martin you might say that but staffan de mistura who is the u.n. special envoy for syria has said he's very anxious that the regional plan for this meeting is not hijacked by events in libya what they're supposed to be discussing here what they were due to be discussing was in fact the forming a constitutional committee of some forty members to redraft syria's constitution and kick start the political process but of course they will be discussing now the the situation's humanitarian situation in libya and i've been talking to n.g.o.s here about exactly what is needed they say that there are some five hundred doctors there five thousand medical workers some fifty hospitals and two hundred medical centers now that might sound a lot but you're dealing with three million people in the province and they've learned a lesson from eastern guta and many of these medical facilities are very very small

because they don't want to see what was happening before where hospital hospitals have been the target of attacks and if you go one large hospital it has a huge impact on medical impact if that is attacked in the last four days the u.n. have told us that up to four hospitals have already been attacked since the bombing campaign started in it leaves so they will be discussing the humanitarian issue they'll be very strong on that but they're not jus to in these talks for another few hours yet and we're not even certain end up with any statement remember back in the end of last week in tehran at the summit the all three leaders decided in the end to to agree not to agree so the prospects for this this meeting here at the u.n. headquarters never do not look that hopeful absolutely and it seems it seems slightly remiss doesn't it to be even talking about a political process a post conflict syria when the bombs are still dropping on the nonetheless they are

trying to carve out a committee which will work out a possible future constitution for conflict free syria. martin that's correct as i was saying stuff on the maestro was addressing the security council from the jihad courses at the end of last week and he was very very keen that despite the looming conflict and the escalation it must be remembered that these political processes have to start and most important thing is for him to get this forty member committee constitutional committee together and there are huge arguments about who is going to be represented which size which factions and everybody involved has a different opinion so even that one step which we would stop the political process is maad in problems and obstacles at the moment so stefan the store is very very

keen to push this this whole thing forward before the general assembly of the united nations at the end of this month so that will remain his top priority he says it mustn't be held hostage by events on the ground but inevitably in real political terms even he admits it will be david chase i live in geneva now let's go to stephanie decker our correspondent in antakya on the border between turkey and syria and it must feel as stephanie you're a million miles away from the the talks that are underway in geneva because we're hearing from the u.n. estimates of of thousands and thousands of people already displaced by conflict in other parts of the country have now been displaced again as a consequence of of the bombing that we've seen over the last week or so. yes there's always been a complete disconnect between what is decided by men in suits

a million miles away at the negotiating table and what it's like for the people inside syria as you mentioned it live it is different because it live is the place where people went in the end whether it was internally displaced civilians who were displaced from from city to city to village and ending up in italy or the rebel fighters the different opposition groups who didn't want to stay under government control under these so-called reconciliation deals and came with their families to this is why you've seen the population swell so much so at the moment the displacement that we've seen as part of this latest offensive and it is an escalation in the south of of the provinces sort of more country area open and a couple of thousand people displaced they have gone to various places but mostly close to the border with turkey because that's where they feel safest reith's been speaking to people who laughed and one man telling us that he didn't feel safe anywhere because people expect this offensive to move into the cities into all

areas because you know the rhetoric is that the entire province will be taken back by the government backed by russia the truth is david said there and as we know going forward there remain intensive diplomatic talks behind the scenes to try and resolve this somehow i think it's clear we will see some form of operation how much of that will be military how much of it will be negotiated remains to be seen but certainly those talks are proving to be very very complicated indeed all right from our stephanie thank you very much stephanie decker live in untucked here. we've got a lot more to come on this. a new u.n. report says that around the world one in every nine people suffers from hunger plus . i'm on the banks of the northern thailand just across the river is laos and downstream from here the lao government is building another big dam we'll tell you why many people on this side of the river want it stopped and yegor matter donna says drugs calls him to waste away but he's now moving on with his life at

a new club in the heart of mexico's drug lands we'll have the details. for let's go back to our main story today and that of the recent to remarks made by . the general secretary talking about the closure of the organizations office in washington. is professor of public policy at university and he's a former policy adviser to the palestinian prime minister he's joining us from ramallah in occupied west bank thank you for talking to us just when you thought it couldn't get any worse the relationship between the palestinians and the u.s. administration has just shown that it can is there anything that can resuscitate the relationship between the palestinians and the trumpet ministration. i don't think so i think the level of distrust between the two sides it's wide especially

