this is really an attack on the news itself is a lot of misunderstanding of what free speech is supposed to be about the context it's hugely important setting the stage for a serious debate up front at this time on al-jazeera. the u.s. president accepts an invitation to meet north korean leader kim jong un within the next two months. but i'm jane dutton this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up donald trump imposes stiff tariffs on imported steel then aliment as asia pacific nations sign

a deal against protectionism. video posted by syrian activists showing what looks like a cooling gas attack in east and go to. a call for caution the u.s. secretary of state tells african countries to be careful about their dealings with china. the u.s. president says he will meet with kim jong un by maze signaling a potential breakthrough in relations between washington and north korea a south korean delegation meeting with donald trump at the white house delivered junge yang's invitation to the president the north korean leaders also agreed to stop nuclear and missile testing for now the announcement comes after weeks of diplomacy between seoul and north korea. he expressed this legal dispute president from as soon as possible. president trump appreciated the

briefing and said he would meet. by me two or cheap prominent. let's speak to robin a private he's live in pyongyang chang the south korean government has just held a presser on this press conference and they say. that's right they've just given their first response to this as you would imagine jane it is all very upbeat very optimistic there is a tremendous sense of excitement here about what this summit meeting might bring the spokes person has spoken about this being an historic accomplishment that will move the korean peninsula towards the ultimate goal of denuclearize ation and has really given much credit to both kim jong il of north korea and to president donald trump of the united states for this breakthrough among the spokes person talking about their bravery and wisdom and also praising donald trump's leadership in

accepting this invitation and going ahead with this meeting it is very much as though president mon has learned has found as other world leaders have that donald trump does indeed seem to respond well to such praise and is a way of moving this further forward and making sure this meeting this summit will happen in reality many people here in south korea are giving credit to president moon j.a. for having started this initiative for having sent the delegation north to get this agreement and to really take things to a new level when it comes to trying to solve the. stalemate when it comes to north korea's nuclear ambitions jay obviously a lot to talk about it but i'm just warning what this deal could look like and what the u.s. and north korea will discuss. it is a very big question here this is happened so quickly it seems difficult to see if

any preconditions any ground rules have been set a head of time it looks almost as though donald trump has said yes to a meeting without even checking what will be discussed if there will be any preconditions but then there is the school of thought that says that things have come to such an impasse the only a couple of months ago we had such acrimony when it comes to the attacks between the north korean and you u.s. leaders that any kind of meeting would surely move things forward yes it does seem to be unconventional it almost as though the diplomatic rulebook is being cast to one side but maybe that's what this needs just a meeting between these two very different and in some respects very similar leaders a handshake and see where it takes us if this does take place jane from north korea's point of view this will be the fulfillment of a long held ambition north korea has always wanted to meet on equal terms with the

united states this is something that kim jong un's father and grandfather did not achieve if it does happen then in a matter of weeks we could see kim achieving that ambition 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 u.s. president that we would continue the close cooperation between our two countries to resolve north korea's nuclear and missile issues say one call is managing editor of culture and news magazine korea exposé he says south koreans are praising president mean jay in for bringing about this dialogue. well first there came a great deal of shock i think people are amazed on the ground that just how fast everything has been moving forward but the reaction to the development certainly

has been quite positive to say the least and the president's approval rating really reflects that it has jumped seven points in just in the last week which only goes to show that people are really hoping that there would be this breakthrough and the president has delivered it the chump administration has imposed controversial tariffs on steel and aluminum imports despite warnings of a potential trade war mix current canada will be temporarily example from the new levies while negotiations continue on a regional trade agreement john hendren reports in washington or a defiant donald trump fulfilled a promise that helped make him president the american still minimal destry 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 would 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 steelworkers that helped put trump in the white house over his promises of protectionism is going to bring steel back. had his own protectors. million dollars and. 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 in is what 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 at the negotiating 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 sort of 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 tariffs yes of that even if you needed a reminder to sign john hendren zero washington now to the trade deal didn't want to be a part of the transpacific partnership been signed in chile in what's been hailed as a powerful move against protectionism its future was in doubt for more than a year after trump pulled the u.s. out of the agreement the revamped deal will reduce terrace for eleven countries and connect economies worth ten trillion dollars japan's economic minister 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. i read today 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 we were announced agreement in c.e.o.'s ok. syrian activists have posted videos showing what looks like a chlorine gas attack in east and go to it 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 they are now on the verge of cutting the territory into two isolated pockets said i heard a report from beirut in neighboring lebanon. the 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 advance. billions are not spared you have got just over nine hundred people have been killed in nearly three weeks of what many describe as one if not the theosis 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. most. used. to just the bombs. but situation because it's like two thousand and thirteen when. the

remaining aid supplies that were not are floated on monday because of the shelling we're 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 men will leave to areas under the control of turkey backed rebels in the north of the country. 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 and. they want. i swear by god i will never leave our country. look at the structure around you. 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 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 bust 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. still ahead on saving. the host of the world. environmental efforts. thousand four hundred year old tradition. in taiwan.

