beyond struggle in syria. the boy who started the syrian war this time on. just. some journalists decided to sacrifice their integrity for out in the media listening this time on al-jazeera. after months of bitter exchanges the u.s. president except to be the north korean leader for talks. i'm sam is a damn this is al jazeera live from dollhouse so coming up global condemnation as

dog from places tariffs on steel and alum in the imports join the league of signatories to a major major pacific trade deal the country's to sign and fight protectionism. things are looking up for the french economy but a skills shortage could put the brakes on growth. u.s. president dog has accepted an invitation from north korea's leader kim jong un for a face to face talks in the coming weeks their meeting would be unprecedented during second seven decades of all animosity between the u.s. and north korea told china jan reports. a south korean delegation delivered p. on yang's invitation to president trump during a visit to the white house he expressed this that even if the president felt that's on as a possible. president trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet.

by may to achieve prominent need to provide situation. north korea has carried out six nuclear tests under kim jong un since he took power seven years ago in january of two thousand and sixteen it announced the successful testing of its first hydrogen bomb and in november north korea announced it had tested a new long range missile on with a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the u.s. mainland the growing nuclear threat caused a global outrage on tough sanctions were imposed against the north trump and kim jong un have exchanged a war of words for months last summer trump or north korea against making any threats or he will be met with what he said fire and fury he then said he would totally destroy north korea and called kim a rocket man at the united nations it's a pember kim responded by calling trump mentally deranged the story line change

when the two koreas came together last month at the winter olympics hosted by the south a spokesman for south korean president moon jay said if trump and kim met it would be a breakthrough number one hit i may y'all we believe if the two of the meet after the north korea south korea summit it could set the course for a total denuclearization on the korean peninsula and the meeting in made between kim and trump will be a historic moment for the peace of the korean peninsula analysts say the meeting will be a big step forward but first it has to take place. on al-jazeera iran macbride has more from pyongyang china on south korea's reaction. the office of the south korean president moon j.n. has hailed this as an historic accomplishment that potentially moves the korean peninsula towards the ultimate goal of denuclearization moon's office has heaped

praise on both kim jong un of north korea and also donald trump of the united states saying it was their wisdom and bravery that has helped push this forward and agree to this historic meeting in reality many people here in south korea will credit moon j.n. for the his achievement in this diplomatic breakthrough for sending its delegation north and getting this agreement it's still not clear exactly what this meeting will look like what preconditions have been agreed or will be agreed before hand but the hope here is that given the acrimony of relations in the past any kind of meeting any kind of handshake or smile must be good in trying to move things forward if this meeting does take place this will be the fulfillment of a long held north korean ambition to meet with the united states on equal terms and it will be a personal achievement of kim jong un his father didn't achieve it his grandfather

didn't either if he has a meeting with donald trump in the coming weeks he will have fulfilled that long held goal donald trump has heralded the meeting as great progress but says sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached chevre tanti has more on the reaction from the u.s. . here in the u.s. this development is being presented through the prism of donald trump himself there is little discussion about all the efforts of south korea or china behind the scenes for example the white house presenting this as a victory for donald trump's policy of maximum pressure on north korea his opponents in the media are already worrying he will be played by north korea's already giving north korea a propaganda coup you just don't say yes to a meeting with north korea in a matter of weeks however it seems perfectly reasonable for the white house to turn around and say to many of these people in the commentary who themselves are former government officials well we tried it your way and it simply hasn't worked let's

try it but trying way having said that though there are real problems there are so many positions within the trumpet ministration dealing with east asia that haven't been filled a point person at the state department for north korea retired last week there's no ambassador for the u.s. to south korea and there's not even someone at the state department coordinating east asian policy with adrian brown joins us from beijing with the latest so let's start with what's happening on the issue of north korea and those talks planned talks between the u.s. leader in the north korean leader that talks of course something that they doing as long called for is beijing relieved. yeah a short time ago we heard from the foreign ministry spokesman here in beijing he said that china welcomes what he called positive signals and the china hopes this positive momentum continues and the china continues to support the efforts of all relevant parties to bring about peace on the korean peninsula and of course one of

