children. so parents and grandparents are what they call us. eight hundred fifty volunteers. teaching. the volunteers. what began as a small extremist group in africa's most populous country. two hundred schoolgirls displacement of thousands of people. investigates the origins of.

one of the biggest battlegrounds in the syrian war rebels in the city of homs agreed to an evacuation deal brokered by russia. well i'm down jordan this is. also coming up a powerful dust storm killed at least ninety seven people in the indian states of russia. turkish opposition parties are set to join homs against president obama next month stop elections plus. the return of thousands of ancient iraqi artifacts smuggled into the us. syrian rebels have surrendered enclave in the northern homs countryside they've been given the option of pledging their allegiance to the government or we know

catering to rebel held territory in northern syria so as this report russian military commanders led the negotiations on behalf of the syrian government rebel factions controlling the northern countryside of homs were given an ultimatum reconcile with the state or surrender and move to rebel held territory in northern syria to avoid an all out military offensive. military pressure has piled on the arctic groups a few days ago the pro-government alliance heavily bombarded the region which is at a strategic crossroads linking the main population centers under government control the opposition had little choice about three hundred thousand syrians live there many of them forced from their homes elsewhere in syria the northern homs countryside is the latest rebel held area to surrender the opposition has been losing ground since its biggest defeat in years the fall of east. stern hooter in early april followed a fierce and intense bombing campaign the pro-government alliance then use the

threat of military action to force rebels in the color enclave northeast of damascus to bring about their surrender the same tactic was used on opposition armed groups in southern damascus rebels in the district. agreed to leave some seventeen thousand people fighters their family members and others who were involved in opposition activities are leaving in the nearby iso controlled districts of yarmouk and how the fighting continues between the armed groups and government forces but in those districts there were a few hundred fighters belonging to him. the group formerly known as el nostra they surrendered and were moved to northern syria the opposition continues to control the province of idlib in the northwest border with turkey they also hold parts of the southern provinces of daraa and sway the close to the borders of jordan and israel in recent weeks the process government alliance has been focusing on recapturing besieged areas close to its strongholds northern homs is the last

significant piece of territory the rebels control that is not along an international border what comes next is more complicated. any offensive to recapture the whole of the problems would cause tensions with turkey which deployed troops as part of an agreement with the. agreement of thirty to. solve the situation in the north. an offensive in the southern corner of syria is also just as complicated there is the possibility of escalating tensions with israel. are worried if the syrian. army advances toward the border. with. president bashar assad has repeatedly pledged to recapture every inch of syrian territory but future bella terry operations may have different calculations.

joins us live now from beirut just talk us through what's likely to happen in homes over the next two days. well that surrender deal was reached late yesterday today the rebel factions there handing over their heavy weapons to the government which is of course part of the deal and on saturday those buses are expected to arrive in the countryside of homs for the rebels their family members and civilians who do not want to stay who cannot because they were involved in opposition activities they will be bussed to the north of the country areas under the control of the rebels what we have been seeing really in recent weeks is the syrian government and its allies reclaiming land they've been focusing on these besieged areas the northern countryside of homs is that besieged so what they did is give an ultimatum tell them face an all out offensive or surrender and they're using eastern as an example if you remember a few weeks ago there was a fierce bombing campaign that targeted the rebel stronghold. and at the end the

rebel surrendered because at the end these rebels know that resisting is futile they're besieged and nobody really is helping them so northern homs the latest area to surrender and so no one. about the government's objectives in other parts of the country like in the north. well the syrian government has repeatedly said time and time again we want to capture the whole country every inch of syrian territory but what comes next is going to be difficult if it wants to focus in the north then it will have to deal with turkey turkey has troops in those areas if it wants to focus on the south and approach the border with israel israel is going to react because it's not just the syrian army which is advancing they're advancing with iranian militias and this is what israel doesn't want to happen what about in the north east of the country which is under the control of kurdish forces there are american troops there we know that the government wants to take those areas because there's always and the government needs this resource because it's cash strapped so what comes next is going to be very difficult but what is clear is that the government