welcome back it's quite an unsettled picture around the levant and the western parts of asia at the moment we have a bit of snow you see over the hindu kush otherwise temperatures from marty there in kansas started twelve degrees tashkent looking at nineteen degrees expected stan but we've got this some subtle area without rain and snow between turkey and through the caucuses so an unsettled picture for georgia armenia we've got some rain in northern parts of syria perhaps pretty well for by tell us is twenty seven degrees with visibility has been quite poor has been some dust blowing around i think it may just improve the situation over the next twenty four hours temperatures just coming back a little bit in beirut there at nineteen degrees so let's head down into the arabian peninsula where it is very warm at the moment around the gulf states temperatures above what they should be easily seems as summer is here already

thirty degrees and fight as the weekend progress is 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 saudi arabia 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. mani's decided to break with tradition and training to sail competitively we're not that we want to present a positive image and to steer a typical expectation of women for them it's about more than just racing yachts you can still be a good a modern woman and also a very talented sailor going off around the world showing everybody how strong armani people are al jazeera world meets the first female same crew in the gulf

oman's sailing stars at this time on al-jazeera. one of the really special things about working for al-jazeera is that even as a camera woman i get to have so much and put in contribution to a story i feel we cover this region better than anyone else would be what it is you know is that eternity vividly but the good because you have a lot of people that are divided on political issues we are we the people we live to tell the real stories does us men do is to do you work in depth journalism we don't feel inferior to the audience across the globe.

to. the foreign ministry. march on al-jazeera. with all potential challengers out of the way egypt's president of the fatah el-sisi is poised for a second term in power. a series of short personal stories that highlight the human triumph against the odds as president comes in dominates the russian political scene and his reelection becomes more apparent we assess what direction russia might take. with media trends consummate changing listening post analyzes how the news is being covered. and as more people are round the world struggle to find

clean drinking water leaders and research as governor in brazil to address a critical issue march on al-jazeera. when we managed the financial system between one thousand nine hundred five and nine hundred seventy one there was not a single financial crisis anyway in the world and then in one thousand seventy one the bank has lobbied and they said no no no we don't need controls you know the market will discipline us banks love to make loans to sovereigns why because behind the sovereign a millions of taxpayers we can see reaction to the liberalisation of finance just as we saw in the one nine hundred twenty s. and it's going to be getting to ready is ugly in many parts of the world where people are saying if my government went to cough to my interest then i would look for a strong narrative here if he's a fascist i don't care if he promises to secure the stability of my life and my people i will fight for him i think that's where we're heading and i don't think

our lead has had the vision to understand that's the threat that we face. capital which microcredit. nature has transformed into a commodity big business takes in your interests by landscapes protecting wild scarce it's a phenomenal opportunity to be able to use a business. model true chief sustainability of nature but at what risk banks of course don't do that because they have the heart protection of nature they do that because they see a business crossing the planet this time on al jazeera. you're watching algis their mind of our top stories this hour the u.s.

president says he'll meet kim jong un by may after a high level south korean delegation delivered an invitation from the north korean leader kim also pledged to suspend nuclear and missile testing. the troubled ministration has imposed controversial tariffs on steel and aluminum imports despite warnings of a potential trade war mexico and canada will be temporarily exempt from the. negotiations continue on a regional trade agreement the transpacific partnership has been signed in chile in what's been held as a powerful move against protectionism the deal will reduce tariffs for eleven countries and connect economies with ten trillion dollars u.s. stages warned african countries not to give up their sovereignty when they accept loans from china rex tillerson made the comments during his visit in ethiopia where you met with the head of the african union this is to this is first official trip to africa the u.s. is the leading aid donor to the continent but china's apostatize as

a trade partner in two thousand and nine. we are not in any way to do to keep chinese investment dollars out of africa they're badly needed however we think it's important that african countries carefully consider the terms of those investments brendan o'connor as an associate professor of american politics at the university of sydney joins us live very good to have you with us brendan where does this comments come from to listen i mean is it a place of jealousy or is it genuine concern when it comes to dealing with africa and china china and africa well part of the yes part of the tour that tillotson or is on is to make things a little bit better with the united states in africa you might remember these very negative comments that president trump made about immigrants coming from africa so i think he's trying to remind africans that america has been a longstanding

