forcibly taken from their families when the most terrible thing to serve is to be detained this has been the invisible weapon of the syrian dictatorship for some time is a call to be better to die than continue to be sure to encourage. the disappeared of syria but this time on al jazeera. this is al-jazeera. hello i'm daryn jordan this is the al-jazeera news hour live from doha coming up in the next sixty minutes. we will not weaken our resolve we will stand for. britain take this case against moscow to the u.n.

not pronouncing russian diplomats will be expelled over the poisoning of a former spy russia says it wasn't involved. from coast to coast students in the u.s. walk out of class to demand change a month after a school shooting in florida. got a one day some friends and i wrote on a wall still to dr ross and seven years on we revisit one of the protesters who said to help trigger syria's war plus. a mentor thomas at the opening of sydney's b.n. ali this year is the first ever to have an artistic director from asia i'll be explaining why that's significant and what it says about broader changes in australian society . welcome to the program moscow has told the u.n. security council of accusations by the u.k. that it's behind the poisoning of a. former russian spy and his daughter unfounded britain requested the emergency

meeting in new york just hours after prime minister to resign may order the expulsion of twenty three russian diplomats the u.s. called on the security council to hold russia accountable for what it described as a chemical weapons attack so again a new script remain in a critical condition in hospital after being targeted with a military grade nerve agent last week when britain's deputy ambassador to the u.n. urged the security council to take a united stance towards russia this is how russia has acted in every other case where it is being caught flouting international law denial destruction and threats it is what russia does but we will not let such threats deter us we will not weaken our resolve we will stand firm confident in our democracy our rule of law and the freedom of our people we will stand by the values which is

shared by the overwhelming majority of those in this council in this united nations and we are you today to stand by us christianson he has more now from u.n. headquarters in new york. the united kingdom laid out its case for blaming the russians and got full throated support from its strongest allies in the council including the united states france and sweden and other council members were reluctant to point the fingers at russia but expressed their concern over the gravity of the situation on the united states for its part made it very clear a plan to stand by its ally while russia continued to deny the charges the united states stands in absolute solidarity with great britain. the united states believes that russia is responsible for the attack on two people and the united kingdom using a military grade nerve agent the last of it a good bit of the news of the earth already interested in finding the truth lost

they guided by something else the using propaganda war to influence the public which is very easy to influence and not well educated the u.k. has asked the o.p.c. . organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons to validate the findings of their investigation the russians say they're happy to cooperate but they won't respond to alternate arms the u.k. says now continue to keep the international community apprised of progress in the investigation. let's get more on those measures that the british prime minister announced against russia theresa may has given twenty three russian diplomats a week to leave the country a move that is backed by the white house correspondent bonamy phillips reports. there was an air of inevitability to the prime minister's announcement given what she calls the contempt with which russia has responded to her demands for an explanation of what the british authorities say was a nerve agent so mr speaker there is no alternative conclusion other than that the

russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of mr script and his daughter and for threatening the lives of other british citizens in salzburg including detective sergeant nick de lay this represents an on more full use of force by the russian state against the united kingdom she told parliament she's expelling twenty three russian diplomats alleged to be undeclared intelligence offices they have a week to leave she said the u.k. will suspend all high level bilateral contacts with russia and cancel a planned visit by foreign minister sergei lavrov ministers of the royal family will boycott russia's well cup in june and she said the government would freeze russian state assets if there's evidence they may be used to threaten the life or property of u.k. nationals or residence. the opposition labor party leader jeremy corbyn was supportive up to a point his spokesman later refused to say the russian state was definitely at

fault if the government believes that it is still a possibility that russia negligently lost control of a military grade nerve agent what action is being taken through the o.p.c. w. with our allies i welcome the fact the police are working with the o.p.c. w. . and has the prime minister taken the necessary steps under the chemical weapons convention to make a formal request for evidence from the russian government under article nine point two from russia itself the message remains consistent speaking before teresa mayes announcements the foreign minister was characteristically dismissive. stay with mr little move we will demand the application of international laws we see no argument from our partners and without demonstrating concrete facts they'll be responsible for attempting to deceive the international community. so that the russian embassy

in london they'll be packing their bags and low russian relations at their lowest point since the cold war but even now britain needs to keep open some lines of communication with moscow on so many issues from iran to north korea britain called to forward to ignore russia. the measures which have been announced here would have been largely anticipated by the russians what would really hurt them would be further multilateral sanctions involving other western countries for that to happen britain needs to convince its allies that this is not just a bilateral spat between london and moscow but an issue which has the potential to threaten the security of many western countries barnaby phillips al jazeera westminster in central london where michael buss irk you as a global affairs analyst he says the u.k. measures against russia don't go far enough. i would describe it more as

