we live in. the cost on al-jazeera. tens of thousands flee their homes in northern syria as the military offensive on it intensifies. this is al jazeera live from london also coming up sudan's military warns it may call early elections if it doesn't reach a deal with the opposition. to vote as journalists are released from jail in me and one of them is child for the first time. protest in istanbul as election officials ordered a review of the city's mayoral vote after the opposition won.

you know tens of thousands of people are fleeing syria's last rebel stronghold as government troops launch a furious advance with the support of russian airpower the u.n. is calling for an urgent deescalation in northwestern syria where as strikes have killed at least twenty civilians the rebels are promising to fight back so hard it has more from beirut. it's a worsening humanitarian situation in northwest syria there are reports of up to one hundred fifty thousand people on the move heading north towards the border with turkey escaping what has been described as the fiercest bombardment in months. death and we only brought what we can we have nothing. syrian and russian planes are continuing to target villages across southern and northern hama it's been more

than a week now dozens of civilians have been killed the united nations is calling for an urgent deescalation and a recommitment to the cease fire especially after schools and health facilities were targeted the u.n. mistrusting monitoring the situation in the demilitarized zone there are contingency plans in place. in terms of supplying country but at the same time there are also reports. of their operations. in the region syrian government troops have for the first time pushed into rebel territory taking some ground in northwest hama but it's only the beginning of what is expected to be a difficult and costly battle. against political blackmail under military pressure and by the russians to enter our pure and they were right to land will be met with fire the next bazza will be fateful

our enemies will be surprised. how. long with. groups are the dominant force in this area they have refused to abide by the ceasefire agreed by turkey and russia last september russia and syria say the military campaign is against those so-called radical groups but those fighters are embedded among the civilian population russia has accused turkey of not fulfilling its commitment to clear a demilitarized zone from the so-called radical groups and open highways that link cities hell. old by the government but turkish officials argue a war with them and other armed groups would only endanger the lives of civilians and has been trying to push for a negotiated solution now the syrian army and its allies are trying to forcibly dislodge them at least from the have a countryside and a few kilometers into an area that was supposed to be a buffer zone the army hasn't announced the scope of its operations but there is no indication it involves recapturing the entire province especially since turkey

continues to have a military presence there and still maintain a strong alliance with russia. beirut caroline adding is the syria advocacy director at world vision she says humanitarian organizations are struggling to provide for the thousands of civilians fleeing northern syria. we're seeing just in the last week one hundred fifty thousand people have fled their homes along that front line area in southern italy moving north with through the governor and a lot of those people will have already been displaced at least once or maybe more their families have been forced to flee from other areas by what's been almost continuous fighting in some of these areas for the last eight years of conflict so now hundred fifty thousand people moving into the north and it live to areas completely overwhelmed to be honest already with families have been displaced so humanitarian to struggling to provide its just basic things like tents and blankets and food and moshe to those families are arriving more people are coming every day

you know have people taken their lives in their hands often whether they label whether they stay i think people have made a judgment that intense fighting at the moment and it's so unfortunate that off to a period of relative calm after a cease fire that was agreed this huge violence started up again causing civilian casualties attacks on civilian infrastructure to people that picking up with it so they can carry in moving the north is the governor current is is relatively safe but the challenge there as i say is just a complete lack of shelter to have people sleeping outdoors people without enough to eat and as more people arrive that just can be more and more of a challenge but on about half the population of india the children so a huge number of those fleeing kids and their children tell us they tell apart is that that's terrified they've been terrified of being forcibly the hands again they're terrified at the strikes in the violence that terrified of losing their family members and we know that they're really vulnerable in these difficult conditions on the road as deafening as they're arriving in overcrowded displacement

camps they're much more vulnerable to the cold it's still quite cold and i hear they're vulnerable to diseases spread that can spread in those camps without proper sanitation so children are really at risk care and it's really you know it sounds simple to say but it's really unfair that this is being imposed on children in this area of syria again who's already suffered so much through the isn't this conflict and now being forced to operate their lives fully again or to potentially lose their lives and we know that the un says that they think children have been killed just over the last week in this month. sudan's military council says it may call for early elections within six months if it doesn't reach an agreement with the opposition army generals have just held a news conference in the capital khartoum the council says it agrees with part of the opposition's proposal for a transitional government but wants the system to be based on islamic sharia laws

