and they say that the un has not on the preconditions asap for their trip here to geneva those preconditions of course are that they could take some wounded with them on the aircraft for treatment in the oh mom also that the people who have also been treated for their injuries in amman previously could be taken back by the same plane and taken back into sana'a and also they wanted to make sure that the delegation that does come to geneva. also get a guarantee that they will be able to get back into sinai at the end of these consultations of course that was a problem in the last failed talks in kuwait the delegation couldn't get back into the amman into the hoochie held areas so to discuss these latest problems i have with me professor from geneva university who is an expert in this field professor tell me is this brinkmanship or is this

a serious problem with the united nations because it's a proxy war between saudi arabia and iran. i think it is a big problem because all of the united nations is limited according to the united nations report. in the humanitarian situation in yemen. shocking. more than twenty two million people seventy five percent of the population require humanitarian assistance and protection. and eighty four point four. suffers from famine and starvation and there are two between three million people displaced. and i think here is the place where the united

nations can play. an important and crucial role but this dependence. conflict discoloration. said before the united nations has limitation in this regard. the united nations diplomat is. being. working parties to talk peace but they cannot sign as often as one front line is and i think. this is reality because the shadow on the viability of the united nations the furthest in yemen now the special envoy for yemen who is marching preface was saying yesterday that he was confident that he could arrange these consultations talks and he said that

delays were usual and he still hopes to get the parties together but you think if they do reach some form of agreement if they can get into geneva at least be in the same building that they can find some way to rebuild pieces of a framework of peace is a real it's a real hot in these negotiations in these consultations what do you think. i think it is. mentioned in interviews it is more a reactivation of peace process on the one hand and the other hand building confidence between the two rival parties in yemen but i think the yemeni conflict is very complex. imagine from internal perspective there are two main cleavages which really can play an important role. the can and going conflict is. for example there is so snores cleavage.

from which different claim is. movement. that the goal is to separate these two parties from. professor thank you very much for your thoughts on this matter so highly complex situation here at least twenty four hour delay in these consultation talks it's still not known whether the united nations can bring the parties together here in geneva but every day that's wasted more lives will be lost me as a david many thanks for bringing us the latest lines that from geneva. military commanders who imposed a curfew on the largest city in southern iraq have quickly reversed that decision at least nine protests as demanding water and access to end jobs have been killed in confrontations with security forces and the last forty eight hours and such are

going to end reports. storming and torching a government building. that blocking the entrance of a key port fed up iraqis are demanding the attention of a government they say is feeling them that there's not another day or there is no more trust in anyone neither new leadership nor any party. security forces responded with tear gas or iraq's prime minister says he didn't order security forces to fire real bullets a martini all but the who wants to create a rift among our security forces after all the sacrifices we made to get rid of terrorism who wants to take us from bad to worse to create a rift among our citizens in order to put basra under threat many of iraq's human rights commission reports nine people have been killed and more than a hundred wounded including security force members of. the protesters who were

injured were peaceful they don't have rifles pistols or any guns they only have banners and signs the security forces use excessive force. anger has been simmering for weeks in basra and other cities in southern iraq considered the shiite muslim heartland of the country the region is oil rich and the port is vital for imports and exports. despite the oil revenue iraqis complain they're forced to live with the daily indignities of unclean water and no electricity government corruption and unemployment are also high on the list of protesters grievance. the more open but i don't want but why are the police humiliating you i'm from asking for my rights. the ministry of transportation is appealing to protesters not to target the port and other public facilities it says are connected to their

frustration it seems protesters have succeeded in forcing the government to listen to their grievances now they want action natasha zero. we've got plenty more still ahead here on the news hour including rebuilding syria topping the agenda when russia leaders meet on friday. and american secretaries of state and defense are in india with washington's iran sanctions on the agenda. plus and sport wiping out the gender gap surfing and mounts as big changes in how it's prize money will be coughed up. more than twenty years off the end of apartheid and south africa white workers at a petrochemical have gone on strike saying they are being discriminated against around three thousand employees at south holds a can deploy and are unhappy that black workers have been offered company shares