is pushing ahead with a military solution to this crisis it is not interested in any political compromise or even negotiate to say no thank you meanwhile a russian fighter jet has crashed in syria killing both of the pilots that reportedly went down in the mediterranean sea the taking off from his base according to the russian military the jet was not shut down russia's the main ally of president bashar al assad on operates from bases in syria's coastal areas well earlier we spoke to who is a russian military and defense analyst he says we will probably never know what caused the jet to crash. naturally the great weight crash. so there is no debris no not and so it was like no one really knows for sure. but a russian a car no injury here said. i'm not sure. there are really are there in the russian military having no vision

but i know about many many crashes they often. bend south possible. and only then be theirs and then. there is an investigation there is a public relations announcement they have very well. this is it yes and so backs most likely no one actually read her. yes losing what i mentioned. they says this is this is. air force. is mostly just where you are an out yemeni security officials say the united arab emirates is amassing a troop presence on one of its islands subculture a scene a strategically important it lies in the gulf of aden along important oil trade routes it also provides access to nearby regions including the horn of africa well the yemeni prime minister paid a visit to troops on the on the wednesday and shortly after officials say the

u.a.e. unloaded soldiers tanks and on the transport on to the area and yemeni troops were reportedly expelled immoralities have been expanding their influence in southern yemen and are part of assad in the coalition targeting hoofy rebels. nearly a hundred people have died after a powerful dust storm hit the northern indian states. pradesh it left a trail of destruction with collapsed houses falling trees and dead livestock dust storms are common in india during the summer months but this scale of destruction is unusual officials say the number of people killed is expected to rise. turkey's opposition parties are set to join forces to take on president russia typo to one's ruling party in upcoming elections last month i do want to mounts presidential and parliamentary elections for june twenty fourth that's more than a year earlier than planned and there's more at stake than usual a new presidential system will begin after the election which critics say will give the president greater powers so now the small opposition parties will form an

alliance to stand a chance coalition would include the republican people's party good party started party and the democrat party they will need more than ten percent of the vote to enter parliament. well as a political news editor he says opposing policies may not be the best way for the opposition to attract voters. this is what has gathered very distinct parties. together around one one cause and their main strategy is being anti add on and i think this is also their men their biggest step back in appealing to people's votes because being an anti aired on coalition or an alliance is what they're putting forward but i don't know if this will be enough to actually get votes for people who are looking for ten jubal policy proposals and also. poses that will make their daily life better if you look at the alliance that is

formed by this the h p s p good party and the democrat party we see that they come from very distinct ideological backgrounds this will be perhaps their biggest challenge to maintain their coalition on a sustainable basis rather this comes out as a very as a call ition that is. coming out as a desperation against a party and a president who has claimed to have claimed victory for the all the elections past decade and a half. a member of donald trump's legal team has contradicted the president about hush money paid to form a porn star in a televised interview former new york city mayor rudy giuliani said trump knew about the payment. as more. statements from donald trump's own legal team may have backfired against the president in an interview with fox news former new york city mayor rudy giuliani said trump knew about the hush money paid

to adult film star stormy daniels he says trump even reimbursed his lawyer michael cohen for making the payment that wasn't money that was paid by by his lawyer the way i would do out of his law firm funds or whatever funds doesn't matter a president reimbursed over a period of several million trump has long denied he knew about the payment. but now that claim appears to contradict giuliani's untrivial trump's lawyer reportedly paid daniels before the presidential election. in exchange the promise star was to keep quiet about an alleged affair with trump and the lawyer asked trump for money but apparently what giuliani is arguing is chuck had no idea what the money was being used for. at the core of this scandal is whether election campaign funds we used if proven it would be a violation of u.s.

federal election laws the president can contribute as much as he wants to his own campaign he has to report it and he did not report this to the federal elections commission that would be a criminal violation but team says laws were not broken and criminalizing information will not be found the fact is just trust me they're going to come up with no violations there. the adult film star has filed a defamation lawsuit against the president despite the scandal trump still appears to enjoy the support of his base c.l.o. base of a young al jazeera time for a short break here on al-jazeera when we come back. celebrations in armenia as the ruling party agrees to back the opposition leader for by minister on the stay with us.

