i don't want that many people here think the government will fail. i am doing this on the benefit of saddam people. so bad they see the importance of their our cars. witness documentaries that open your eyes. at this time on al-jazeera. no end to the exodus in syria as thousands flee besieged cities at opposite ends of the country at least twenty four civilians die in east and go to.

a more intake of this is al jazeera live from london also coming up. we will consider our next steps in the coming days before continues from the british russia a nerve agent attack now if you k. please contact russian exiles following the killing of the businessman. the deputy chief of the f.b.i. hits back at president truong after being fired just days before he was set to retire. more than thirty african leaders signed a petition and saving the elephant but is it enough. and at least twenty four civilians have been killed by syrian government forces in eastern guta on saturday bring the death toll over the past two days to almost one hundred thousands of civilians are fleeing besieged cities at opposite ends of syria as two major battles intensify in eastern go to near the capital damascus

thousands of people have left areas held by rebels in the past few hours meanwhile in the northern city of a free in thousands are evacuating territory held by kurdish y p g fighters as turkish forces and their syrian allies try to fight their way into the city and they've been war reports of arundhati bombardments and both of these areas dozens of people being killed in the latest on the town of eastern ghouta under simmons has the latest from near the turkish syrian border. but almost can't be verified this isn't a united nations operation the russians and the syrian regime are organizing these two call riddles one to the north of peace and goodwill one to the south it's the latter warm the southern warm that's being used right now and files and of people in a very sullen state moving away and trying at hoping that they're going to get safety no absolute certainty of where they're going the syrian regime says that they will

be processed in evacuation centers they'll be medical help they'll be food they'll be water but uncertainty with all of that as far as the security position nice and good to goes no ceasefire to allow this to happen there have been further attacks particularly in. which was under attack on friday there were claims that russian warplanes were engaged in dropping munitions that included in century ball that was for me to buy denied by russia but the situation is quite critical with the s.o.h. all the syrian observatory for human rights claiming that at least thirty civilians died as they were preparing to flee eastern groups are now in a freend closer to the turkish syrian border the position there is escalating more civilians fleeing that city they wipe e.g. the kurdish fighters are trying to defend it but the turkish forces now in circling

right the way around the city and the syrian free syrian army which is backed by the turkish taking over a prison now and moving forward furthermore there is a categorical denial by the turkish that they targeted a hospital in a free and on friday they say that they've shown these pictures showing that the hospital is intact however the suit observatory for human rights is showing video of a damaged building which it says is the hospital so dispute that one of many about exactly what is going on. britain's prime minister to resign may says the u.k. is considering its next steps after moscow announced it would expel twenty three british diplomats and close the british council in russia but he has accused the kremlin of orchestrating a nerve agent attack on

a former russian spy and his daughter in salzburg twenty three russian diplomats already be expelled by britain journal reports from moscow. after days of waiting it took barely ten minutes for british ambassador laurie bristow to be handed russia's written response we gave russia the opportunity to explain help the material got sold but we are structured to declare that material that particular to the organization the production chemical weapons russia did neither therefore we announced certain steps russia today has informed me off the steps that russia will be taking in response to that. the decision to remove twenty three british diplomats from russia mirrored u.k. prime minister to resign may's own statement on wednesday expelling twenty three russian diplomats from london the countermeasures didn't stop with the expulsion of british diplomats from the embassy here they were as well what the russians would call asymmetrical measures to match the reason mase promise of looking more closely

at the sources of russian money in the u.k. so britain's diplomatic presence in russia will be further reduced by the closure of its consulate in simply does burke russia second city and the operations of the government funded british council will cease a charity that promotes british culture abroad the russian government has long suspected it of being a cover for british intelligence it is though what in diplomatic speak might be described as a measured response what's is there a russian does not want. a fresh wanted to ask then the response british. expulsions could be the even more severe way with the americans they could exploit more they could cripple actually the british mission and moscow. russia is sending a message with its. rhetoric continues but no more serious action. to resubmit chose to double. russia's response doesn't change the facts of the

matter the attempted assassination of two people on british soil for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the russian state was culpable the british government may be emboldened by a show of support from allies like france and germany along with new sanctions aimed at russia by the united states russia meanwhile may be looking for ways to calm things down joe the whole al-jazeera moscow. let's get russian reaction now from lawrence lee in moscow so we've heard again from two reason may what's their reaction to her further statement on this. well you know i think i think here i think john is absolutely right in what he suggests is in his report that i think the russians probably were quite large insofar as they can support this to bed now i mean it that that is going to happen but in terms of responses it was and you know it wasn't the nuclear option in that way.