those relevant parties is china it is china that has been reluctantly in forcing sanctions against north korea and as you rightly point out it is china that has been saying all along the only way to ultimately resolve this crisis is through dialogue but i think you know it's both good and bad news for china it's good news because it could mean those sanctions could eventually be lifted possibly soon but bad news because china doesn't want to find itself sidelined here you know at the moment the talks between the united states and north korea with perhaps some south korean involvement but is china along with japan going to find itself you know on the sidelines i don't think from a position of face china would want that to happen i think if there was a possibility and i think it's a very unlikely one but if it was a possibility of the talks happening here in china china has often bought trade itself as a sort of third country in this dispute then china would obviously welcome and it's

been there some analysis analysts saying there is concern in asia what could come out of the volatility that could come out of this sort of issue being handled directly between the personalities of donald trump and kim jong un how much concern is there across asia over that. i think at the moment china and to a degree japan are sticking very much to the script but you're right we're dealing with two of the world's most unpredictable leaders but if this event does happen it's going to be an event really laden with history it's going to be up there with president richard nixon's historic visit to china in one thousand nine hundred two which paved the way for the establishment of full diplomatic relations between china and the united states now we're a long way from that happening between the united states and korea right now but we have to remember that in today's politics two months is

a very long time all right we'll leave it there for now thanks so much adrian brown the trump administration has imposed tariffs on steel and alum in human polls despite warnings of a global trade war mexico and canada will be temporarily exempt from the new levies while negotiations continue on a regional trade agreement john hendren reports from washington d.c. . a defiant donald trump fulfilled a promise that helped make him president the american steel moment image astri 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. 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. 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 shooting table we are absolutely defending and standing out for the national interest at the european union talk was much tougher thing and it's we are now imposing tariffs on motorcycles harley davidson on blue jeans to the visor on bourbon we can also do stupid. newly planned easy tariffs on those in 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. in tariffs yes even if you needed a reminder to sign john hendren washington south korea and japan

are condemning the terrorists to south korea as one of the biggest exports of steel to the us. we would actively consider filing a complaint to the world trade organization with agreement between major countries the trade minister kim already discussed this with the european union trade commissioner. could do with it is extremely regrettable that the measures were decided i believe there is a concern that a broad trade restriction mechanism on the grounds of national security could disturb not only the us but also the global steel and aluminum markets including those in the asian region and it could also cause a grave impact on economic relations between allies japan and the us as well as the multilateral trade system overall and the global economy. out of the trade deal trump didn't want to be a part of the trans-pacific partnership has been signed in july and what's being

hailed as a powerful move against protectionism the revised deal will reduce tariffs for eleven countries and connect the economies worth ten trillion dollars our latin america everything listen newman has more from santiago. for an agreement that's much more than a deal to reduce tariffs in the most dynamic region of the world economy. the comprehensive and progressive transpacific partnership or t p p eleven for short. hailed as an antidote to the increasingly protectionist policies of the united states despite the rising trend when you have. a cause. that we stand behind. every station. many thought the tepee people's finished after president donald trump pulled out of the deal that his predecessor barack obama believed would offset china's growing economic and geopolitical power but spurred by japan the remaining countries forged ahead regardless leaving the

u.s. on the sidelines the new revised agreement includes eleven countries that together account for more than five hundred million people and word and thirteen percent of global g.d.p. with the us it would have been forty percent but other countries like taiwan south korea the philippines and even the u.k. post bracks it could also join the pact now. but there are critics demonstrators gathered in front of the treaty venue saying that the deal was to go shaded in secret and that it will favor corporations at the expense of workers and small businesses a charge canada's commerce minister refutes it is the first trade agreement in the world where you have a dedicated chapter on small and medium sized businesses the timing of the signing ceremony is signal. and just one day after the european union and the i.m.f. want president trump against unleashing a trade war if he slaps duties on steel an island million imports see it. as