a pinprick for the time being rather than hitting russia with a sledgehammer i think that a lot more could be done because don't forget expulsion of diplomats is one thing they can always replace them but you know remember when president obama hit hard against the russians they closed down for example certain properties where the russian diplomats play and relax so that should be done here another thing of course is looking at the billions of dollars of property here where we sit in london that has been purchased by russians who have links to president putin transparency international said today that approximately one fifth of the four point four billion in property here that has been designated by them as you know purchased with dirty money is in is purchased by russians and then of course the other thing could be travel sanctions i think if significant people as well as maybe even ordinary russians could no longer come here to the united kingdom that

is a lead that would really hit them very very hard not exactly a month on from a florida school shooting which left seventeen people dead the u.s. house of representatives has approved legislation to help prevent gun violence in schools the bill would allow for at least fifty million dollars a year to fund training and coordination but in schools and the police but it doesn't address any action on gun control president trump has backed the legislation which falls short of broader measures he suggested fall in the pocket and shooting the bill now goes to the senate to debate. there is still much more work to be done but the best way to keep our students and teachers safe is the give them the tools and the training to recognize those warnings to prevent violence from ever entering our school grounds this bill aims to do just that mr speaker. the problem of gun violence in america is a uniquely american problem it's an epidemic it's a complex problem there are many facets but we know what we need to do and i am

committed to taking any step to getting any new policy across the finish line that will make our kids safer this bill the stop school violence act is a good bill it will not solve our gun problem but it will help troubled students that need help get help and it will help teachers and law enforcement identify potential threats before it's too late rosen jordan has more now from washington d.c. . the bill would set aside fifty million dollars for a training program in order to teach students faculty and staff how to spot someone who might pose a security threat to the campus and that would include setting up a tip line civil libertarians however worried that this tip line could be used either as retaliation between youth squabbles or perhaps to racially profile some students the bill also passed on wednesday would also set of side twenty five million dollars for things such as improved locks panic buttons and metal detectors

basically to prevent people from bringing fire on onto campus without prior authorization the big holdup is in the u.s. senate there is no comparable bill being considered right now by the one hundred senators there are a couple of other bills that take a look at perhaps trying to restrict the types of firearms that are made available as well as improving federal background checks and congressional democrats would like to see a universal background check and extensive gun control something which congressional republicans are not going to sign on finally this is senate majority leader mitch mcconnell doesn't know when any legislation could be brought up for consideration in order to make good what the u.s. house of representatives wants which is a much saver public school environment for u.s. students so this could be resolved quickly in the face of growing political pressure or it could simply be put aside while senators decide to work on other

more pressing matters prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the teens suspected of last month's shooting a judge entered a not guilty plea from nicholas cruz after he remained silent during his court appearance the shooting sponsor nationwide student movement across the u.s. young people walked out of class demonic stricter gun safety laws and he got to has more from popham florida. across the united states students left their classrooms in droves from the east coast to the west this was a mass protest by a generation calling for gun reform on the capitol lawn in washington activists laid out thousands of shoes each pair represents a child killed by gun violence. in new york the sentiments of many reflect the pain in george by those in florida that is why it is important for us to stand here today to show that gun control isn't a suggestion but a demand from the american people the protests lasted seventy minutes one for each

of the victims that were killed a month ago some t.v. networks followed suit paying tribute to those that died a lot of schools around the country. so i think if we. start changing. the prosecutors in florida and now seeking the death penalty for the alleged shooter nicholas cruz wants yes but more than anything else these students are determined to campaign for change no matter how long it takes to keep we care to meet the difference and there are going to stop telling. me that we're going to see politicians realize that they need to make a difference if they want to stay in office and congress hearings into the aftermath of the park when shooting continue i on the streets demands for gun reform grow if there is a message from the students of the marjorie stoneman douglas high school it's one of hope and remembrance they will continue to honor the friends that they lost one

month ago but they will also continue to campaign for change this is the voice of a new generation and they gallacher al-jazeera in florida where richard goodstein was a former legal advisor to how gun control inc which is now the brady campaign to prevent gun violence he says the new legislation doesn't go far enough. think about all the hardball gun incidents we've had in the united states. a movie theater in aurora colorado a post nightclub in orlando the shooting in las vegas from a hotel window not long ago a shooting in charleston in a church fort hood military base i understand why even people who are in favor of gun control had to vote for that bill to show that they wanted to do something however minor but any idea that this is going to somehow address the problem is fanciful let me just make one other point you know people say well there's a mental health problem guess what every country on the planet has people who have