what i think is going to be the most important next thing is when the weapons inspectors arrive in salzburg in southern england next week and take samples away whether or not they're going to be able to offer any source of clarification as to what the agent was crippled the script for a family and when and where it much to come from clearly if they can do that it would lend validity to warn arguments or the other if they come on then it's still a sort of mudslinging competition i do think though listening to stories are made today it does appear that the british side is intent on trying to push this further and i think that's probably going to wind the russians up quite a lot does appear that's reason maze is very energized by this part of the thing else it allows so they go on the front foot rather than being assailed over breakfast all the time which is the other problem the british at the moment but if they do do more than the russians are going to have no response to put but but to

reciprocate on that as well and you mentioned the internal politics in the u.k. in russia obviously if he has until they elections that what's this episode meant for putin do you think. well i think i think what it does is to go and see that on russian t.v. which is where most russians get their news is the you know it will be full tonights of look at us we stood up to the brits you know the glory of russia and when we ought to get pushed around by anybody particularly the west that message loud and clear echoes very much what what putin has been trying to say in the run up to this obviously putin himself has taken no part in the campaign he was an involved in the ridiculous television debates of the way the only thing it was a state of the nation address a few weeks ago in which he promised a lot more spending on heavy military and said that russia was going to get pushed around by the west and in that sense the their response on the eve of the election plays directly into that sort of strategy variously thank you very much indeed.

meanwhile u.k. police have contacted several russian exiles due to concerns over their safety following the killing of a prominent businessman was found dead in his home in southwest london on monday need barkha and joins us live from outside the shafts home so what are they saying there about the second chances of roles. where the father they've launched a murder investigation on friday into the death of nicholai english cause gives you an indication of where the authorities are likely to be taking this investigation which of course is now in the hands of counter-terrorism command a branch of the met police here in london they are specialist police that are also dealing with the poisoning of the script miles down in souls free just under two weeks ago. he was found with compression marks around his neck at his house here behind me there's a strong police presence still here because it's very much an active crime scene there forensic tents on the front driveway we've seen police coming and going just

in the few hours that we've been here he was meant to be in court on the monday when his body was found on stream longstanding charges against him that have been brought by the russian airline aeroflot a company that he previously been the chief financial officer of we know that he'd been jailed in russia for financial irregularities in the early two thousand is that a moscow had tried unsuccessfully to have him extradited over to russia to face charges something the british authorities were not prepared to allow happen but he's also going to be looking into his association to boreas sabera zoff ski the russian oligarch a strong staunch kremlin critic and a critic of ladder may have putin he was found mysteriously daid insist under suspicious circumstances here in the u.k. in boxes just west of london in two thousand and thirteen good cough was a friend business paul and a close associate who is insists that the boroughs of ski had in. he'd been

murdered now bush ski and others are part of a long list of russians in exile that have died here in the u.k. but are now having their cases are examined by police and by the british intelligence office the office of m i five as well. thank you very much. still to come on the program. she is confirmed as china's leader for life and there's a major promotion for a close ally of the president. of the faces of the desperate afghanistan grapples with a rising drug problem as opium production surges. hello

there there's more rain on its way across parts of china his the wet weather then as we head through the day on sunday some of it pretty heavy as you head up toward shanghai and this whole system is just slipping a bit further south with there as we head into monday so plenty of us seeing some wet weather and as it turns wetter the temperatures will be dropping say for shanghai will only get to around fifteen degrees all monday and it will be a role the west as well out towards the west it's far heart of the matter now across some parts of india is in fact in some parts of the dishes state we saw temperatures just topping over forty degrees already this year very very hot more cloud over there recently though that's all been working its way eastwards and for most of us it is dry and now for the northeastern india states and through parts of bangladesh but further south we've still got this area of cloud with us as we head through sunday that's lingering on so more wet weather to come here some of the showers likely to be rather heavy on monday still want to shower still with us but generally speaking this area of cloud and rain is beginning to break up and then