they're also divided over who will eventually lead the country. and our estimates document represents a genuine will towards finding an exit for the country that will lead to democracy stability and freedom and justice. we agree with regard to the general structure of the form of government to lead a transitional period based on the sovereign council well executive under the judiciary in addition to other complementary structures. have been organised for and rents for us in sudan's capital what are the chances of early elections being held. well lauren at the moment there's still a big difference between the opposition coalition and the military council they're still insisting the military council is still insisting on a two year transitional period while the opposition is still insisting on a four year transition period that was in the plan or the proposal that they presented to the military council on the second of may and to which the military

council was responding to today when they held a press conference there's also the issue of how much representation both sides should have now the opposition coalition have been insisting that they wanted to be a civilian majority headed by a civilian but the military council is saying that they want to maintain security on law and order and for that to happen they have to have a head and they have to have either the majority or equal representation so at the moment there's still a lot of differences between the two sides there's also the other political parties that are involved in this formation of a transitional government the military council said that it will meet with the rest of the political parties and civil societies tomorrow so it doesn't look like they're any closer to reaching or forming a transitional government in the coming days but really really low and we're going to have to wait and see what comes other talks the more what comes out of future talks between two sides and then we'll see if it's going to be early elections or a transitional government with one of the two sides having the period that they want what the opposition how they responded and what does it mean it what does it mean for the people who are protesting outside the army headquarters.

well the opposition have always been insisting that they want a civilian majority they're saying that their version is already presented to the military council bad is what they want they're going to have to wait for the other political parties they've already said that they don't want any political party that was allied to the former government and former ruling party to be part of a transitional government so we're going to have to wait for the talks between the two sides the military council and other political parties and the military council and the opposition but the people in front of the army headquarters who have been camped out there for more than a month now are saying that they're not going to settle for anything less than a transitional government that is made up of civilians they say that they don't want a military rule they're saying that that's been going on for thirty years and they have had enough of it they want to see change they want to see something new new faces so it doesn't look like what the military council said today is likely to appease the people in the streets tens of thousands coming from various states around the country and it looks like they're going to be there and a severely cut government that they've been calling for is installed it

a moment thank you very much indeed. i spent sixteen months in a man maher prison for reporting on the military crackdown and atrocities committed against but the two rushes journalists while own and who are now free they returned home to emotional family reunions with wallowed meeting his daughter for the first time when he reports on a case as drawn international condemnation. after almost a year and a half in prison while alone and walked to freedom they left insane prison in yang gone moments after finding out their names were on a list of thousands of inmates to be freed in a presidential amnesty their immediate thoughts were for those closest to them and their profession. inside in the freezing. of their own the. regime to release says i want to see thank you very much i am really happy and excited to see my family and my colleagues and i can wait

a minute right over and out and soon after they were emotional family reunions for the journalists who were arrested in december two thousand and seventeen working for the reuters news agency they were investigating a massacre of rigging in muslims in me and miles west when they were found to be in position of sensitive documents lawyers for the journalists said they were framed despite little evidence presented by the prosecution while alone and who were convicted of violating the official secrets act and sentenced to seven years in prison and they appealed twice unsuccessfully. the case led to an international campaign to have them freed led by their employer we are enormously pleased that mean war has released our courageous reporters while on and. since their arrest five hundred eleven days ago they have become symbols of the importance of press freedom around the world we welcome their return much of the international pressure was focused on me and mars leader aung san suu kyi and her party the national

league for democracy before forming the government they can. paint for human rights and freedom of speech but throughout the case they refused to speak out in support of the journalists or to amend laws like the official secrets act that critics say are open to abuse we can talk about the n l d not having very much power over the military they do have power over the laws the have a parliamentary majority if they wanted to they could abolish them and they're not the whole deal for a while lone and who has come to an end but it's one that should never have happened to journalists who say they were simply trying to uncover the truth when hey al jazeera bangkok watching out of there alive from london still ahead talks finally resume over power sharing in northern ireland but the government has been out of action for more than two years. voters go to the polls soon in south africa's general election we look at why the ruling and see is losing support.