mental health problems but no country other than the united states has these horrific gun incidents one after another after another the variable is access to guns it's not mental health problems. also it's coming on the news hour including sanctuary at last to refugees grueling story of torture and terror before he found safety in tunisia. on the around physicist who made the world take notice stop people are paying tribute to stephen hawking has died aged seventy six. the hero in a big night for barcelona in the champions league that's all still to come. to syria where the red crescent says a large aid convoys due to arrive in a rebel held part of eastern ghouta on thursday the u.n. says fighting has subsided in duma after a deal with the main rebel group that allowed the evacuation of around one hundred fifty people in need of medical treatment to the capital damascus at least three

hundred civilians have left eastern ghouta in recent days despite the ongoing bombardment by government and russian forces. at least thirteen people have died in the latest attacks on the eastern ghouta syrian forces are making major advances in the a month after stepping up their assault on the besieged area in recent days they have sought to cut off sections of rebel held territory. and civilians are caught up in fighting on another front an adlib in northwest syria rescuers worked to free a woman from a collapsed building for twelve hours at least nine people were killed in the same attack two others were rescued. well further north turkish troops and free syrian army fighters are aiming to surround the city of a free in the coming hours turkey's been fighting for two months to drive out kurdish forces from the border region it sees them as terrorists thousands of civilians are under siege in the kurdish held territory as alan fish and i reports i slowly they're closing in on our friend these free syrian army fighters are no

taking up positions on the edge of the city the next move could come at any moment . where the special forces that belong to our homes a brigade are preparing for an operation which we'll hear about in a few hours it's a big operation at a meeting in ankara the turkish president confidently predicted an end to this phase of operation all of branch in the coming hours. before i came here today i checked the latest numbers of how many terrorists were neutralized in africa in three thousand four hundred forty four terrorists or neutralized and we have gotten closer to africa and i hope that by this evening inshallah african will be completely followed but within twenty minutes of the president speaking his advisors were qualified that what he meant was the city of african would be completely surrounded within a few hours not taken over. the why p.g. so the idea that the city is about to fall is completely false. the turks say they've created a humanitarian corridor to low people in the city to leave safely

a number of people have already done just that the international red cross has reminded everyone that any civilians who evacuated anywhere in syria must be treated humanely among the key points the emphasize are any evacuees must be informed in advance on the thames of the agreement destination site and evacuation process that they must be protected from attack if they're staying or leaving family unity must be protected that there are loads to take and keep personal belongings including important documents and property and possessions left behind must be protect. good enough for the city itself because the first people to donate blood a little doing that a battle be a lie ahead in the coming you know bloody that might be alan fischer from the turkey syria border. now thursday marks seven years since the start of the uprising that led to the syrian civil war the torture of fifteen schoolchildren in the

southern province of that are for writing and to government graffiti sparked the first mass demonstrations weeks later security forces opened fire on crowds and the protests spread to damascus homs and other cities where soldiers angry over the government's response defected from syria's military and announced the formation of the free syrian army aiming to oust president bashar al assad well by february the following year armed rebellion spread to parts of lib homs and the damascus countryside in the vendor twenty twelve different rebel groups began seizing territory and the syrian kurds took de facto control of kurdish dominated areas after the withdrawal of assad's forces twenty thirteen saw the birth of eisel which captured large swathes of syria and iraq over the next two years and in september twenty fifteen the russian military stepped in it said it was fighting eisel and so-called terrorists but its support dramatically altered the battle lines in favor of its ally president esad p rebel held areas such as eastern aleppo that and homs

came under government control and last year i saw what was effectively pushed out after a renewed offensive by the us led coalition after seven years of conflict this is now the battle map of syria look small pockets of rebel held territory surrounded by regime forces kurds control much of the country's north the territories divided by turkey backed rebel groups in the middle with high school pushed into small corners of the country well some are saying this is one of the boys involved in the protests that some believe triggered this year an uprising this is his story. my name is some a c.s. and i'm twenty one years old i was fourteen when the revolutions in the arab world started we used to follow the news on t.v. one day some friends and i wrote on a wall it's your turn doctor us security agencies threaten my father with the arrest of all members of our family if i wasn't handed over to the police within twenty four hours they also told him if he did hand me nothing would happen except

to sign a pledge not to write words like that again instead myself and twenty of my friends spent three months in prison and we suffered all forms of torture and had nightmares our families did everything for us to be released when we were eventually returned to our families other people welcomed our release near the mosque by protesting and chanting against the regime after that i joined the free syrian army i fought battles and i've been injured i got married and have two daughters i live a normal life but this will always be my way either to be a martyr or to achieve victory but we will never retreat well hillary mann leverett is the c.e.o. of strategy that's a political risk consultancy she joins us live from washington d.c. so hillary this is a war that's dragged on for seven years with a loss of hundreds of thousands of lives is there any hope that it could end any time soon do you think. i think it may if you had if