for most of us the temperatures will just be climbing now here in doha we've seen a few spots of rain but those are all clearing away twenty eight degrees will be our maximum there on sunday the winds quite a feature but at least they're bringing in some slightly fresh air. to train and equip the opposition in syria so they can help push back these terrorists people in power investigates how the us supplies soviet style weapons to its allies through private companies the us government could wash their hands and say well we didn't know where it was so weapon that was supplied by the us government may well and often be pointed at us soldiers yes absolutely we pick it up less than two months after the professional america's gun secret pipeline to syria at this time on al jazeera.

are running out the top stories. at least twenty four civilians are being killed by syrian government strikes in eastern guta on saturday thousands of people have left areas held by rebels in the past few hours. britain's prime minister to resign mazes the u.k. is considering its next steps to moscow announced it would expel twenty three british diplomats and close the british council in russia an attack tit for tat move over the poisoning of a former double agent. u.k. police have contacted several russian exiles due to concerns over their safety for the killing of a prominent businessman. found dead in his home in south west london on monday. chinese media xi jinping has been unanimously reappointed by his party with no term

limits effectively making him president for life a close ally of president she was voted in as his deputy by the national people's congress scott hundley has more from beijing. for the first time in history the president of china took an oath of office president xi jinping raising his fist pledging loyalty to country and constitution as he begins his second five year term and that's a constitution that was changed last week during the national people's congress here in beijing. one of the biggest differences lifting term limits on the offices of presidents and vice presidents meaning this is almost certainly not the last time we will see she take the oath. also took his oath on saturday his first five year term as vice president. only one vote was cast against him out of the nearly three thousand carefully selected delegates known as a firefighter taking on tough tasks one front at the president's anti-corruption

crackdown it punished more than one and a half million officials the election of won't east on was no surprise he's a close ally of season playing and term limits have been lifted on the vice president's role but what will be different is that his power and influence will elevate the position that's traditionally been ceremonial get things done so see his loyalty and how he can follow his order to discipline chinese officials and he has been very successful in that and looking forward you would want to make sure that his power i would be stabilized for next decade or beyond that even before the curtains close on this year's national people's congress on tuesday wang will have his work cut out one of his responsibilities is to deal with u.s. trade friction something president trump has intensified over the past few days.

it's got harder al-jazeera beijing. a far different identity director andrew mccabe has hit back at the us president but cable sacked for misconduct just days before he would have been eligible for full retirement benefits donald trump a celebrated his firing on twitter saying andrew mackay fired a great day for the hardworking men and women of the f.b.i. a great day for democracy sanctimonious james komi was his boss and made mccabe look like a choir boy he knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the f.b.i. or mccabe says he's done nothing wrong in jordan has more on controversy. andrew mccabe was an f.b.i. agent for twenty two years rising to deputy director and then acting director after his boss james komi was fired by the trump white house in twenty seven teens but just before he planned to retire on march eighteenth those mccabe to was dismissed

in a statement released late on friday night the attorney general jeff sessions said that according to an internal agency investigation quote mr mccabe had made and an authorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor including under oath a multiple occasions i have terminated the employment of andrew mccabe effective immediately right after this mccabe told the news media his firing was payback for doing his job investigating ties between russia and donald trump's two thousand and sixteen presidential campaign as well as overseeing the probe into hillary clinton's use of a private e-mail server while she was secretary of state now president trump has accused mccabe of partisan bias mccabe's wife a democrat received campaign donations from one of hillary clinton's allies then mccabe added this quote the attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not to just slander me personally but to taint the f.b.i.