the the current american administration continues to paly the palestinian people and the but is still indeed their ship hoping that they can coerce them into going back into the negotiating table i think the latest decision by the american administration is simply moving the clock back thirty years to the era when even a palestinian state was unthinkable in washington i think that starting with recognizing jerusalem as the capital of israel to moving the embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem to cutting aid to humanitarian needs and to put it seriously g.'s to cutting aid to palestinian government budgets and to cutting aid to palestinian hospitals and. all of this is a trend trend of bullying trying to coerce palestinian leadership to go back to the negotiating table basically absolutely and. my question really

is with this campaign it's a campaign isn't it of maximum pressure coming from washington which is a rare thing some of the the main tenets of the palestinian cause what left what. is there for the palestinians now do they just sit out the trumpet ministration. this pressure would not work. palestinians would not give up. their rights especially what we call the red line for the sake of her relationship with the united states i think palestinians are not simply go into accept any deal i think of this at this time the view that no deal is better than a bad deal between palestine and especially they don't believe that any good deed is going to come out of the current american administration now we're coming up to the general assembly of the united nations in just a week or so from now. historically what the palestinians have done is they focused

on the diplomatic effort and try to rally a presence on the international stage do you think that that effort is now unless a new tactic needs to be worked up or should the palestinians continue along this path seeking to be recognized by more countries as a state for instance. i think the best to there is not over internationally and i think this is one of the only remaining peaceful rallies that palestinians could take today i think the. what we have seen over the best two years even the word is learning to rely less and less on the united states and i think palestinians should just do the same i think palestinians should also look for other options away from the united states they should look for more alliance and cooperation with other countries within the united states within the united nations

and i think this is the best way forward but s.t.'s are also trying to expedite the you know the i.c.c. process and i think all of these are peaceful means are currently available for policy and leadership to take forward however what's happening at the international stage is also has a huge impact locally what we are seeing right now from the israeli military is also being less restrained than ever before in history demolishing entire neighborhoods. building more settlements and and the situation on the ground continues even to get worse and palestinians have no other options but to continue to push internationally for condemnation of israel but also to. gain more ground internationally. thank you very much and to the interest life from ramallah . now activists have set up several makeshift homes in front of

a palestinian village in the occupied west bank in defiance of an israeli court order to demolish the area high court judges approved the demolition of the village last week saying there is no evidence to prove the building's income will legal israel wants to relocate the bedouin tribes that live to an area next to a landfill which advocates advocates say is against international law. now there is a cholera outbreak in the zimbabwe capital harare the health minister has said that at least twenty people have died perhaps two thousand people infected we can go live to our correspondent aren't arthur she is joining us on the line from harare hires this is extraordinarily bad news for harare a city that has always enjoyed. almost first world level standards of sanitation and sewage standards what's happened. well it has been like that for the past

twenty years or so this grecian outbreak started in harare last week monday it seems people were in the capital at that time some of them travel to other parts of the country and that had to wade through a lot of the problems in the country. areas where people had been calling they also . tell them if you have any symptoms or you think you're sick please go to the nearest health facility. part of the problem with the poor sanitation for twenty years is there is no lack of money and economy has been in decline so the council the urban councils haven't really been able to clean running water too many houses are in particular and the office has not been able to buy the chemical to purify the water to clean the water so people who can afford to bore holes in the gardens the rich people that is the poor people they will basically have to rely on the council water which comes once in a while and when the country no guarantee of clean air burst of hives around the

city and also because of course some of the break as well so a huge alarm in harare again it's not the first great it's happened almost every year round about the same time what are some color to live or die from high soil and the biggest outbreak was about ten years ago in two thousand and eight thousand the people die from car again because of those reasons and because of poor sanitation all right harris thank you for that hermant our correspondent there live in harare south korea's president says he wants to ease tensions along the border with north korea president moving to pyongyang later this month for his first meeting with the north korean leader kim jong un talks are expected to focus on the denuclearization of the peninsula as well as regional stability. now if we want to move on to the next stage where north korea abandons its nuclear weapons once again we need a grand conception and bold resolve from the leaders of north korea and the us