hello there it's staying cooler for many of us in australia over the next few days particularly in the southeast we've had this little weather system that's already worked its way across that kicked up a fair amount of dust as it did so and now we're just waiting for the next one say fifteen degrees that on wednesday in melbourne but then the next weather system is putting itself together and that'll give some wetter weather the parts of south australia and into victoria and tasmania as we head into fifth day so heavy downpours here and as that pushes its way across us things will turn even cooler i could even bring a bit of snow over towards new zealand and we're seeing a lot of rain here all thanks to this weather system so it's the western parts where we're seeing the wettest of the weather that will begin to clear away though as we head through the day on wednesday and instead just some wet weather over paul

is a venue out to really does it very soapy hair as we head through wednesday and thursday as well they could even be a little bit of flooding in places to the towards the north and we're seeing the cloud over the northern parts of asia pushed further north would still call ready is here as of beijing for wednesday a few showers not too far away as well and then this whole thing pushes northwards so for the korean peninsula more the way of grey weather around for thursday we'll also see more cloud over many parts of japan as well. becoming a living legend to the young age was simply not enough. he transformed his influence on the beach into political clout the life we call. hosted by eric cantona. rebels begins with a look at the life did you talk about the football and succeeded with politicians you know. diego and the idol where you sit. down to.

one of the top stories here now which is there are one hundred fifty thousand syrians have been forced from their homes as government planes backed by russia continued to bomb parts of it province at least twenty civilians have died and strikes. saddam's military council says it may call for early elections within six months if it doesn't reach an agreement with the opposition the council says it agrees with part of the opposition's proposal for a transitional government but wants the system to be based on islamic shari'a goals . and to russia's journalists jailed and me and mom have been released after

a presidential pardon had been serving a seven year prison sentence over their investigation into the crackdown on rango. to venezuela now where seven opposition politicians have been stripped of their immunity over that backing for last week's failed uprising organized by one going door to as oppose falling rents for us in the capital caracas or as of what more can you tell us about this move. well it started very early today when the supreme court announced a big day we're going to need she eight criminal actions against a seven lawmakers that they said were involved in treason and rebellion then those names were transferred to the constituent assembly which is a legislative body created by the government no way to uphold the opposition controlled national assembly that the government does not recognize anymore so that constituent assembly has been meeting throughout this afternoon and just recently

they voted to strip from the immunity to seven lawmakers this doesn't mean that this law makers will be immediately detained even though inside the palace they were basically people calling and chanting justice justice let's not forget that for the government this lawmakers were involved in the queen of cool that they say happened last tuesday one of an uprising happened with one way the opposition leader one way or another members of the military so what we basically know if one way already has been stripped from his immunity but he has not been detained but it's totally. remove that impediment from authorities in order to detain them one way though has said that because the government is running out of resources this is basically the persecuting the opposition trying to in jail them because they cannot give any type of answers to the venezuelan population that is in a way struggling with shortages of food of medicine among other things but in spite of this the government the venezuelan government is saying that this people were

part of a coup to overthrow the model and they should be in jail there's a both thank you very much indeed. we're testers have returned to the streets of algeria continuing calls for the removal of the country's ruling elite students marched through the capital algiers the latest in months of rallies against the regime of former president. pressure from demonstrators in the military force the president to step down last month and has led to multiple arrests but protesters are unrelenting in their demands for a complete regime change. libya's u.n. recognized government is accusing the united arab emirates of directly supporting the warlord holy for have to promise to fire saraj is in europe seeking support against have to his military campaign to take the capital tripoli is met the italian prime ministers of the contour in rome and will travel to germany and france world health organization says recent fighting in libya has killed more than

four hundred people talks aimed at restoring northern ireland's power sharing government restarted in belfast and they come out to the new ira a dissident republican faction admitted killing journalist lee remick key in london very last month and it's raised fears of a return to sectarian violence and even barbara reports. a smile from the woman who was first minister of northern ireland until the power sharing arrangement fell apart after the first day of tentative talks involving the five major parties ali forced to sit her do you piece it was taking part with a good heart i hope everybody is coming to this process not just the democratic unionist party ever but everybody's coming to this process with a willingness to look forward instead of looking backwards because i think if we look forward then we have a chance to build something again here for the people of northern ireland that's what i want to see happening and i hope it's what the other parties want to see happening as well. the stormont assembly arose from the good friday agreement which