but that they won't get them south african or requires firms to meet quotas on black ownership and employment for me the miller has more from secada. well thousands of white workers here are insecure and say they're being discriminated against they say that their years of service is being ignored and they want the company to treat them equally in line with this new scheme that specifically benefits black work as people here say they are unhappy with how sasso is going about the scheme now we've also spoken to the cosatu trade federation here in south africa say this type of she scheme and dealing with black economic empowerment is a long time coming they've been pushing for this for years black economic empowerment was first implemented in two thousand and three and they say still not enough companies have implemented the relevant policies to ensure that this affair while the distribution remember say one percent of south africa's rather one

percent of south african told sixty percent of the country's economy and and most of those people are white this is an issue that continues to bring about a lot of debate in south africa people here say their calls need to be here heard this isn't necessarily about race but they say about equality. hawks as the parliamentary coordinator a negotiator for the congress of south african trade unions and he joins us now from johannesburg do you support the strike. no risk to read don't support it we feel it's as an undertone of racism behind it and seeking to mobilize workers and divide them on a basis basically to protect white privileges. to we are part of the struggle against apartheid we support measures to address the legacies of racism colonialism they were supported the schemes which are helped to reduce income inequality wants different racial groups it's unfortunate. has undertaken this strike which are in

it for it's going to exasperate racial tensions and also that they're not being completely honest in the public there are two phases for this scheme the first phase is open to all social workers including white workers. the second phase will be in more persons who benefit from the front of action in other words africans colors indians women persons with disabilities but for us we support this could be schemes we need to address the legacy of apartheid we have made progress produced enough object of what it can support if it were sick to preserve racial privileges because solidarity says that this isn't a race issue but inequality issue and that black and white workers here are not being treated equally that black workers are being given the advantage and that's in direct contravention to what has the mining but it says that shaft schemes should be inclusive the first phase will be open to all workers

regardless of race but if you take in the statistics also africa's economic situation from any source they will show you that effect all income inequality levels have worsened since ninety nine defaults by governments if it's white workers still dominate white men in particular dominate income levels at the bottom of the compiler african women so we need to do much more to ignore the huge economic income inequalities will be to looking for who will be looking for trouble the city in the ticking time bomb we need to address these issues and so off because a lot of known adjusting levels of racism or income inequality of discrimination the united states says it's risen does it most countries in the world do it we've got to much more and it's a force of the solidarity six only to defend the interests of a few in order to put the interests of the majority but do not concern that the way this is going about this is sassing the white workers and therefore risks heightening racial tensions at least within the country company. we think

solidarity least understood within the context of from where they come it's an historically white officer cause charges they have never made an effort to do very much less themselves they're different than other changes in the country to for do so not so much of the much older to federations of the country supports a scheme to support affirmative action was supposed to improve the quality of the critique so it indeed has never once to engage in a strike in all the years of existence this is the first of the vacation a strike or what do they do this strike to protect life workers privileges. it's very unfortunate it's actually going to exacerbate tensions but look subtle scheme is not unusual most companies of the africa today offer such schemes the constitution provides for positive discrimination where needed to overcome the legacies of apartheid and this is them we have numerous laws that are probably equipped to electrocute i'm a component from it of action which speak to it and it's not just on the basis of

our gender it's about disability and so on we have to be because our society doesn't have a level playing field and was continues to do so until we achieve a nonracial known sex this society in all of us. matthew apart from thanks very much for joining us. now the u.s. and india have signed key deals on military cooperation u.s. actually a statement pompei and defense secretary james mattis met the indian counterparts in new delhi they agreed on joint military drills and the establishment of a defense hot climb and pay indication that the u.s. would not penalize india via a weapons system from russia and he said talks to dissuade india from buying iranian oil will continue i could amec have him on jacob's agrees that the us will put pressure on india despite healthy relations between the two countries. india has never been this close to the united states. and therefore you are looking at the very very interesting. conversation that is happening in new delhi between the