there is still cold air to be tucked up in circulation low pressure systems in this part of the world in the sea of japan and beyond it so some of this represents a potential for snow not where most people live in italy but you might briefly find it runs through normal card but for the most part it right now is gong through this is the forecast on friday has gone through honshu back of twenty four twenty five in tokyo it is a warming trend throughout the korean peninsula back towards beijing typical middle twenty's beijing sees the cloud increase and that's typical of a good part of china there's still a bit of snow available but not really as i say the populated area south of this then china story well it is that time of year when you peer minutely pushing in moisture it will turn to cloud eventually brings in rain typically you get flooding in the yangtze valley or to the south of that pearl river valleys also pregnant to

it and of course the rain could fall anywhere but this is a focus the next two days we're back up towards the shanghai area come saturday hong kong there humid looks largely dry along with the rest of the ground i'm probably you not and then we pick up the next barrels of fairly heavy rain which exists more or less from the philippines back towards vietnam. canada a country of promise and opportunity from my grim work is but with little protection from the state authorities many are forced to pay extortionate relocation phase and a saddled with heavy debts and also no luck to come to canada here. in one brave group of indonesians workers speak out and seek justice for their exploitation migrant dreams a witness documentary on al-jazeera. welcome

back a quick reminder of the top stories here on the al-jazeera syrian rebels have surrendered an enclave of the northern homs countryside they've been given the option of pledging their allegiance to the government or relocating to rebel held territory in northern syria. several of turkey's opposition parties are set to form an alliance to take on president russia tied her to ones ruling party in the upcoming elections last month thirty one announced presidential and parliamentary elections for june twenty fourth that's more than a year earlier than planned. and at least ninety seven people died when a powerful dust storm hit the northern indian states of russia and. it left a trail of destruction collapsed houses fallen trees and dead livestock officials

say a number of people killed in life iraq. the u.n. says two hundred thousand range of refugees need to be moved to safety cyclon season gets underway in bangladesh many are living in flimsy shelters which are no match for the expected heavy rains floods landslides and strong winds al-jazeera child struck but reports from cox's bazar on what's become of the world's largest refugee camp. life for salim a cartoon that her family has been precarious enough since escaping the military crackdown against the regime jane myanmar eight months ago their makeshift shelter is perched on a hilltop in the queue to pile on refugee camp in bangladesh but the daily struggle to survive is expected to become even harder in the weeks and months ahead for salema and hundreds of thousands of refute g.'s like her because cycling season is starting that. we are afraid of the wind sometimes it takes the top poland and they might be landslides but we don't have anywhere else to go. there's

a sense of urgency around the camp. the weather could change dramatically at any time thousands of tons of bamboo is being distributed to refute g. so they can make their shelters stronger aid agencies are training them how to best secure what are often nothing more than top pool and corrugated iron shacks not up to me. we were afraid of the wind and thunder during cyclons or teaching us about landslides and what we need to do. heavy machinery has been brought into the camps to build roads it's vital emergency services have access to anywhere in the camp in order to rescue victims of potential landslides or floods as quickly as possible men gather bricks to harden the road surface otherwise they will quickly turned to mud when heavy rain arrives you can see how vulnerable and exposed these flimsy shelters are these hillsides now over the next four months we're expecting

a psych loan and a monsoon season where winds can often reach up to one hundred kilometers an hour and they're going to be lashing rain which means places like these are potentially hardly vulnerable to landslides aid agencies here say around two hundred thousand people need to be moved to safer ground. the bangladesh government has allocated a large area specifically to house refugees who need to be moved shelters schools and health centers a jew to be built here aid agencies say there are twenty five thousand people living in areas most vulnerable to landslides who need to be relocated immediately they want to further that's what we're doing we're moving. in with heavy machines with people so that these families can live somewhere where they process to food public health services and they're safe are not that comfortable and that they're not at risk from anything. in the late afternoon the weather

suddenly changes for the worse the wind kicks up dust clouds across the camp refugees run for cover all rushed to try and secure the tarpaulins there's a ripped from roofs hundreds of thousands of men women and children face the greatest challenge yet since fleeing for their lives from the myanmar military crackdown. strafford al jazeera could you problem with fiji camp bangladesh. u.n. secretary general antonio good parish is calling on governments to do more to protect journalists his comments come on the world press freedom day and follows the deaths of ten journalists killed in a suicide bomb attack in kabul on monday well according to reuters to reporters without borders syria remains the most dangerous country for the media thirteen journalists were killed there last year and more than twenty are being held hostage in myanmar reuters journalists while lone and child so you are accused of obtaining state secrets and face fourteen years in jail if found guilty they've been covering