if i were speaking about this back in two thousand and fourteen two thousand and thirteen twenty fourteen i would have said that the conflict bears a lot of resemblance to the civil war in lebanon and that we would be looking at at least fifteen years for this war to drag on for better or for worse and for all of the casualties that have ensued the russian military intervention the decisive russian military intervention in september two thousand and fifteen has really put this conflict i think on a final trajectory toward victory for the syrian government when russia intervened so decisively with some of the other some of the other actors iran iranian other kinds of protein ronnie and militia hezbollah for example in support of the syrian government as bloody as it has been the syrian government has been able with their support to regain control of significant swaths of syrian territory and as bloody

as i think it will continue to be over the next perhaps two years i think the syrian government is in a real position to retake syrian territory and we will see the end of the conflict with all of the hundreds of thousands of griffith casualties involved and away from those bloody battles on the ground hilary i mean all diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict failed so why can't they reach any kind of consensus at the u.n. . well because the the key superpowers the united states and russia are diametrically opposed the united states really saw the uprisings in syria as an opportunity not so much to help people and i hate to be the skeptic here but the united states never really saw it as an opportunity to help people they saw it as an opportunity to arm their favored groups to use those groups and the syria as a battlefield against iran that was something very strong in the first term of the obama administration when secretary of state clinton was the secretary here it

changed a bit in the second term of the obama administration and obama himself said he regretted a lot of the decisions he had taken in libya and syria initially to try to overthrow those governments because the result has just been horrific war and casualty of civilians but the u.s. position was diametrically opposed to the russian position when they intervened decisively in september twelfth two thousand and fifteen to support the syrian government and from september twenty fifth teen forward russia iran syria hezbollah all the other supporters of the assad government have since two thousand and fifteen much more at stake almost an existential stake in syria than the united states has so it really hasn't been a contest and one more important dynamic hilary's that the conflict has become much more complex hasn't i mean when it started it was just the opposition versus assad and now we have we have all sorts of rebel groups and many different state player is vying for influence. in some ways it has become more complicated but

in my opinion it was complicated from the beginning there were as there was always a strong element of foreign fighters especially supported by saudi arabia for example in syria so there's always been this element of a broader battlefield than just syrians fighting syrians in syria and my big concern sitting here from washington is that at all though it hopefully the conflict will come to an end soon my concern is that the changes in the trump administration could exacerbate the conflict we're looking at a new secretary of state for example mr pompei o who now leads the cia who is very critical of turkey and i think will take an antagonistic tone toward turkey we're looking potentially at a new national security adviser john bolton who has talked openly about arming yet more sunni groups in syria to be there to counter iran and iraq so we're looking potentially with the changes in the troubling ministration even more of violence at

least in the short term memory model of right thank you for talking to us now he's nine people have been killed and twenty seven injured after a bomb blast ripped through a police checkpoint in eastern pakistan it happened in the city of the whole while police were changing dogs the checkpoint was outside the annual religious meeting with nearly eighty thousand people gathered pakistan's main taliban group has claimed responsibility for the attack slovakia's prime minister has offered to resign as his party faces growing protests of a corruption of the murder of a journalist robert fico has been under intense pressure to step down since young and his fiance were killed last month protesters are pushing for an inquiry into the deaths have been investigating and there's links between government figures and the italian mafia the interior minister stepped down earlier this week. nigeria's president has told the families of one hundred ten missing schoolgirls there will be no rest until they are found my model bihari visited the school in northeastern

where the students were abducted last month the government says they were taken by suspected boko haram fighters it's the second largest abduction since the group kidnapped more than two hundred seventy schoolgirls from the town of chibok in twenty fourteen hours promised over a new military offensive. i've directed the army air force police state services department and the rest of the security agencies to find the girls wherever they are federal government to use all its power to see to the end of this insurgency and bring peace to the country lots more still to come here not just here including. but we will not allow land grabs we will not allow a land invasion is a valve from south africa's president as a straining office to help the republics might follow us. and open for business the push to revive zimbabwe's struggling economy. and in charge of all the president's

men the top jump for tiger woods as his comeback picks up momentum on that stakes. through triangle raveena cain. and then on can free to use and if any should go on to live. had i was time for a bit of spring rain in china specifically in hong kong could feed of some of the the most change you can see combined with various other aspects give you nice green line up season side of china probably misses shanghai but wouldn't guarantee that inland to further inland is looking fairly fine relatively woman as well a few showers will develop as things start to dry up over home carmen the whole lot moves inland come friday sasa this in the sas china sea increasing cutting the north the philippines look fine at the moment the onshore breeze isn't quite as strong for vietnam so for example satellite imagery showing showers shows virtually

nothing over the coast but much of borneo is covered still so the way i see bali east was it looks on the nice clad nights with a rather wet weather is and is full cost a bit but we are developing showers further north and they're rather more than just scattered over todd and laos and cambodia over the next couple of days it's still dry season but it wants to change i we've had some unusual cloud development have a southern india you wouldn't expect significant rain quite so good in the us indeed has happened the tip of kerala and in the forecasts yeah the shallows there moving slowly up the coast of the southwest. the weather sponsored by cats on race . i am doing this for the benefit of saddam people. so they see the importance of the outcry.