a dyna that america cares about africa that america is there to listen and to be skeptical of china that african nations taking loans he's called them predatory loans from china china has had a lot of workers those reserve poll of my workers working on construction in africa for a number of years just to be reticent maybe be careful about those things and maybe think about the united states a little more in terms of investment and that is where the u.s. was a commanding to the african nations that is where the u.s. could come in and offer something different couldn't it. well the united states provides a lot of i to africa but there often are concerns about the corruption of various african governments the chinese are desired good literalists concerned about their literalists concerned about environmental standards but the upside for the chinese has often been getting deals with feel

a corrupt african governments where the contracts are questionable the turks have been doing this as well the russians also involved in africa because they see opportunity where there isn't often a lot of transparency in how contracts are awarded all sounds are a big deal in africa so it's a very innocent continent with a lot of opportunity but it's also a continent where there is starkly been a lot of corruption and a lot of murky dealings between foreign governments and african governments yes a lot of countries in to be stepping in at the moment and africa has got a lot to offer we can see some sort of trade war happening here. well it's more a race for resources so africa is a big supplier of oil particularly to china countries like angola provide a lot of the world to china so those who need resources to fuel their economies the chinese many of the east asian economies they want to see some exits into those

african well resources so they're not just depended on the middle east so it's this combination of a sense that there's a great deal of opportunity in africa as a kind of last frontier in some regards of economic development but also the sense that it's a risky business that african investments may not go too well if governments collapse and that you dealing with a situation that's a little more volatile than most other parts of the world i mean that's always a challenge isn't it proving that it is a safe investment for all of those reasons. well it provides an opportunity for great profits because you're often starting from you know a list of element you're starting from a lot of by spot the chinese have been willing to take this risk the chinese have been going to places where other countries didn't want to invest getting involved in places like somalia getting involved in ethiopia the turks as well during this

getting involved in places where other countries might say look hang on these security risks here these rifts that these governments are somewhat corrupt so there's a sense that getting involved in africa has great opportunity but also a great risk in the chinese with their ability to spread their risk throughout state government organizations and operations a little more willing i think than some commercial companies to do this thank you very much brendan o'connor 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's capital have been demanding the legislation of abortion many will green handkerchiefs in support of the abortion rights movement as she tried as a board member of republican women for progress she says the rise of massage 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 but if you kill business and environmental leaders from around the globe in mexico for the world oceans some of the trying to find ways to protect maritime resources but as john heilemann reports the location of the meeting itself is a cautionary tale of financial gains trumping environmental concerns. for the delegates covering 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 they flew into. it attracted

seven million international visitors just last year but financial success is meant to bundling the principles of sustainability the summit is trying 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 fish reefs and corals generates so many habitats for fish. it's as if they were an all races in the desert or fishing corporate is working with authorities and n.g.o.s are enforcing no catch sones the fishermen themselves monitor the protected areas and have seen biomass go up by more than four hundred percent you know this if you 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 so there is a serious commitment from the government to focus on the environment because. he recognizes that tourism depends on a natural resources. tourism in spanish too. 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. now does it turn to. the top stories on al-jazeera the u.s. president says he will meet kim jong un within the next two months after high level south korean delegation delivered an invitation from the north korean leader kim also pledged to suspend nuclear and missile testing.

possible. appreciated. by made. the jump administration has imposed controversial tariffs on steel and imports despite warnings of a potential trade war mexico and canada will temporarily will be exempted from the new levies well negotiations continue on a regional trade agreement the trans-pacific partnership has been signed in chile and what's been hailed as a powerful move against protectionism revamps deal will reduce terra's for eleven countries and connect economies worth ten trillion dollars u.s. secretary of state has 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 to listen mate but 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 rallies are being 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 an estimated five million people took part calling for gender equality and tens of thousands of people argentina's capital have been demanding the legalization of abortion many wore green handkerchiefs in support of the abortion rights movement those are the headlines the news continues after rebel

gigs as poverty and desperation sweep across ruhi just settlements women and girls are being bought and sold and given away in refugee camps one used investigates yet another dark side of the crisis at this time on al jazeera digital technology is the ominous intimacy and he's mentally and even longer life in the ability to keep billions of calculations in our pockets it seems we discovered a need and mention. in which everything in our lives can be increased and tracked and intended. it is convenience profit and surveillance the only. now the new generation of a bookie easiness skills to challenge the tech giants.