a turning point the local dealership or lack of it was the secretary saying nice things to consider joining the team. but the version of the deal is likely to be even less to donald trump slightly stiff controls of intellectual property rights to protect the u.s. pharmaceutical industry for example have been suspended along with one thousand other completed measures the treaty will go into effect sixty days after six of the eleven signatories complete domestic legal procedures turning the tepee p. plus eleven into one of the world's three top trading blocks you see in human just sita santiago all japan's economic minister hopes other countries will join the agreements in the future keep. is a historic achievement create. i was

a twenty first century in the asia pacific region. over the many sous i read today to make the most effort to expand the exposures entry into force and a smooth implementation of this agreement if. it was sexist to we could attract a number of countries and economies to this high standard and we remember that years ok. all still ahead on al-jazeera. the battle for free syrian rebels and turkish fighters close their grip on a crucial border area. and we meet the vietnamese fishermen on the front lines of a territorial tussle disputed waters.

from dusky sunsets over the sprawling savannah. to sunrise atop an asian metropolis. hello again to take a look at weather conditions across europe being see a massive cloud systems so it's all looking pretty unsettled this particular frontal system out towards the west is going to bring some very heavy rain with it but it's certainly pushing warm air ahead of it across many western parts of europe so well into double figures as far as the temperatures are concerned the problem that is of course with so much snow in many areas there's going to be considerable thaw and the flooding risks central parts of europe are not looking too bad at the moment for the north across the baltic is still quite windy little bit of snow around here and actually not as cold as it has been from moscow that near minus five degrees as a high to move the forecast on still looking pretty subtle across those central areas but further towards the west there that rain is beginning to push in so windy weather but mild weather on the other side of the mediterranean we've got some rain

pushing across parts of morocco but otherwise quite mild for algiers and also for to this chorus in some fine weather conditions there with temperatures in the mid twenty's for central parts of africa bulk of race to the across parts of east africa but also some showers across parts of the congo towards good bands of heavy showers likely here west africa gerri not looking too bad highs of thirty one and i cry and across more southern areas fine across much of south africa with sunshine expect in johannesburg and heis here of twenty two. there with sponsored by qatar release. the scene for us where they're on line what is a very inside the piece is almost possible but it never happens not because the situation is complicated but because no one can use or if you join a sunset there are people there are choosing between buying medication or eating this is a dialogue i want to get in one more comment because this is someone who's an activist has posted a story join the global conversation at this time on al-jazeera.

welcome back you're watching al-jazeera that school recap our headlines now the u.s. president dan trumpeters agreed to meet north korea's leader in the coming weeks the south korean delegation delivered the invitation from kim jong un to the white house south korea's national security adviser says kim expressed a commitment to denuclearize. the trumpet ministration has imposed tariffs on steel and alum in the polls despite warnings of a global trade war south korea says it may file a complaint to the world trade organization. eleven countries have signed a revised trans-pacific partnership trade deal in chile their handling is

a move against protectionism after the u.s. pulled out of the agreement last year. more now in north korea's leader inviting the u.s. president for a meeting i am not tangan is a political and economic affairs commentator he doesn't think it will be smooth sailing for both sides. donald trump has a history of whoever is in the room he agrees with and then he comes out with some policy only to walk it back later i think. has already indicated he will be visiting washington prior to that meeting to quote get an understanding of what is going to be on the table the state department is woefully unprepared for this type of meeting in fact their top korean negotiator resigned just a few days ago so it's it's a very very difficult time there are questions about chief of staff batas what's going on there you've already seen the trade in kind of switch over it's seems like