witness documentaries that open your eyes. at this time on al-jazeera. when the news breaks. on the mailman city and the story builds to be forced to leave the room just. when people need to be heard to women and girls are being bought and given away in refugee camps al-jazeera has teams on the ground to bring you the award winning documentaries and live news on al-jazeera i got to commend you all i'm hearing is good journalism. and.

welcome back a quick recap of the top stories here on al-jazeera moscow has told a u.n. security council that accusations it's behind the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter are unfounded britain requested an emergency meeting in new york just hours after prime minister to resign may order the expulsion of twenty three russian diplomats. exactly a month after seventeen people died in a florida school shooting the u.s. house of representatives has approved legislation to help prevent gun attacks in schools it comes as students across the u.s. staged a walkout demanding tougher gun control. and the red crescent in syria says a large aid convoys due to arrive in a rebel held part of eastern doobs on thursday follows the medical evacuation of one hundred fifty people from duma the fighting has subsided after a deal with the main rebel group in the area. now a bridge one of the main links between west and east mosul in iraq has now reopened

but prime minister hyderabadi officially opened it to traffic more than a year after it was destroyed in fighting between coalition forces and eisel all five bridges across the tigris were bombed by the u.s. led coalition to hinder isis movement. as you can see the old bridge is back in its original state it's even better now that's because the reconstruction cost is lower compared to other bridges and it's also important because it represents an artery to bring life back to the old city so this bridge had to be the first one to be reconstructed now carry on court has sentenced a syrian cypriot man to seven years in prison for illegally entering the country akhmed ham it was part of a group of hundreds of people that storm the border fence between serbia and hungary and twenty fifteen rights groups have criticized the decision to convict ahmed using anti terror laws calling it a travesty of justice hunger is right when the government has taken a hard line on refugees and migrants. human rights groups have criticized the deal

between italy and libya aimed at curbing migration they say it's led to even more appalling conditions for people having to cross the mediterranean one refugee from michelle has told al-jazeera he was captured bought and sold while in libya before seeking safety in tunisia. reports. life may still be hard but at the very least mohammed feel safe here in tunisia. today he's picked up a job cleaning a beachside villa work that helps keep his mind off the horrors he experienced in libya to how he always welcomed us enough if you run away from diminishes they feel free to shoot you because well it says cheap mohamed left his home in the air because the people of his town were being terrorized by boko haram he had hoped to cross the mediterranean and settle in europe but after reaching libya he found himself stuck in a vicious cycle of violence repeatedly captured and beaten by militias who would always demand payment for his release. at one point he couldn't afford to buy his

freedom from one of the armed groups that had imprisoned him so the fighters found another way to get the money. like it they sold me i was sold and i'm. forced to work for the man who bought him mohammed was in slave for months before being freed why the inside exam is if i am a human just like him to get it and only difference between me and him is that god created me with that skin and he was white it is not my fault god created me like this i was very upset because i didn't hold any value to any of them i wasn't worth anything to them as if i'm not even a human being. like many others in his position mohammed eventually made it onto a smuggler's boat but it never reached italy. instead he ended up in southeastern tunisia humanitarian workers hearings are aziz expect the migration crisis to

continue that's why they're asking the tunisian government to do more to protect the rights of migrants and refugees now mohammed lives at a center in nearby made mean run by the tunisian red crescent dr manji slim who heads the southern tunisian branch of the aid organization says that as long as human traffickers continue to exploit the chaos and conflict in neighboring libya things won't improve. them the chin is in authority as have many other issues that the focusing on so we hope that the international community will remember these migrants and help them to achieve a solution either with a voluntary return to their countries or with integration or by helping them seek asylum even though he's barely making ends meet mohammed still feels lucky. to have escaped the kind of trauma most people could never imagine to be in a place where despite the difficulties he says he's being treated like a person. is

a disease tunisia. you know the european union says it will give another three point seven billion dollars for syrian refugees in turkey but it plans to punish countries that refused to take back people who don't get asylum in europe that measures include targeting diplomats by restricting their visas or increasing their travel costs the e.u. hopes this will further reduce the number of refugees coming from the middle east and africa. now south africa has slammed on australian government minister for suggesting white south african farmers should get special visas because of what's described as quote horrific circumstances they face at home so africa's president zuma porter has vowed to escalate the pace of redistributing land from wealthy whites to poor blacks almost seventy five percent of south africa's farmland is still owned by whites more than twenty four years after the end of apartheid but robert moses says any chance for it will be done legally. i can say now that we will not allow reps we will not allow lending invasions and those who are