the range of crisis and turkey has more journalists in prison than any other country last month fourteen staff members from the daily news with was sentenced to prison accused of helping what officials called a terrorist group human rights watch says they're being punished for doing their jobs as can the media is an ethiopian journalist who spent years in detention he says social media has helped improve press freedoms around the world. democracy is a precondition for a war and for press freedom without democracy without the environment without a position of from work of democracy is just not possible. to practice journalism you know social media has democratized freedom of expression. i know that there is plenty of criticism about the social media but the social media has taken has taken freedom of expression to the grassroots to the people there are questions whether you know it's being freedom of expression is being. exercised properly or not but

ultimately people are now able to express themselves subs like they have never expressed themselves before and this should be supported but in authoritarian settings in authoritarian countries countries that freedom of expression is systematic it's the state that attacks journalists and freedom of expression while and in democracies it's not the state and that's a huge difference i mean is rooting republican party has confirmed it will support opposition leader nicole passion candidacy for prime minister the party chairman said in parliament on thursday that a deal had been reached the announcement comes hours after passion on suspended nationwide protests ahead of next tuesday's own important vote robin forced to walk reports from. the new government. with back then people scanned the dates his revolution two could step closer to

reality. i say there was no need to believe in any politician or political power believe in yourselves and only then will you always when. i called. for another massive show of support a message to the republican party that they were out of touch with reality. the opposition movement had forced the resignation of the country's long term leader said it sucks last week but his republican party refused to step aside its rejection of passion yon's candidacy for the prime minister on tuesday only seemed to make the movement stronger. a general strike on wednesday paralyzed the country students surround the ministries and cheered with the government's culture minister resigned i. with police absent the

roads railways and even the airport cut off nicole pashley claimed that the only power the republicans now had with this seats in parliament they will try tall tall and parrot. army into. iran that folgers away our soldiers will join us the governing parties intension to now back passion and in a second round of voting will also fulfill his movements objective to overthrow power but respect the institutions that has inspired the armenians of every persuasion may not change kitchen i'm hungry this is not only a fight for nicole to become a prime minister but also to fight for people's victory as a businessman usually stay out of the politics and we do our work when you went really you know there is a change you really are. you really feel that it's going to unlock

a huge potential but out yesterday called cash in the end called the other velvet revolution and he called it the revolution of arts and solidarity it's always been peaceful it's always been people driven and now they have reason to celebrate because the people's candidate said today that people's prime minister rabin forestay walker al jazeera hearing about the u.s. has announced the first release of a prisoner from the grandson of a bed detention center under the trumpet ministration saudi arabia says ahmed al darby has been transferred and arrived back in the country forty inmates remain at the military prison. china says it will stand up to us bullying if necessary ahead of trade talks with a high level american delegation on thursday the us treasury secretary steve mission is meeting china's vice premier during his two day trip to try to hammer out a deal to avoid a trade war between the world's two biggest economies beijing and washington have threatened to impose large terrorists in recent months brown has more from beijing

. there are many areas of friction i guess the two key ones would be the deficit at the moment china exports far more to the united states than the other way round and the united states wants to redress that balance china of though also is accused by the united states of really carrying out very unfair trading practices what the united states really gets upset about is this china has a plan known as made in china twenty twenty five and this is president xi jinping ambition to basically overhaul the economy and to pour billions of dollars into technologies of the future things like artificial intelligence and robotics but the problem is these are state funded companies that will be competing against u.s. companies in the global market in china and the united states believes the basically china is out for world domination in this area and says you know it's unfair on the trade issue on the deficit issue the united states wants china to to

cut the deficit by about one hundred billion dollars will state media here say there's very little likelihood of china going along with that chinese media was saying that they want the united states to show sincerity during these negotiations and they say that china will not bow to any measures that seek to contain china and that's the overriding message china will not allow itself to be contained if the u.s. commerce secretary wilbur ross who is also part of this high level delegation now in beijing also spoke before leaving washington and he said that basically the deficit was had inspired what he said were evil chinese trade practices well those are the sort of comments you're hearing outside of the negotiating room imagine what you're going to hear inside that negotiating room now that those talks are under way cambridge analytic and the u.k. company at the center of a major facebook data breach is shutting down the political consultancy hit the

