the fighting in province but they also fear the syrian government who considers them terrorists for being involved in opposition activities among them army defectors media activists and employees of rebel run administrations at least for now returning to their towns and villages that have fallen under state rule is not an option. people are afraid there will be reprisals retaliation and even executions this is why they are asking that any deal is guaranteed by a regional power like a jordan or another country or international guarantees from that. the opposition has little cards to play they have lost ground and abandoned by their allies but they hope to improve their bargaining position by continuing to resist the government attempts to recapture the remaining rebel areas. rebel factions have returned to the table with the russian military which has been negotiating on behalf of the syrian government. jordan has been mediating its foreign minister

ivanov stuff and he went to moscow for talks with his russian counterpart sergei lavrov about how to implement a settlement in south syria after rebel surrender their areas at least publicly there was no indication a deal was agreed. look at the situation in the south of syria with strong concern to believe that the fundamental goal is to resolve this crisis through a political process that would like to begin with a cease fire and then proceed to solving the question that would help to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in this area but it's clear that it is absolutely unrealistic to iran to withdraw from syria and that it won't be possible to solve the problems of the region without the participation of key countries including iran saudi arabia jordan egypt and many others there is no trust between the opposition and the government. we have seen this happen in the past

regime and to design area either through talks or first they take revenge against the opposition. is the video this happened in east and there were arbitrary arrests many men arrested we heard of mass executions rebel say they are ready to lay down their heavy weapons but president bashar assad's forces and their allies should not be allowed to enter they have all held towns the opposition is also demanding government forces withdraw from recently captured towns it also wants state institutions and rebel held areas to be managed by the local population which will create their own military force to secure the area these conditions are unlikely to be accepted by the syrian government which wants to regain sovereignty in the southern corner of the country there are also demands for jordanian or a wider arab military presence in the area that too is unlikely to be welcomed by to mask with so many players involved it's proving difficult to reach

a deal to end the fighting. beirut. new video has been released showing a junior football team in good health despite that eleven day ordeal below ground food and medical supplies have reached the twelve boys and their coach reports from chiang rai just how when the group will get out still more clear new video of the stranded thirteen shows a tiny baby seal emblem drawn on the cave ledge where the teenagers assault safety eleven days ago the words say thirteen lives referring to the name of their youth football club meaning wild boar personnel from the navy seals are staying with the boys at all times were reported to be in good health after treatment for minor injuries rescuers are under intense pressure to get the twelve boys and their coach out quickly there has been a pause in the monsoon season rain but it's expected to start falling again in the next few days keeping water levels in the cave system down is critical for the rescue one option is to train them on the basics of scuba diving. something one

diving expert at the cave thinks will work if they use a full face mask. and it won't take long it is basically just a cave fix a saw as you do it them sitting on the sand you put the mosque on they get a feel for it they get an understanding. use a through water column so they understand that they have a communication they can talk to the diver who guides somali and if there is any problem they can calm him down the governor of chiang rai province says that the trapped thirteen might not all come out at the same time they were evaluate each one and bring them out only when they're ready the u.s. is one of at least six countries assisting the rescue will getting them out is the goal providing food and supplies is critical the assistance portion in the resupply and able to provide supplies to the shoulder and you know it's a very very relevant to the operations that are being conducted and how we're able to support our thai partners in anticipation of that moment everyone at the cave

entrance is waiting for rehearsals are being held and when it's not a thai soldier playing a role it's a member of the teenagers move paul football club it's got harder al-jazeera chiang rai. still to come on al-jazeera the u.s. teachers union vows to continue to fight against education cuts despite the latest court ruling that would see a dramatic drop in its funding plus. i robot prided dandong on the border between china and north korea wants a city of gloom now potentially on the verge of a blue. hello again look at weather conditions across southern and eastern parts of china and taiwan you see a massive cloud across more northern areas giving quite