north korea must dismantle its nuclear program and the us must respond with reciprocates of misses in the process both countries must get rid of the deep distrust created from seventy year long hostilities i hope they resume the dialogue as soon as possible. the u.s. is preparing for a second meeting between donald trump and. followed a request by the north korean leader to the white house meanwhile the new u.s. envoy to pyongyang is on his first diplomatic visit stephen is in seoul saying the u.s. will work toward securing peace on the korean peninsula. we take very seriously the response to both of us and we have some hard work but we also have a tremendous opportunity created by president trying. to do everything. to take the most of this money from the. i've heard that there's

a problem with the beginning. and this is the beginning so what we need to do. a million people in the u.s. have been ordered to leave their homes as a powerful storm approaches the east coast hurricane florence is her name and she is expected to make landfall on thursday in one of the carolinas already a category four storm is predicted to strengthen in the coming days. well in just a few minutes kevin will have the weather which will include more on that i'm sure but also coming up on this al-jazeera news hour brazil's jailed former president lula da silva will keep up his fight to run for election. and seventeen years after the nine eleven attacks why the reconstruction of an historic chechnya the size of new york has stalled. class to

some football is every legend that will tell you why and career that you just made that's coming up in sports with jack. from cool brisk knows in few weeks. to the warm tranquil to this of southeast asia. as major hurricane florence makes its way towards the eastern seaboard we also have typhoon here in the pacific that we're going to be watching very carefully take a look at the satellite down here towards qualm this is thai food. take a look at what we have seen so far with the storm here in guam we have seen some very powerful winds passing over the island chain so and has already made its first landfall across this area we still have some typhoon warning center in place across that region so right here taking a look at the rectory of it in just one moment but we also have birdshot just over

the area of the south china sea that storm is going to be breaking some very heavy rain across parts of china but first of all let's take a look at men coote with winds of two hundred kilometers per hour this is a quibble and right now to a category four hurricane and it is strengthening take a look at the path as the system makes its way towards the west between taiwan and the philippines we think and philippines we do expect to see probably over three hundred to four hundred millimeters of rain but then later on into the weekend we could be seeing a landfall very close to hong kong with this storm so we're going to watch this very carefully hong kong is already going to be seeing quite a bit of rain expression with this tropical storm system making its way across into the region. the weather sponsored by cats own and always.

in the corner. when people need to be heard. has been for a few jomo still in his life it's not unknown for sure and the story needs to be told we do stories that have impact on the society i testified in the hall of law to make sure that the bad guys at both behind backs al-jazeera has teams on the ground to bring new documentaries and live news on air and and online

. ripples are coming in. people have been killed thirty five have been injured in afghanistan a suicide bomber apparently targeted protests in mohmand daraa district of province around eight hundred people were protesting against local police and the insecurity in the region will continue to follow this story as it developed. during israel's bidding by allowing more illegal settlements and desperately needed aid to palestinians. says the u.s. has left the negotiating table breaking his own commitments made by president trump last year. the russian president vladimir putin is holding talks with china's

president xi jinping at least an economic forum. it will be the third meeting in comes amid an escalating trade war between the us and china and us the sanctions against russia. well a number of people in the world who are suffering from hunger is on the rise one out of every nine people now is malnourished according to a report by the un's food and agriculture organization it blames war and climate change as the main reasons behind these numbers. of growth due to chronic malnutrition is now affecting almost one hundred fifty one million children under the age of five but while the number of undernourished people is increasing at the same time obesity is rising as of today six hundred seventy two million adults. in eight considered obese. quote from allah has one of the highest rates of childhood stunting in the world almost half of all children under the age of five