united states and india and yet i must hasten to add that the two plus two talks between the united states and india is looking like a one sided affair it is clearly a do on days the united states and i'll tell you why i'm seeing what i'm seeing there's a lot all for pressure that is being put on india and india is trying to wriggle out of the. unprecedented m.-o. and the pressure that is being put on the to by the united states of america on seven fronts one on the indian the import of the indian energy from the front from iran and from iran and secondly the indian purchase off the russian veteran systems and thirdly the trade deficit between india and the united states so the united states would like india to completely stop. buying iranian energy and instead by natural gas from the united states the united states also

would like india to stall buying russian veterinary and by the american version of the instead and thirdly the united states would like india to reduce the trade deficit which is almost twenty two billion dollars and do so by way off buying civilian aircraft from india from the united states and importing sort of natural gas from this or indeed start trying to look for ways to manage this pressure from the united states at this point of time. the new york times has published an opinion article alleging that the trumpet ministration is in chaos and that members of the white house staff are working behind the president's back to stop him from damaging the country what makes this article different is that the anonymous attack is said to be written by a senior trump administration official the article has perhaps predictably touched off a full roar in the u.s. capitol reports. according to the new york times someone close to the president

wants the world to know they think he is unfit to hold the highest office anonymously writing this op ed describing the president as a moral and his leadership style as impetuous at the serial petty and ineffective they also say the cabinet considered invoking the twenty fifth amendment which could have removed him from office but say they chose not to provoke a constitutional crisis this is an extraordinary step and the label of senior official means it was likely written by someone close to the president he was quick to lash out so when you tell me about some anonymous source within the administration probably was failing and probably here for all the wrong reasons now and the new york times is trailing if i weren't here i believe the new york times probably wouldn't even exist the white house spokesperson issued a statement calling on the author to quit labeling them a coward meanwhile some republicans were quick to try and downplay this

unprecedented editorial but i didn't think that anything was relayed in that op ed that was you know i think this is what all of us have understood to be the situation from they want so again it's not very it didn't reveal much to me i understand this is the case the president took to twitter casting doubt on the existence of the source but then said if they do exist they must be turned over to the government for national security tweeting a simple word treason this is a president in many ways under siege under pressure from multiple investigations and now undermined by a member of his own staff in a most public way pedicle hain al-jazeera washington. tired of all the weather and stuff what's happening now with gordon or gordon hit is about thirty hours ago and it's now still giving us some rain in fact if we look at those satellite picture we

can see the storm just as a about made landfall there and what it did well this is the kind of conditions that we saw very very heavy downpours bit of a storm surge as well and the rain has moved but it's still falling very heavily here's the satellite picture then showing that system as it works its way northward the actual center of the circulation is about there is difficult to make out with is plenty of cloud towards the east of it as well and then there's also this weather system here to notice as well that works its way across the great lakes and up into the eastern parts of canada that will be sweeping that system out the way or as much as it can so this is what we're expecting them plenty of downpours during the day today and for today it's the to killie arkansas which is going to see some of the heaviest of the rain and then that gradually transfers northwards and sort of gets swept up in that front that was across the great lakes and so we see the rain beginning to push its way northward so more of us in illinois are going to see that very heavy rain and then that will continue its journey sort of northeast towards as we head through the next few days so this whole region in the

southeast really seeing plenty of moisture plenty of heavy rain thanks to that storm over the next few days but we're also seeing is that system pole rain slowly southward so things for new york will improve instead of temperatures around thirty two that's nineteen fahrenheit we're down to a formal manageable twenty to seventy two in fahrenheit laura. jeff thanks very much still ahead here on al-jazeera pregnant stranger women in bangladesh getting medical care some for the first time. past tough times tough measures while hundreds are protesting against some of argentina's economic decisions. and to support like he releases calling catholics campaign video super bowl champions philadelphia prepare to kick off the n.f.l. season. they are women. mothers. performers.

prisoners. from their prison and the plot to argentina. proved that inspiration is a force a new food world skin cheap stifled invisible mothers parties that you find a lot in the mail it seems at this time come out. the latest news as it breaks because people are already some of the country's most vulnerable and now they say they need help with detailed coverage here in gaza more than most places the contrast between scenes like this and the realities of daily life for so many from around the world forty years ago it was all but impossible for a foreign man or woman to live in china let alone marry a chinese but today it is like this on no longer exceptional.

