where they used to work and the cattery government says it will it is willing to help them but there's

a limit to what it can do if it doesn't have permission from the embassies or the people here the most important thing is to win their freedom. and these people who belong to countries which are blockading us they've come to try to get justice and were able to protect them and we're trying to solve their problems . some like these moderate a means have been getting support from qatari charities and blame their own governments. on who the mauritanian government has taken an incorrect step that is harmed its people this is a goal we have nothing to do with it. the stranded embassy staff including us will have to wait to see if they'll be allowed to restart their lives rob matheson al-jazeera. the chairman of the african union says a visit by the u.s. secretary of state is proof of close ties between the united states and africa was a fact he held talks with rex tillerson in. fact he dismissed the u.s.

president's reported insult of some african countries as a thing of the past to listen is in ethiopia as part of his first official visit to the continent we are not in any way attempting to keep chinese investment dollars out of africa they are badly needed however we think it's important that african countries carefully consider the terms of those investments rallies have been held around the world to mark international women's day this was the scene in spain's capital madrid as thousands of women joined a twenty four hour strike it's estimated more than five million people protested calling for gender equality and tens of thousands of people in argentina as capital have been demanding the legislation of abortion many wore green handkerchiefs in support of the abortion rights movement in london members of parliament held a debate on the subject the scottish politician mary black revealed the extent of

online abuse she has received. all of these insults have been tale of to me because i am a woman as a woman you know we can cannot say was that these are a few bad anonymous people on twitter but it's nor that's is everything a common language normal will that everyone in here is uncomfortable heat in these and so i feel uncomfortable between a man and yet there are people who feel comfortable flying in these what's around it and when it goes unchallenged it becomes normalized and when it becomes normalized it creates an environment that allows when to be abused as to pride as a board member of republican women for progress she says the rise of massaging mystic abuse in politics is warring. we have president trump in there who makes comments about women pretty much regularly which i'm not very appreciative of and that was the rhetoric that was used on the campaign trail which i think has been empowering

a lot of women to consider running for political office because they've done more engaged more active in the sense that they feel as though they should be more represented there should be more women running for political office whether it be in your local school district or whether it be in the house and senate and i think that those are very important conversations for us to be having as woman for us to be lifting each other up and to be empowering one another to say we can do this and we can come together and we can really take on what has traditionally been a male dominated industry which is the political industry we're seeing you know a lot of women come forward and say this is not ok we can't be silent anymore it's not ok for us to be treated this way and there are many women some of my friends included including myself who have experienced this in the workplace there's harassment there's abuse there's all levels of it and at one point you have to say enough is enough and to start making a change as a society and this is become now a worldwide movement where of course you know some of us here in the united states are obviously very fortunate and other women in other countries are not as

fortunate and they suffer and experience human rights abuses that are absolutely atrocious so i think the me too movement being brought in is certainly something that will help empower women as a whole all across the world islands government has agreed to hold a referendum on whether to overturn the constitutional ban on abortion the votes is sits take place in may currently terminations are only allowed if the mother's life is a risk the maximum penalty for accessing the legal abortion is fourteen is in prison either the steadily changed those reaches of the catholic doctrine including the twenty fifteen referendum legalizing same sex marriage but if you go business and environmental leaders from around the globe on mexico for the world ocean summit they're trying to find ways to use maritime resources. sustainably but as john holland reports the location of the meeting itself is a cautionary tale of financial gains champing environmental concerns. for the delegates gathering to discuss how best to save the seas in the world ocean summit

is a textbook example of what not to do in the very town that they flew into cancun it attracted seven million international visitors just last year but financial success has meant abandoning the principles of sustainability that the summit is trying hard to promote. also changing the way the territory west conformed into a touristic area really brought lots of problems because for example we started to lose these natural barriers for the natural he says there's not only the coral reefs but also the mangroves and what do you do this transformation you cannot go back easily. mangroves have been ripped out to make way for development it reflects a global trend more than thirty percent of the unique trees crucial for storing carbon dioxide have been destroyed worldwide cancun's lagoon and seas have been polluted that together with global warming has damaged the mess where american

reefs the largest in the western hemisphere worldwide over three quarters of reefs are under threat cancun is like holding up a mirror to the world or what happens when urban development and tourism explode largely unrestricted by authorities it might look good for now but environmentalist say that here and elsewhere time is running out. but just as globally here there's a local fight back going on this project is one of several farming coral to replenish the damaged reef one piece at a time it's the key to the ocean ecosystem that's had a sea face recent corals generates so many habitats for fish. are stationed as if they were an all races in the desert warfare or fishing corporate is working with authorities and n.g.o.s are enforcing no cuts sones the fishermen themselves monitor the protected areas and have seen biomass go up by more than four hundred percent though this is the work or if we didn't do this now we'd only be thinking

a short term little we have now would disappear are fairly wealthy but the state government long lacks in holding hotel years and developers to account says it's also now on board you know you can put on these or there is a serious commitment from the government to focus on the environment because. he recognizes that tourism depends on a natural resources if we exhaust tourism in spanish to. just words for now but it's a vision in line with the yangs of this global summit united business leaders conservationists and government before it's too late. how does it turn to. i think of the top stories on al-jazeera the u.s. president says he will meet kim jong un within the next two months after a high level south korean delegation delivered an invitation from the north korean

leader kim also pledged to suspend nuclear and missile testing. possible. by may. the trump administration has imposed controversial tariffs on steel and alum many i'm imports despite warnings of a potential trade war mexico and canada will temporarily temporarily exempt from the new levies while negotiations continue on a regional trade agreement the transpacific partnership has been signed in chile in what's been hailed as a powerful move against protectionism to revamp deal will reduce terrace for eleven countries and connect economies with ten trillion dollars. the usa just ages warned african countries to be careful in their dealings with china rex tillerson is on

his first official visit to the continent he warned countries there not to give up their sovereignty when they accept loans from beijing tillerson met with the chairman of the african union in ethiopia said the visit is proof of close ties between the united states and africa. syrian activists opposed to video showing what looks like a chlorine gas attack in eastern go to it comes after another video emerged appearing to show phosphorus bombs being dropped on the enclave syrian government forces almost three weeks into a major offensive on the rebel stronghold. either the government has agreed to hold a referendum on whether to overturn a constitutional ban on abortion vote is set to take place in may and roadies are being held around the world to mark international women's day this was the scene in spades capital madrid thousands of women joined twenty four hour strike an estimated five million people protested calling for gender equality

those are the headlines the news continues but first it is st. facing realities growing up when did you realize that you were living in a special place the so-called secret city getting to the heart of the matter while activists jailed just because she expressed herself hear their story on talk to al-jazeera at this time. i might enter the arena back when i return the faith in them then i am in the frame. hi i'm femi oke a on this international women's day we're looking at female journalists on the front lines of journalism stay with us you're live in the stream i don't you choose. to join in the stream today and a steam panel of.