a chronically malnourished and an indigenous mayan communities that number is much higher successive governments have promised to tackle chronic child malnutrition but progress has been slow as david merson from the highlands. inside this makeshift kitchen in guatemala highlands mark to hwy prepares lunch for children her son alex looks healthy but the one year old is in medical terms chronically malnourished traditional diets here lack vital nutrients meaning children can be fifteen centimeters shorter than they should be but stunting also affects brain development and a child's ability to learn making it harder to break the cycle of poverty for those that. are children eat the same things that we eat and when there's a possibility to give them something extra you do it because you want what's best for your children i give my children what i'm able to but sometimes it's a struggle. around half of what i'm all and children under five are chronically

malnourished and in indigenous communities like mark that number is even higher what i'm all a might be one of the regions main agricultural producers but it also has the world's sixth highest rate of chronic child malnutrition it's a combination of poverty lack of access to education and lack of access to health care that's causing the problem but one group says that they're trying something new to resolve this. and those that take brings health care to the rural families who need it the most armed with scales and measuring board and nutrition booklets rosa visits mothers with children under two. to combat stunting the ngo she works for focuses on the first thousand days of life raising awareness and empowering women is key but building that trust takes time. that some others simply don't know about child malnutrition or the importance of complementary foods it's good for them and how to look after their children better

and you see how happy they are when their children game weight. the programs project manager says this personal approach is paying off many as i'm about in the communities where we've introduced this program we've seen a reduction in chronic child malnutrition by up to twenty percent over the last two or three years this is a big achievement people here are becoming more aware that this problem exists it's not just families like marta's who pay the price for chronic childhood malnutrition it's estimated that stunting costs amala around three point five billion dollars a year but without a major investment by the government or private groups millions of children here will fail to reach their potential david mercer al jazeera. what amala. lawyers for brazil's jailed former president louis ignacio lula da silva says say

that he'll keep fighting to run in that france presidential election lula's been barred from running because of a corruption conviction in the supreme court has rejected his latest appeal on monday he met for nando her dad who could replace him as the workers' party's candidate a latin america editor lucien newman is in could it. litter is serving his sentence . it's a race against time for former president lula da silva and his workers party this is the federal police facility where the former president is serving out a twelve year prison sentence and it's here that the would be presidential candidate spent the day meeting with his running mate for the had that it was widely expected that lula would give him a letter naming him as his successor to allow him to register in his stead as the party's candidate before a tuesday evening deadline for doing so runs out. outside supporters who've been camped out in front of the prison facility remained on vigil. the man

made them. we vote for lula's ideals we have a program for our country. it's the same thing for us because we're voting for a program but instead of a new candidate but they got was the message the lula is still not giving up hoping against the odds that one of two superior court appeals that he still has open will overturn an electoral court decision barring from running experts say it's highly unlikely that this will happen although legally lula still has options unless there's a favorable decision before september seventeenth it will be too late for him to run and that brings us back to the original question will lula and the workers' party risk it all and wait or will they get another candidate had that the chance to run as named they have almost no time left to decide. and staying in brazil the far right presidential contender jay abel sonando remains in serious condition

and needs another major surgery after being stabbed say the hospital authorities in sao paolo say the sixty three year old needs an operation to repair the intestinal tract the left wing activist who stabbed both scenarios says he was acting on a mission from god. the leaders of ethiopia and eritrea celebrating the reopening of a joint border crossing for the first time since they foresaw war twenty years ago the border post says on the main road linking the two horn of africa nations the conflict began in one thousand nine hundred eighty over a dispute in this same border area tens of thousands of people were killed the move follows a peace deal in july that restored diplomatic and trade relations after ethiopia's reformist prime minister came to power. iraqi armed groups in vassar have vowed to track down protesters who set fire to the offices in the past week prime minister hyderabadi visited the city where people say corruption and neglect ruining their

lives from madison has more from the capital baghdad. under pressure to resign the prime minister hide the body or arrives in the southern iraqi city of basra where protesters say his government is to blame for much of the corruption and neglect which have destroyed their water and power supplies and left thousands without jobs . what happened in a bathrobe was one hundred percent true to a political conflict unfortunately some political blocs have military wings and some of them wanted to burn down power throw off but thankfully that was stopped by the cooperation of the peaceful civilians yet they're going to get a body is facing calls for him to step down over the crisis in basra the iraqi government is deadlocked disputes over the result of an election in may have left politicians wrangling over power in basra fighters from the iran bike on group known in english as the league of the righteous have paraded through the streets their headquarters is one of several private and government buildings burned by