a bit of rain at the moment so some heavy downpours here further south it's looking very dry few showers maybe for hong kong draw across much of a laos and also vietnam was neuer looking at forty degrees a very hot and humid but from him are still some showers coming into coastal regions through friday not a great deal of change to yangon looks as could be quite wet at times as we head across into south asia seeing some heavy rain really popping up all over the place certainly down through the western ghats we've had more pulses of very heavy rain some by coming in with some big rainfall totals here but elsewhere lahore's had some deadly flooding in the last day or so seeing heavy rain affecting parts of bangladesh so it's really as you were at least as far as mumbai is concerned more heavy rain continuing for cox's bazaar and many other parts of bangladesh it's going to be a pretty wet one dry weather conditions across much of northern india and into pakistan but there is a risk of some heavy showers there as about the forecast through into friday across

central and southern areas looks can be quite a night porker well see some very heavy downpours. a new series of rewind i can bring your people back to life i'm sorry and brand new updates on the best of al-jazeera documentaries the struggle continues from. these districts rewind continues with the return of the lizard king steve charland one east upwards of two hundred species are going extinct every twenty four hours and a lot of that is attributed to wildlife trafficking rewind on al-jazeera. they're

watching al-jazeera time to recap our headlines iran is threatening to stop all oil exports from leaving the gulf iranian president hassan rouhani said the measures could be taken if u.s. sanctions prevent iran from selling oil on global markets and the commander of the revolutionary guard says he's ready to implement the policy if required. both israel and jordan are refusing to open their borders to assist the refugees fleeing southern syria the un now says as many as two hundred seventy thousand people have been forced from their homes by the fighting to recapture dar province the latest round of talks between the opposition and government ally russia have ended without agreement will continue. well asia's former prime minister najib razak has pleaded not guilty to corruption charges in connection with the disappearance of billions of dollars from a government investment fund the jeep denies three counts of criminal breach of

trust and one of using his position for gains he's been granted bail following his arrest on tuesday outside court here again accused his opponents of a political vendetta florence louis has more from kuala lumpur. former prime minister najib razak has been charged with corruption and three counts of criminal breach of trust involving in total ten million dollars alleged to have been deposited into his personal bank account between december two thousand and fourteen and february two thousand and fifteen and these monies allegedly came from a company known as s r c international a form a subsidiary of one m d b the state investment fund that was set up by notch it off that he became prime minister in two thousand and nine and the sum of about ten million dollars is a small amount compared to the four and a half billion dollars that knowledge of and his associates alleged to have embezzled from one m. d. this is an investigation that spent several years in the making not just with first

questioned by anti corruption officials several years ago when he was still prime minister and finance minister of this country but that investigation was blocked and corruption officials allege they were threatened and told to stop the investigation and the then attorney general had said he had found no evidence of wrongdoing but since a new government came into power following the general election in may his new government has made it its top priority to prosecute people involved in the white collar crimes involving one m. d. as well as recovering the stolen funds so far police have questioned other politicians as well as not tips wife. and his stepson since. the u.n. seeking access to yemeni prisons run by the united arab emirates where it says a number of prisoners have been tortured and sexually abused witnesses provided the associated press news agency with drawings smuggled out of the prisons last month

to describe threats and beatings. german chancellor angela merkel says her ruling coalition remains stable despite the ongoing dispute over migration earlier merkel urged the parliament to get behind her new migration policy in her last address to m.p.'s before the summer break follows a compromise deal with her conservative allies the christian social union to limit the number of asylum seekers arriving in germany mochas needs the backing of other coalition partner along with the e.u. member states if the deal is to succeed let's go live now to dominic keynes our how is that address how did it go down in parliament. well the interesting thing is sami that after speaking in parliament she's going on to give an interview to german t.v. in which she goes into some detail about the sorts of conditions that will apply to the people who might end up in those detention centers saying that federal constitutional law means that those people can't be detained i held against their

will as it were for more than two days and if they were in that situation where it was not possible to establish exactly which of the e.u. country they had been in where they'd claimed asylum but after that two day period they would then be put into somewhere where they could have freedom of movement again so though an idea there of the sort of compromise she might be offering to her social democrats partners in government to post to this idea of detention centers by saying well it would only be for forty eight hours now separately to that the interior minister mr z. offer from her a very and conservative ally as it were has been speculating about where the center is might be and the unconfirmed report suggests that there may be one potentially in the main airport in munich communicator ports but also two other centers close to the austrian border so you have the sense there that from the different sides of the government information coming out about what might actually per tain in the