chaos not necessarily a time but on terms of trump this is a very good event in terms of changing the dialogue which is currently going on in the u.s. . the turkish military says its troops have captured a key town in northern syria as are free in the region the soldiers and allied syrian rebels are trying to push kurdish fighters from the area genderless is one of the largest towns and a three in its capture is a boost for the turkish advance but as alan fischer reports from near the turkish syrian border sporadic violence is still being reported. the final assault began just before nightfall on wednesday. less than twelve hours later the free syrian army backed by the turks entered the city of genderless. doctors treated those caught up in the fighting some too young to fully understand why they were in pain . some too late to help the taking of

a strategically important for the free syrian army and also the tarts it gives them control of the higher ground and also give them control of one of the main roads towards afrin city itself the final target speaking in vienna turkey's foreign minister said the operation against the cutlash militia the y.p. g. called all of branch should end by me the question whether now that we have passed the critical stage use mountainous areas or captured the border control is sustained we are moving towards africa of course when we get to a friend we have to be even more careful to avoid civilian casualties our aim our target is the terrorists we are more sensitive compared to anyone else when it comes to humanitarian aid and civilians genderless is the biggest turn that has fallen to the f.s.a. backed by the turks since this operation was launched in january but before they can even consider moving on from here they have to take complete control of

genderless first home today first we targeted the town agender us by artillery shells and took full control of the town from y p g fighters we've captured and killed a few of their members and one of their fighters blew himself up despite. the bravado may not have complete control yet sporadic fighting is reported to be continuing in the time the battle for three in may not be as quick or the street forward the kurds are moving seven hundred fighters across the country away from the battle against i saw on to the front lines for the coming assault alan fischer al jazeera on the turkey syria border syrian opposition activists reported no overnight air strikes or shelling on a rebel held on klav near damascus for the first time in ten days more than one hundred people have been killed since the events of on the stillwater began almost three weeks ago rusher imposed a five hour daily ceasefire for civilians to leave but few have left the area united nations security council demanded an immediate cease fire and the red cross

says thirteen aid trucks will go into eastern water later on friday they'll bring in much needed aid in supplies delivery was postponed on thursday because of the fighting u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson has arrived in djibouti as he continues his first official tour of africa to beauty is a vital partner for the u.s. it hosts an american military base that's used for counterterrorism operations in somalia and yemen and anti-piracy surveillance in the red sea last year china opened its first military base abroad there has begun washington vying for influence in africa u.s. aircraft carrier has finished its historic visit to vietnam it is traveling through disputed areas of the south china sea but always seen as washington sending a message that it wants freedom of navigation through the area when he reports those on the front lines of the dispute refusing to back down. when the repairs are finished these vietnamese fishing boats are put straight back to work in the south

china sea boat yards in the city of deming have been particularly busy in recent years on top of the regular maintenance and building work they've been patching up holes they say were caused by collisions with the chinese coast guard. china is expanding its presence in the south china sea we see the boats every day they come closer and closer to our territory sometimes there are conflicts between vietnamese and chinese ships so we have to do our job and repair them there are hundreds of boats in this port at the center of a community whose livelihood depends on the ocean they head out for weeks at a time into waters that are claimed by vietnam china and other countries. many of the fishermen have accounts of being chased all the vessels being damaged by chinese boats among the claimants in southeast asia vietnam really stands as the strongest opponent now to chinese development in the south china sea or the e.c. as it's known in vietnam but at the same time the vietnamese are trying to balance

that opposition with economic reality. china is vietnam's largest trading partner but the vietnamese also want a counter to the rising regional influence of their fellow communist neighbor this week's visit to dunning by the aircraft carrier calvin sin was seen as a sign that vietnam thinks the united states could help provide that in a clear reference to the us the chinese government says countries outside the region are trying to stir trouble along with welcoming the united states navy vietnam recently bolstered its own defense is launching two new high speed border guard boats. the fishermen say more security on the water is welcome and. i have been fishing here for thirty eight years and there seems to have been more patrol boats in recent years we feel more secure and happy when we see the coast guard and i think the appearance of the u.s. ships also helps constrain chinese boats to even without that security they say