law enforcement and intelligence professionals generally it is part of this administration's ongoing war on the f.b.i. and the efforts of the special counsel atala say robert muller who is the special counsel will want to talk to mckay but now aides now will be testifying in front of mahler and he knows a lot now what happened. during the campaign and during the investigation mr mckay going to talk about the fact when president romney fired your rector call me now. and it's. call me when i'm actually going ahead with the investigation and that could be considered obstruction of justice being fired means andrew mccabe might lose his retirement and health care benefits but mccabe might also have much more to gain by telling robert muller everything he knows

about any russian links to the trump presidential campaign and that could mean the trumpet ministration might now have a much bigger problem on its hands rosalyn jordan al-jazeera washington at least four people have died in a car bombing in the afghan capital kabul police say the bomb went off as a convoy of foreign vehicles was passing by but all those killed appeared to be local bystanders there was no immediate claim of responsibility it's the latest in a series of attacks to hit the afghan capital. afghanistan is facing a growing drugs problem with around nine thousand tons of opium produced there last year heroin is an important source of revenue for the taliban and the us is targeting their drug cultivation sites tell you about the reports from kabul by record numbers of people are turning to drugs in desperation. in afghanistan there is a level below rock bottom it's where these lifeless expressionist drug addicts exist men who lost dignity

a long time ago they've been rounded up and herded into one of the country's biggest drug rehabilitation units in kabul. these are the other victims of this never ending war collateral damage if you like people who've lost loved ones lost jobs lost hope and their numbers are growing in afghanistan every day the forty five day program of this former military warehouse complex is basic and caters for nine hundred patients the treatment consists mainly of keeping the addicts away from drugs but it can't keep them away from the desire most relapse when they leave . not there not that we need international hill we are struggling drug addiction is everywhere in the world but unfortunately it's affecting us more we have double impact one is the war and the other is that people are jobless. no ruse turn to drugs eight years ago when he lost his job he abandoned all hope and his wife and six children. my from north dakota with no job or income you have no choice but to

steal and rob to get drugs addicts you have money eventually spend it all on drugs and when the money is gone they join us poor under the bridge we are no use to family society or country the bridges police doctor in kabul where the addicts live in a desolate world the afghan government estimates that three million people ten percent of the population is addicted to heroin forty percent of those are women opium cultivation is a major source of funding for the taliban and a major target for the u.s. an air campaign to destroy crops and production has been intensified the international community's sixteen year battle against drugs in afghanistan has cost billions of dollars but poppy growing is flourishing like never before last year there was a sixty three percent growth in land use for cultivation and an eighty seven percent increase in opium production the most in afghan history varmus of turn to poppies because there's more money in them than conventional crops but the threats

from the air always there. we are worried that foreigners are the afghan government are going to destroy our fields the farmers are the ones who face the entire hardship of cultivation but the smugglers and others are the ones who benefit the most. that is beyond the concern of the addicks under the poly sakta bridge their only concern is how to get the next fix they are in direct victims of this war but their image will haunt afghanistan for many years to come tony berkeley al-jazeera kabul. one of the world's fastest growing cities could be about to run out of water bangalore is a hub of technology but urban growth neglect and unpredictable rainfall have caused it to dry out at europe as diane reports. bangalore is the epi center of india's high tech industry it's even nicknamed silicon valley despite all its advances in cutting edge technology it's facing

a major problem water or rather the lack of it in that if you tell a big bang a little bit of what this is this is the main point of this and then if anything this that is going to make it collapse it will be because of the war that the city's population has doubled over the last fifteen years to more than ten million as young i.t. workers arrive to take up high tech jobs but about half of them have to rely on tankers for their water supply i would say this is because of unplanned that but a nation that has happened in the bando landscape sold a senseless irresponsible ad but there is a ship bangalore's dry fields are replacing what was once fertile and profitable land farming is now on luxury and fewer crops mean higher prices at local markets. it's also a challenge elsewhere in india thousands of farmers marched to mumbai recently demanding more access to land and financial help from the government india is not

alone inadequate supplies of water have become an international problem cape town in south africa has its own crisis to deal with after a three year drought the city is predicted to reach a day zero in early july when its water supplying reservoir sink below thirteen percent of capacity in india the supreme court is now involved last month that allowed for a new river sharing arrangement for the indian state of karnataka of which bangalore is the capital and the prices on board the call as if not a. looming problem which is when of. that we that we love must force almost everyone holds to pick up measures naked in order harvesting and water conservation measures it's hoped the warnings are now being treated seriously enough that action can be taken to preserve water and keep it flowing katia lopa so the young al-jazeera. a group of lawyers in australia has filed