centers if they are eventually approved if you've got a crucial meeting coming up tomorrow tell us a little bit about the pressures facing. very crucial the reality is i say that this policy needs to have the approval of the majority of parties in the seats in the parliament and that therefore means getting the social democrats basically firing singing from the same hymn sheet as it were that means they have to come together they're meeting tomorrow it's it's a meeting of the formal coalition partners as it were so the leadership groups of the parties the question will be how to get those social democrats to agree to something which in principle they have rejected and they rejected three years ago saying they did not want then the idea of places that people who've come to germany seeking asylum should be held against their will well if call is saying two days is

the longest anybody could be held against their will will that be enough to placate them that's the central question but they will have to answer tomorrow because that's be clear about this without their approval it's very unlikely that this policy will actually be enacted interesting world time will tell i guess for now thanks dominic kane their estate agents are having a busy time on the border between china and north korea property sales are booming especially since the singapore summit between donald trump and kim jong il and investors are betting on the lifting of sanctions to boost the dandong region ride reports the trade that keeps north korea going the friendship bridge is a good barometer of the state of relations with china. and the bridge remains busy despite sanctions there is speculation china is now more relaxed about imposing them given the easing of tensions. and another indicator of business picking up

north korean restaurants in dung dong which closed only a few months ago have reopened and i think people are optimistic that once the sanctions are dropped they want to be really well rooted in. michael spader is a business consultant who has just made dandong his base he's an intermediary helping people do business in north korea we've got a lot more interest from chambers of commerce from investment groups to look at the situation and to introduce people there's also a lot of interest on the north korean side we're receiving faxes and mails the north koreans are looking for new business partners here as well so the mood is very optimistic right now right across from his apartment is a new luxury development despite its prime location when we visited it last year property sales weren't booming now most of the apartments have apparently been sold for twice as much as the original asking price property prices have gone up and

down as the korean peninsula has veered between the prospects of war and peace and right now prices are surging so much so the local government has imposed restrictions to try to cool the markets. commercial property sales are also booming eighty percent of units have already been sold in this new development that could be home to traders from both sides of the border if sanctions are lifted. is in the best position to become a trade hub for north east asia instead of being isolated time while there's been extensive development on the chinese side of the river the north koreans. remains largely undeveloped but a recent visit by north korean leader kim jong un to potential development sites has led to speculation the time after so many false starts this whole border area

north and south is about to take off but last robert bright al jazeera. poland's prime minister has defended controversial judicial reform saying his government has the right to make the changes earlier the top supreme court judge showed up for work this by being forced out of a post by the new retirement law the chief justice and dozens of other senior judges were told to step down on tuesday e.u. has launched legal action accusing the polish government of undermining judicial independence short while back the polish prime minister outlined his position to the european parliament. eucharistic revenue much each e.u. state has the right to shape their legal system according to their own traditions the pakistani city of lahore has seen its heaviest rain in thirty eight years six people have died including four who were buried under a building when it collapsed two others were electrocuted in rain related incidents

heavy monsoon rain is expected to continue this month the trumpet ministration has reversed an obama era policy that promoted diversity in universities it was known as the infirmity of action the u.s. attorney general jeff sessions revoked twenty four guidance documents many involving race in schools it comes as harvard university faces a discrimination lawsuit alleging it limits admissions for asian americans. the federal guidance that had been issued during the obama era was an important tool for colleges and universities that were trying to do the right thing and were trying to revise modify and institute admissions policies that. were mindful of the supreme court's ruling in fisher and at the end of the day helped to achieve diversity on their campus it sends a message that the federal government doesn't believe in racial diversity and we run the risk that we may see school officials going back to the drawing board

revising their policies and changing their approach in ways that can be really harmful to us as a country scald lucas is a professor of international politics of the university of birmingham you will no longer be able to bring in for example considerations not just about a person's race but about possibly the type of advantages or disadvantages they had the type of schooling they had coming into university while there they had economic advantages or whether they succeeded despite having economic obstacles in other words your ability to judge the out would come across in.