protesters during a week of demonstrations against corruption which also targeted other pro iran shia groups the governor says the destruction is criminal part of many protest organizers and activists have denounced such actions and a criminal act should be denounced by the people of basra regardless of who had carried it out because only allowed to have peaceful protests in order to deliver the people's messages to the government. three hundred kilometers to the north of basra is the city of samarra protesters there tried to storm the offices of the hickman political party but were pushed back by police the party's leader is shia cleric anwar al hakim who is also part of the parliamentary coalition headed by fellow shia cleric. seen as a nationalist and anti iran solder is vowing to fight corruption he's demanded the protests should hold for forty five days in that time he says the government should

demonstrate that it's doing something to help but critics say this short visit by the prime minister won't achieve much. in basra there's a heavy military presence but there are fears that might incite more violence now there are armed groups tune that could make politics and security even more complicated in basra and rob matheson al jazeera back down laos is pushing ahead with plans to build more duns along the mekong river a partial collapse of a dam in july killed at least thirty people but the country says it wants to become asia's power source exporting electricity to its wealthier neighbors but critics warn of an environmental disaster when hay reports from chiang kong in neighboring thailand. fishing on the mekong river has never been an easy way to make a living but here where the river flows between thailand and laos fisherman say it's almost not worth the effort these days. in the past there were plenty of fish

here and they were big i could catch more than twenty every day now i've been fishing here for three days in a row and of course nothing. many people in chiang kong northern thailand blame it on overfishing and dams built on the upper reaches of the mekong river in china the mekong is the largest inland fishery in the world and the people in this community want the dam stopped they've been protesting against lao government plans to build a dam downstream from here in part bang which they say will impact the ability of fish to migrate up and down stream where it can chum can remain on the dams that have already been built have changed the rivers by tall ety the currents have been altered which is causing the ecosystem to malfunction and. construction of two dams on the main stream of the lower mekong in laos is well underway there are plans for at least seven more including bang the government wants to become the battery of

south-east asia by exporting elektra's from hydro power projects mainly to thailand . much of the push to develop hydro power projects in laos is driven by electricity demand in thailand under the original proposal around ninety percent of the electricity generated by the bang dam was to be exported to thailand but that's now in doubt after the thais decided to hold off signing an agreement to purchase power from that project the electricity generating more authority of thailand wouldn't grant al-jazeera an interview but it seems it's realised that it may have enough power and would need to buy more from laos critics say another reason to reassess was july's partial collapse of a dam in southern laos which killed more than thirty people i think down business is quite being. sold a snow stand out guideline of safety procedure that way in case of back up you know when the dam breaks you know. the warnings the stand rod access to roads to

a problematic involves. the lao government says harnessing the energy of the mekong is vital to its plans for economic growth opponents believe the cost to the environment and livelihoods outweighs the benefits not only for laos but the whole region wayne hay al jazeera gen kong thailand the body of the former un secretary-general kofi annan is being flown back to his native garden for a state funeral his wife and children accompanied the casket which was draped in the u.n. flag mr and man's body will lie in state before the funeral on for say the nobel laureate of second african to serve as u.n. secretary general died last month in switzerland he was eighty. a mass rally is being planned in catalonia on tuesday for a binding referendum on independence from spain thousands of people have been on the streets for the sounds of celebrations to mark the region's national day is

there a year since catalonia spot a constitutional crisis in spain but voting for independence in a non-binding referendum the central government has refused to accept that result. to same as the seventeenth anniversary of the september eleventh attacks at the world trade center site in new york rebuilding continues but work to replace a greek orthodox church that was crushed by the attacks has been suspended after the project hit financial problems gabriel elizondo reports from new york. it was an unassuming structure that for more than eighty years was home to the st nicholas greek orthodox church in new york and for decades it stood in the shadows of the world trade towers until september eleventh two thousand and one when the towers fell the debris crushed the church. frozen.