a private prosecution against me in mass data uncensored she over countries treatment of muslim or hindu it says she is in sydney for a meeting of southeast asian leaders but her tendence hasn't been welcomed by all those under thomas reports. it's not an image of aung sang suu kyi that anyone would have created a few years ago but now refugees in australia blame her for the persecution of the hinge in myanmar they're disgusted that australia's government has welcomed the sydney. says so and she indicated the problems the problem in her own country while on some suchi is in australia with this really association of southeast asian nations or as he and some of its five lawyers are trying to get her prosecuted we have lodged a private prosecution application in the magistrates court of victoria accusing unsung c.t. of crimes against humanity specifically the crime of deportation and forcible

transfer of people australis attorney general says but international convention heads of government and ministers of foreign affairs have immunity from prosecution but human rights lawyers say that immunity shouldn't apply on song suchi is not officially the head of the en masse government and lawyers say what they're accusing her of has nothing to do with foreign affairs so isn't covered by the protocol others in sydney protested the presence of viet nam's prime minister nuri triumphal and cambodia's leader hussein who's been accused of crushing the opposition and violating human rights there's not a strong and ambiguous message from a struggling government about crackdown in cambodia i think it's you know people say the government just so completely gloss over those issues or just deal with them quietly on the fringes they should be front and center of a summit like this police are not allowing protests right outside the convention

center where the asean talks are happening but these protesters did get close yes young ladies will be able to hear these protests where they're meeting but it's unlikely they'll be talking about them too much but then the focus is on trade and security. australia's prime minister malcolm turnbull says he'll raise the range of prices with on something but his main focus on saturday was combating terrorism and how to pursue free trade opportunities in the face of protectionism together we can seize those opportunities but to do so governments and business must remain committed to the rules by stuart a big beefy its advocates and persuasive advocates above all for free and open troy the as in some it runs on both saturday and sunday the protests are expected to as well andrew thomas al-jazeera sydney. and one thirty african leaders have signed a petition aimed at protecting elephants from poaching the presidents of kenya

uganda bone and botswana a leading the call for the european union to ban the sale of ivory more than half of africa's savannah elephants live in those three countries the president part of a group called the giants club focused on conservation of the world's largest land mammal arch part of the world are turning green to celebrate the irish national holidays and patrick's day in the city of chicago the river was dyed emerald green the city's annual parade almost three hundred landmarks in forty eight countries are also going green including the empire state building and sydney opera house the day began as a religious holiday in oland but has long been celebrated across the world. a lot of headlines here as there are at least twenty four civilians being killed by syrian government strikes in eastern guta on saturday bringing the death toll of

the past two days to almost one hundred thousand people have left areas held by rebels in the past few hours they're headed to syrian army positions after they were urged to leave in a state t.v. broadcast anderson has more from kiss near the turkish syrian border. but all this can be verified this isn't a united nations operation the russians of the syrian regime are organizing these two corridors one to the north of us and go to war to the south it's the last a warm and southern warm that's being used right now and files of people with a very sullen states moving away trying to hoping that they're going to get safety in the northern city of affray in thousands are evacuating territory held by kurdish y p g fighters as turkish forces in the syrian allies try to find their way into the city the reports of more air and artillery bombardments there britain's prime minister to resign may says the u.k.

is considering its next steps after moscow now is to would expel twenty three british diplomats and close the british council in russia britain has accused the kremlin of being behind the nerve agent attack on a former russian spy in the u.k. twenty three russian diplomats have already been expelled by britain or u.k. piece of contacted several russian exiles due to concerns over their safety following the killing of a prominent businessman because i scoff was found dead in his home in south west london on monday police say he died from quote compression to the neck and a murder investigation is under way pushed off was granted political asylum in twenty ten and the u.k. had blocked attempts by russia to extradite him chinese leader xi jinping has been unanimously reappointed with no term limits effectively making him president for life a close ally of president she was voted in as his deputy by the national people's congress one cation is known as the fire fighter for his central role in tackling

issues like corruption and domestic financial problems. is that i was just over the senators are people in power is up next my finance. it's well known that the united states exports billions of dollars worth of arms to its allies what isn't as widely understood is that many of the guns it sends in to those in the middle east say cheerily missions manufactured in eastern europe so how to the supply routes function and waves of the weapons go in the first of

a special treat crowd.