and again you're watching al-jazeera has a reminder of our top stories this hour the chief of armed forces in france says he's ready to order strikes on syria if chemical weapons are used the syrian government and its allies are widely expected to launch a major offensive to recapture rebel held province. south sudanese soldiers have been sentenced and ordered to pay compensation for the rape of five aid workers and the murder of a journalist in two thousand and sixteen military court how to sentence ranging from four years to life for the attack on the train hotel in the capital juba. and protesters being held in the city of tires ahead of friday's un that peace talks to end the country's three war parties talks will be the first between gammons

government and hoopy rebels of two thousand and sixteen. of a delegation from the rebels will show. more now on our top stories syria in the widely expected government offensive against rebel held at live province leaders of iran russia are due to meet in tehran on friday with syria high on their agenda. looks ahead to the talks. the world is not doing enough to help people displaced by war that was the message during a visit by the un high commissioner for refugees legal ground he was into ran to meet with foreign minister zarif and other senior leaders his trip just days before the presidents of iran russia and turkey hold three party talks into her on i have just been to syria so i reported back to. the government of the about my observations. first and foremost especially in my meeting with minister saadi we spoke about our concerns about it lip. it is clear that the

risks of a military confrontation causing massive loss of life. this is is is very high and i told ministers that he thought that my appeal just like the u.n. secretary general and others is let's minimize let's. get these good apparently these but then to minimize the loss of life or grandy said syrian refugees who wonder if it's safe to go home are watching how the conflict plays out in its final stages it could send a message of confidence he said or not. in the last few days the kremlin has labeled it live province a hotbed of terrorists that requires action. syrian government forces backed by russian air power have been moving into the area and armed groups fighting president bashar al assad are preparing for their last stand for damascus a decisive victory in adlib would book and

a brutal civil war for to her on that would mean going from the expensive task of supporting an ally in large scale military operations to the more lucrative work of reconstruction. after a surprise visit to damascus earlier this week iran's foreign minister said rebuilding syria is an opportunity for iranian companies but preserving life is still a priority. the conditions in need layup are sensitive we're trying to deal with the situation there and expel terrorists with the least humanitarian costs we had talks in turkey today and in a way also held talks in syria with the high ranking officials. of the three countries due to meet into iran turkey is the only one hosting large numbers of syrian refugees angara supports some of the on fighters in it and is worried a military solution will mean more displaced civilians world leaders who fuel the civil war for years are already talking about returning refugees and reconstruction

but the lives of people who lived in the cities these men need to rebuilt are still at risk so. it is calling for a united nations security council meeting to discuss new revelations and another top poisoning case on wednesday prosecutors charged two russians with trying to kill former spies and his daughter junia with a nerve agent in southern england the russian government has once again denied any involvement. as live for us in london nor is why does the u.k. going to the u.n. . well i think for the purposes of context is pretty clear that over the course of months really and years now the u.k. diplomatically has felt itself blindsided caught entirely unawares by what it regards really is a symmetrical diplomacy in random actions by a malign russian state things like russia inserting itself into elections trying to

undermine the european union attacks on on salzburg in the sort of things that that the prime minister of tourism a mention in parliament yes and i think they really very much want to get back on the front foot at this point i suspect very much that yesterday when the police here reveals these these prime suspects all the photographic evidence of thousands of hours of close circuit camera footage they looked through and then the prime minister announced that they thought that these two men were part of russian military intelligence that that was timed deliberately to coincide with the right of the start of the british parliamentary term because everybody's got full attention on what's happening here at the moment with a view then to take it straight to the u.n. security council the next day and so it was a kind of a deliberate piece of choreography at this point to think what's going to be happening is that the u.k.'s ambassador to the u.n. will be going through exactly what reason may went through with parliament yesterday with with the other security council members here's all the photographs

here's their movements. here's the navi chalk that was found in the hotel they were staying at this is uncontrovertible pretty controversial proof they will say that russia was behind this and so is a block of countries we need to start to pull together and so i think in all of those senses it isn't attempts by the u.k. to try to fight back properly as what it sees overwhelmingly is my right as malign russian influence i think they've just given up basically trying to anything else but fight back in in the way that they can and how likely is it that the you can bass is going to rally the support that the u.k. wants. well i suspect not very thing is the open question to what extent the americans are going to want to get involved in it i think inside the reason why yes they told by the european union trying to get more sanctions as well really the french are in the security council i suspect there's probably a limited appetites for that in europe for a variety of reasons clearly they're going to seem to be doing something they the security ministers have been doing the rounds on the media here today saying they