tempted to resort to such activities must be warned in advance that we will not allow it because it is the league oh but apart from being illegal it begins to violate the rise of the south african cities as. well as talk to ian rintoul he joins us live via skype from brisbane he's a spokesman for the refugee action council this australian government minister is peter dutton the. home affairs minister for australia the government in australia isn't this hypocritical of them on the one hand they've sent certain types of asylum seekers with dark skins to offshore prison camps but on the other hand they're putting down the red carpet for certain other types of immigrants with white skin could this be construed as blatantly racist. i think i think the rice is a mode a collison government destroyer is very very clearly on the sly and that's exactly

what it is it's astounding hypocrisy and and it is clearly you know races that we both enjoy that if they're all you know white zimbabwean as a lights out we're going to bomb as arriving in boats and they would not be mandatory detention. he i.b.m. is going to sudanese when the somalis when they're from iraq or afghanistan the attitude is very very different that bites are turned around they're expelled nuru and and madison it is astounding that the saudi government rice is a my think as been recognized internationally in how it's treated refugees a nap heated up was taken up another step to get this lie that rice is among the internationals and how embarrassing is this for the australian government why would they give preferential treatment to white south african farmers anyway. lou this is a this is a government that is in very difficult electoral circumstances in australia and i would i would lose an election there will be an election in the next next few months i will lose it dramatically end up it. comments are buried under zine duck

or domestic political domestic political audience he died i have been teaching to rice a spike in history it will some time now i've been you know criminalizing you know sort of sudanese refugees there being now references about you know african gangs a lot of there's been you know no substance so that in terms of the experience in his stride in the community. i think a very very deliberate ploy to appeal to or i suppose in the context of a government which is declining in the polls in a desperate late feeling that rice is not to try and maintain some popularity let's talk about the perceived threat to those white farmers is there any reason to suggest that white farmers from south africa are more deserving of asylum what is it about very predicament that would elevate their status above any other asylum seeker. there's nothing about the particulars it's just that the whites i mean we had to organize demonstrations in australia to force this coalition government to

accept refugees from syria i took it to mass demonstrations in all the capital cities in australia they just had a very very deliberate place to you know anyone from the middle east anyone from you know sri lanka the eyes or so he said you know to africa when you think of the circumstances of the people in syria at the moment in afghanistan into other parts other places like you know like sudan where people have been attempting to come to australia and arriving by boat now there is nothing to compare the experience of that to to the what we're going to let me get a final thought from you i mean peter dutton has been accused of exaggerating the threat to white farmers in south africa what's likely then to be the wider fallout from all of this. and i'm not instead it's just to diminish domestic audience here i mean the fallout of not respect will just be discussed amongst the wider you know struggling community we've got. a small rural town in queensland at the moment

that's an awful because he's trying government to try to unlawfully deport you know a tamil are timeless on the sake of they have been living in that in that town for four years so i think it will it will exacerbate the government circumstances it will convince i think many more people that we've got a government that talks about and you know it's on the one hand and on the other you know it does nothing to up hold up hold out you know and so they'll be more i think recognition of the contradictions in the caucus a devices and the council on the the australian government in rental thank you for talking to al-jazeera. now six inmates have been killed trying to resist a police raid i believe in prison two thousand officers and to be upon the solid jail in santa cruz on wednesday looking for contraband response a gun battle with inmates which also left more than twenty people injured police say they discovered firearms drugs and alcohol discovery. now the university where stephen hawking made his name has been at the forefront of worldwide tributes the

renowned physicist a book of condolences has been opened at cambridge university after he died aged seventy six hawking worked there for almost fifty years it was also an inspiration for people with disabilities after being does know diagnosed with a form of motor neuron disease in his twenty's and looks back at hawking's life. stephen hawking was a devoted scientist but was often treated like a statesman millions revered him for his gift of communicating complex matters to the masses i and on wednesday there were expressions of sadness across the world a cambridge university where hawking studied and worked for decades they were particularly proud of the professor xavier has just has such a huge impact as a person he's inspired generation after generation of individuals to go into sciences inspired people who are disabled and the foreign ministry in china the country he visited several times offered its condolences to hawkings family. mr

stephen hawking was an outstanding scientist who has been battling disease he made great contributions to science and to mankind we are alive we are intelligent hawking decoded some of the most enigmatic mysteries of the universe its origins structure and end from big bang to black holes he also beat the odds spectacularly hawking was almost twenty one and a student at cambridge university when he was diagnosed with a less a degenerative motor neuron condition he was given just two and a half years but went on to live for more than half a century. because. as the disease progressed talking last mobility and had to rely on a wheelchair after losing the ability to speak hawking turn to a voice synthesizer selecting words by moving his cheek muscles