headlines in march when a former employee revealed how it used data from millions of facebook users to influence the u.s. presidential vote for the company says it suffered a sharp drop in business and begin bankruptcy proceedings. hundreds of ancient artifacts have been handed back to iraq after they were smuggled into the united states it's believed they were destined for a christian museum linked to the hobby lobby retail chain and fisher has more from washington. a piece of history to be returned home at a special ceremony at the residence of iraq's ambassador in washington u.s. officials returned ancient objects to the rightful owners mr ambassador how important is it to have these items you turned to consider as part of our soul man you know. this is you know really important to us you have to understand that in iraq memories are long and so we really have a sense of kinship to today to these artifacts so you know imagine these things

coming back home some of the valuable artifacts are more than five thousand years old and they include examples of the first writing system internet religious text and koans with texts from the rulers of what was then mesopotamia they were among the five thousand objects bought by the chain store hobby lobby from dealers in the united arab emirates and israel in two thousand and ten experts warn the company the items might be stolen but it went ahead with the parts as it's been fined more than three million dollars for breaking the law and had almost four thousand artifacts that were stolen removed when the criminal organizations still is merchandise and sell on the black market if funds other criminal activity and we have numerous cases from terrorism activity so first of all we're taking the money out the hands of criminal organization terrorist second wall returning artifacts the people while it's thought the final destination for the artifacts would be the recently opened museum of the bible in washington or below because owners have

a big stake in the project it admitted previously it should have taken more care and asked more questions about the purchase hobby lobby went ahead and bought the artifacts for approximately one point six million dollars additionally they allowed the dealers who were supplying them to decide how they should be shipped to the united states. unable to prove prove their legitimate ownership of the pieces those dealers smuggled the artifacts into the united states. isn't new to control or see . its conservative christian owners successfully sued the obama administration over the right to deny employees insurance coverage for contraceptives but this is a victory for the iraqis who plan to put many of the returned relics in the national museum in baghdad alan fischer al-jazeera washington all the news of course at our website there it is on the screen al jazeera dot com.

stuff a quick check of the headlines here on al-jazeera syrian rebels have surrendered an enclave of the northern homs countryside they've been given the option of pledging allegiance to the government or relocating to rebel held territory in northern syria you know the russian fighter jet has crashed in syria killing both of the pilots it reportedly went down in the mediterranean sea after taking off from the air base according to the russian military the jet was not shot down russia's the main ally of president bashar al assad and operates from bases in syria's coastal areas at least ninety seven people have died after a powerful dust storm hit the northern indian states just on pradesh and left a trail of destruction of collapsed houses fallen trees and dead livestock officials say the number of people killed will likely rise u.s. president donald trump has admitted he's aware of the hush money paid to form

a porn star despite denying it earlier his comments come after rudy giuliani told fox news that trump reimbursed his personal lawyer michael cohen for a one hundred thirty thousand dollars payment to stormy daniels she says she had an affair with the president in two thousand and six. several of turkey's opposition parties are set to form an alliance to take on president russia tied but it was ruling party in upcoming elections last month want to mts presidential and parliamentary elections for june twenty fourth that's more than a year earlier than scheduled yemeni security officials say the united arab emirates is amassing a troop presence on one of its islands so-called tracy in a strategic important that lies in the gulf of aden along important oil trade routes it also provides access to nearby regions including the horn of africa a yemeni prime minister paid a visit to troops on the island on wednesday and shortly after fishel say the u.a.e. unloaded soldiers tanks and armored transport into the area and yemeni troops were

reportedly expelled immoralities have been expanding their influence in southern yemen and up part of the saudi led coalition targeting feet rebels you know of korea's leader kim jong il told china's top diplomat he's committed to denuclearization china's foreign minister while he met kim following talks with north korea's foreign minister on wednesday his two day visit is the first official line of a contact between the two countries since last week's into korea summit well those were the headlines the news continues here on the al-jazeera after inside story statement that so much alive now.