want to use the opportunity of brecht's its next year when the u.k. leaves the european union and can put his own powers out to impose its own sanctions on russia and so it's all part of a much longer strategic campaign from from the u.k. but as we know they've got no chance of arresting these people the russians of but they heels in and says this is also still a conspiracy in the don't know who these people are but there's not really things they can do i think i think for the time being but they've got to be seen to be doing something ok like for them or leave it that will follow that security council meeting placing it gets under way and if you ask for now. now pregnant women are among thousands of ranger refugees struggling to survive and bangladesh aid agencies are warning of a growing health crisis and a calling for a moment wise to help mamma john james reports. during the hottest hour of the day in the world's largest refugee settlement these row hinge a traditional midwives are searching for a woman who needs their help raji

a big woman and saad are two of the one hundred thirty community health care workers who have been recruited by the united nations population fund or un f.p.a. from among the or hinge of residing here in bangladesh. when they find regime who already has two children and is about to give birth to a third they explain how they'll assist with her delivery and outlined all medical options available he. tells me she had no idea care like this was possible. that a doctor not love i didn't get to see any doctor recently and the doctors there are buddhist they wouldn't treat us because we are muslim in another part of the camp these newborns and their mothers are being looked after in a facility run by un f.p.a. . a novel experience for a population of refugees harboring largely conservative attitudes toward reproductive health one of the biggest challenges has been trying to convince her

hinge a women here to voluntarily go to clinics and that's because of the unrelenting persecution they faced in me and more it's left many of them distrustful and fearful of medical facilities like this one since august two thousand and seventeen saudia bag has come to the aid of numerous really enjoy women subjected to extreme physical psychological and sexual violence by members of me and mars military. as plainly and painfully as she can she explains why the women she helps are so fearful. of these women are always scared that the doctors will kill their babies despite the obstacles aid workers say providing services that aim to ensure not just safer pregnancies and childbirth but also options for family planning are already having an impact and we've seen a real increase in the number of women. to have

a long acting contraceptives we're also seeing a big increase in the number of men who are being supported with their wives during the night a lot of women have decided that they've had enough children. and they want to get on with their lives the unskilled and don't have any more children down another alleyway rosea and saudia locate a refugee pregnant with her first child dispensing wisdom to the anxious mother to be they do what they can to provide a kind of comfort this woman has never known so. it could to prolong refugee camp and cox's bizarre bangladesh. north korea's leader has told south korean diplomats he has faith in donald trump and wants to get rid of nuclear weapons before his first term ends at a meeting and then also agreed to a third summit with south korea's president later this month the state canceled

a visit to the north last month after a trial complained of a lack of progress on denuclearization of macbride has more from seoul. news that this into korean summit will take place had been expected nonetheless confirmation of it has come as something of a relief given the state of stored relations between pyongyang and washington south korea's security chief. has been briefing the blue house the presidential office here in seoul and also the media the event will take place in pyongyang between the eighteenth and the twentieth of september as also reported that north korea remains very much committed to the whole process for the denuclearization on the long term peace of the korean peninsula state run television in north korea has been showing the meeting between kim jong un and the south korean delegation it has all been smiles and handshakes it is also being confirmed that the south korean delegation

has been given a personal message from kim jong un to convey to the americans and to president donald trump presumably this is a message of goodwill expressing that north korea is still very much wanting to continue the dialogue of peace can continue the dialogue with washington but chong did also expressed the view that kim jong un is feeling a sense of frustration that according to kim it has been north korea that has made a lot of the concessions such as the dismantling of some of its nuclear testing sites and that the international community and for that you can read the united states has not reciprocated in kind a powerful earthquake has hit parts of the north and japanese island of hokkaido in a six point seven magnitude quake struck in the early hours of thursday sent items tumbling off store shelves and left cracks in the way it.