a tedious process but one that allowed him to express his pioneering ideas looking was respected early on in scientific circles for helping to prove the big bang theory about how the universe burst into existence fourteen billion years ago global acclaim came in one thousand nine hundred eight with the release of his book a brief history of time this introduction to cosmology was a global hit it's sold more than ten million copies and been translated into dozens of languages at this tokyo bookstore his fans have been paying tribute to ringing out i should. he had a mind that no ordinary person could prevent i wonder if he was able to convey everything that he wanted to convey through his research. stephen hawking became a figure in popular culture guest starring on shows such as the simpsons and star trek the presses in washington's court and public fascination with him culminated in the hollywood film of his remarkable life the theory of everything the universe is expanding if you will first time and the universe is getting smaller. stephen

hawking devoted his life to seeking answers to the questions of our existence and in doing so he helped us to peer deeper into how our universe works now the republican house speaker paul ryan has called a congressional election in pennsylvania a wake up call after the results came too close to call the democratic candidates claiming victory in a special election even though his republican rival insists he will not concede defeat john hendren reports. it was it was a race that shouldn't have been close it all and that makes connor lamb the new hope with the democratic party it's a little longer than we thought but we did it the were you did it were you did it. in a nail biter the young charismatic former marine and republican state legislator rick's a cone finished in a near dead heat in a special election for a u.s. congressional seat in pennsylvania that traditionally leans republican and we're

going to keep fighting and don't give up and we'll keep it up we were that has democrats believing they can retake congress with an eighty trump donald trump on the district by about twenty percentage points in two thousand and sixteen analysts say this election could be a sign of things to come this really will be seen as a referendum on donald trump and democrats are going to take. are going to take that as an indication an early indication that the november results could be very good for them and they're going to believe that they have a real chance of taking a majority in the house of representatives late in the campaign sic own reach out to his party's president for health sense even shocking. the. what the president hoping to keep congress republican reached back go out and vote on tuesday for rick succumb the president even dispatched his son donald trump jr

hoping to push the cone ahead and he's going to support the some of those doing it a real conservative is going to fight for america and help us push through this agenda but here in steel and coal country lamb appealed to many of the union workers and blue collar democrats who supported trump two years ago many are now disillusioned despite the protective steel tariffs trump would keep them voting republican it's heartbreaking because i voted for truong we all had hopes that he would change everything. i guess we were wrong or maybe we're wrong. democrats hope to make more gains. but that will depend on whether they can elect. and whether they continue to face an unpopular president john hendren. washington. well known. close all of its stores putting thirty thousand jobs at risk it's also shutting down its remaining seventy five outlets in britain the company bankruptcy last year it dominated the toy business in the ninety's but has been

struggling to compete with. such. details.

welcome back and ali begins on friday and runs for the next three months but for the first time ever and has an artistic director from asia japan's mommy kept oka who is curating this year's event says her choices of artists and ott reflect the

modern multicultural society thomas reports. sidney's held or not be in ali almost every two years since one thousand nine hundred seventy three but some critics say this year is sydney's twenty first represents a coming of age all the b.n. ollie's previous artistic directors have been west and other australian european or american this be and ali is the first with someone from asia curating money to ocala who normally runs a gallery in tokyo sees the significance and how it reflects a broader changes in australia since the bee and ali began so this is not a zero but this is not europe either it's interesting to see the demographics of this country and city and how you capture. this is hired to through the lens of the . one nine hundred seventy three year of the first b. and ali was also the year the queen both britain's and australia's open sydney's

new opera house the crowd in this old footage is exclusively white until nine hundred seventy three white australia was official policy that changed soon after and australia sent to become far more multicultural today more immigrants arrive from china and india than from any european country the art scene reflects that so that doesn't seem to rattle this be an erroneous in calculating something. and the source of that being away since. since the late seventy's maybe eighty eighty years but the analogy is showing off in six thousand years across sydney chinese artist ai weiwei ways work in response to the global refugee crisis is the standout piece on cockatoo island a film a shipyard and one time prison in the middle of sydney harbor. unlike some permanent galleries like london's tate modern which have been built within the shelves of former industrial buildings this has been

a space is still very much roll the floors around even there a cracks in the windows and this old machinery it's still covered in dust tiny artist has hung canvases from the ceiling of a formal workshop where ships were once made and repaired firth he talked with the cute. really good luck but she gave me this. even critics who don't like most of the b. and all these ott say the setting is dramatic even sometimes the most banal or or you know sort of piece can look quite interesting in one of these places in bars from the interest of the buildings alan thinks the bee in all these ought suffers from being too commercial it's not as political as it once was but all this can reflect rather than campaign and this year's been ali reflects the changing face of australia under thomas al jazeera sydney for a time for sport now his far. thanks very much barcelona have booked their place in