they would continue to work in seas that they believe have always belonged to vietnam wayne hay al jazeera dunning an explosion has been reported near a gathering of the shia minority in the afghan capital kabul or imports of four people being wounded there was no immediate claim of responsibility but kabul as seen the spate of deadly attacks carried out by both the taliban and deisel in recent months france is enjoying its strongest economic growth in six years many companies are struggling to find qualified staff though some economists are worried the shortage could slow down growth tasha potter reports in the french city of canard it's another busy day at this building material supplier business is booming for the sam c. group that has outlets across france to keep growing the company needs more staff but it's struggling to find skilled workers. this fall says we have five thousand

three hundred staff but two hundred and sixteen job vacancies we may need sales people forklift drivers and tireless it's really hard to find people who are specialized in areas such as woodwork so it's difficult for us to recruit staff with the skills we need. the boss says that twenty years ago people joined young trained on the job and worked their way out but today that's rare because you are people are attracted to industry. we can't fill vacancies internally anymore so we must recruit externally but this kids we need are not always taught in training schools so there's a lot of available talent we train in the house but it's not enough. france is experiencing its biggest economic growth in six years but nearly half of its manufacturing companies find it hard to recruit staff even though unemployment is high experts say the labor shortage could slow growth there is no clear

implement for growth in the next few months but as a liberal pledges can be a drag for. the next few quarters the french government wants to fix the country's labor shortage and get more now people into work it's already reformed the labor allow the workplace to be more flexible and it works to bruce the number of training apprenticeship schemes like this one teaches at this school near paris hope the government's focus on training will improve the image of apprenticeships and create more opportunities please look where you are also working think of when a young person arrives at a company with two years of training like this they are much more attractive and it's what companies want freedom of it of users and when i want to learn as much as possible here then one day i open my own company to what extent the government's reforms will ease the labor shortage will be clear for a few years but investing in this generation can only help the economy in the

future natasha butler al-jazeera. france almost one million people are without power after heavy snow in the northeast of the u.s. there's the second storm to hit the coast in less than a week more than eight hundred thousand people are enjoying widespread electricity cuts some of been without power for most a week heavy snow and icy roads are for state officials to close calls and cancel or delayed thousands of flights across the region. this is our jazeera and these are the top stories now u.s. president dog trump has agreed to meet north korea's leader in the coming weeks a south korean delegation delivered the invitation from kim jong un to the white house south korea's national security adviser says kim expressed a commitment to deal nuclearize ation the trumpet ministration is imposed tariffs

on steel and aluminum imports despite warnings of a global trade war mexico and canada are temporarily exempt want to go she continue on a regional trade agreement south korea says it may file a complaint with the world trade organization. we would actively consider filing a complaint to the world trade organization with agreement between major countries the trade minister kim chung already discussed this with the european union trade commissioner. eleven countries have signed the revised trans-pacific partnership trade deal until a there hailing it is a move against protectionism after the us pulled out of the agreement last year it will reduce terrorists for eleven countries and connect economies around the pacific worth ten trillion dollars. syrian opposition activists have reported no overnight air strikes or shelling on a rebel held on klav near damascus for the first time in ten days more than nine hundred people have been killed since the offensive on the eastern alter began

almost three weeks ago russia imposed a five hour daily ceasefire for civilians to leave but few have left the area united nations security council demanded an immediate cease fire. the red cross says thirteen trucks will go into eastern walter later on friday they'll bring in much needed aid and supplies delivery was for stoned on thursday because of the fighting. seven people have died in a suicide bombing on afghanistan's capital kabul seven others were wounded in the blast targeting a gathering of the sheer minority there's no immediate claim of responsibility but kabul has seen a spate of deadly attacks carried out by both the taliban and i saw in recent months almost one million people are without power after heavy snow in the northeast of the u.s. it's the second storm to hit the east coast in less than a week more than eight hundred thousand people are enjoying widespread electricity cuts some of been without power for almost a week now as your headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera

after the stream stay with us. facing reality 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. when i return and then i am. ok 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 and i want you. to join in the stream today an esteemed panel of gay.