the quarter finals of the champions league they've got there by beating chelsea at the nou camp lino messi scored twice as they won three no on the night and four one on aggregate barcelona are looking to complete a treble this season they're on top of the league and in the final of the copper del ray. bar in munich have also booked their place in the next round their three one victory and if them bowl gave the dislike a champions an eight one aggregate win over the schick cash burn are looking to make the final for the first time since a twenty thirteen. show ever grand have moved one step closer to the asian champions league round of sixteen after each you know when against south korea's tasia united the result sees the chinese champions move three points clear in g. they can guarantee their place in the knockout stages if they can win their next match. came from behind twice and scored

a late goal to salvage a point against dream united of thailand the equaliser secured a two two draw for the japanese side bremer maint second in the group of level on points with osaka. there was an upset in group b. as leaders yon book a south korea were beaten by china's challenge in kwan jan and there was also win for kitschy of hong kong who picked up their first points of the campaign by beginning because she was. raining formula one world champion lewis hamilton says he's super relaxed amid contract negotiations with mercedes the briton along with his mercies team mates about terry and both times were looking to their new campaign as the season gets underway on march twenty fifth despite entering the final year of his contract hamilton says he's in no rush to sign any deal the thirty three year old also revealed he was unsure about how much longer he'll compete in the f one. i don't stop early i don't stop premature that's for

sure and so i really don't know what my time is i could probably states i'm forty if i wanted to but i don't think i'm going to do that i could stay you want two more years but until you two more years time with i still have the excitement that i have now going into another season i really can't tell you. just be much more time for me to really focus on the things that matter because you know what we're going to start with a new team you have all the new people to get to know how the team works how the new car works you know there's so much things around them now it's been. more straightforward and feel very confident very healthy and good to go on the upswing and tiger woods golfing fortunes has continued with him being named u.s. captain for the twenty nineteen presidents cup the event sees a u.s. team taking on an international line which includes players from the rest of the world minus europe before that woods will be continuing his playing comeback at the

arnold palmer invitational and for that. for me to go from not knowing whether i will ever be able to play the game again to you know i'm a bill plate maybe the. make a couple cuts my builder you know possibly get myself into the mix i'm in the mix and so there is a process and evolution to it and it's been quick one of tiger's opponents of the arnold palmer invitational is welcome or seven rickie fowler who warns that even though woods deserves much of the media attention during the build up competition or be fierce in florida. he's been the biggest needle mover in the game. i don't think anyone's really going to come close to what he's been overdue as far as the current time the so it's it's a tension that you know he's acquired in the service that a lot of guys why not grow the brain does all that work for now that are going to

put up a pretty good fight so. these can be tough to teams who look set for the playoffs and basketball's top pro league faced off on tuesday night the indiana pacers just add to this game against the philadelphia seventy six ers miles turner scoring twenty five points in one hundred and one to ninety eight when both teams are in the top eight and are in contention to head into the postseason sophia goes has won the season long downhill world cup title the italians great rival lindsey vonn did win the final race of the campaign in sweden but the olympic champion go finished three points ahead of bonnie and the overall standings it's the twenty five year old's first world cup title. three time surfing world champion mick fanning has failed to win at his home advantage in his second last professional parents the australian who famously punched a shark in twenty fifteen came third in his fourth round heat at snapper rocks

fellow australians in the right one the heat to move to the quarterfinals fanning will serve his final provent next month. and that's all your support for now more later but i thank you that's it for me for this news hour joined us up next with more news stay with us thanks for watching. the scene for us where there are 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 a sunset there are people that there are choosing between buying medication and eating base is a dialogue i want to get in one more comment because this is someone who's an activist and has posted a story join the global conversation at this time on al-jazeera.

with bureaus spanning six continents across the globe. to. al-jazeera has correspondents living green the stories they tell. about it. food in world news political capital the capital which makes a creative. when nature is transformed into a commodity big business takes a new interest buying landscapes protecting landscapes it's a phenomenal opportunity to be able to use a business model to achieve sustainability of nature but at what risk banks of course don't do that because they have at the heart protection of nature they do that because to see a business in pricing the planet at this time on al-jazeera to train and equip the opposition in syria so they can help push back these terrorists people in power

investigates how the u.s. supplies soviet style weapons to its allies through private company to spend the u.s. government could wash their hands if they were. we didn't know where it was coming from so weapon that was supplied by the us government may well end up being pointed at us soldiers yes absolutely we pick it up less than two months off in the professional america's guns secret pipeline to syria and this time on al jazeera. we will not weaken our resolve we will stand firm but will takes its case against moscow to the un often and sing russian diplomats will be expelled over the poisoning of a former spy russia says it wasn't involved.