ended the violence in northern ireland but the assembly has been suspended since january twenty seventh seen like the trigger was a scandal over a green energy project when foster refused to step down the late martin mcguinness then deputy first minister quit his post and power sharing ended now his shin fein party the largest nationalist party says a return to devolved government is long overdue we are here to to do the business obviously the current stalemate is now six sceptical and it's not sustainable. there are outstanding issues that need to be resolved we believe they can be resolved but other issues of course in the way of a breakthrough she failed was a law to protect the irish language and marriage equality for the o.g.t.t. community something the assembly actually voted for in twenty fifteen for the d u p those are red lines they're not prepared to cross and they like she feigned can veto legislation on such sensitive issues still some observers see signs shifting

public opinion could lead to compromise in the current talks clearly people are frustrated at the lack of action in relation to the politicians and we could see that by the resupplied selections for the middle ground for the first time in northern ireland maybe m's we always think that our politics is for a great annoyance of the sceptic right to be in is quite mild quite a story but nobody's talking about a quick resolution of all the issues which divide the biggest parties here at stormont with european elections coming up later this month any real shift in policy could be a way down the line nadine barber al-jazeera belfast turkey's president has defended the decision to rerun istanbul's mero election as thousands took to the streets in protest a candidate of the main opposition party the c.h.p. became the mayor after the march vote but turkey's election authority ruled there were irregularities in the poll sin and cos a new report from istanbul. if you want to take the pulse of national politics and

turkey barbershops are the best places in college was the stop in a conservative neighborhood of a stumble called a u. he says his support at the ruling of parties may your candidate been. in the local elections in march now he's happy with the supreme election council's decision to hold the rerun of that election with. one hundred percent i am sure we will win as long as there isn't any wriggle fights as they recounted the votes in two districts the gap narrowed down to a whole full red. i believe been early you'll do a room in this time during the may oral campaign istanbul was a battleground for the opposition and the governing party which has ruled the city for twenty five years drowned pull out is a jeweler in istanbul secular district he says the decision to end all the results and remove the opposition's mayor akram a mumbled of who won that election is politically much awaited verdict.

i think they should have stuck with what was out of the ballot box the ak party claims there are legalities about the ballot box officers the names were assigned earlier where has the higher electoral board been back then we will keep supporting the mayor and win the way art. is stumble is a mosaic of sixteen million citizens diverse in ethnicity insects the city generates at least thirty one percent of the national income earning its reputation as turkey's economy and cultural capital that makes it an attractive target for political parties and the fact that the margin of victory in the original vote was just zero point two meant a challenge to the result was likely western allies including the e.u. how want turkey's government over its decision to hold a rerun warning the will of the people must be respected the opposition has also objected saying holding another vote is and to demotic but president treasurer john insists a repeat vote is the only way to overcome problems in

a democracy. they need to convince people whether his decision is political or judicial when it can only be done for improper political communication i don't think it will happen but if the opposition wins with a way to govern next time they may be early elections tsunami rose for now it stumbles citizens will have to the polls on june twenty three it seems the rerun of a stumbles mayoral election will be treated as a general election presence add on and his supporters claim. the loss results are illegal and part of the plot against them their position says it's earned the position through hard work both sides believe our win is a stumble well the winter of his next general election in two thousand and twenty three. al jazeera stumbled a lack of rainfall in angola has plunged more than two million people into a food security crisis with thousands of children being treated for malnutrition

and the global oil prices have hit the economy hard leaving less money for relief efforts there have been reports. for maria and her family this is a daily task here in angola southern coonan province they're taking what they need for cleaning cooking and drinking if they can find water finally they come across some rainwater collected in a hole dug by road builders despite it being unclean they are overtaken by farmers to. them with sad one. if we drink this water say to gates cows ducks and pay nice along with all the animals we'll say can seen this water even though animals difficult in urine and head to the united nations agency for children unicef says recent rainfall in angola has been erratic and below what's expected. and that's worsening an already severe drought two point three million people are now

struggling to get enough food in the southern province of could in which borders namibia unicef says the approximate number of people in need has tripled from two hundred fifty thousand in january to eight hundred fifty thousand in march maria and her family are among them but. as of today they've even found enough water to wash their clothes. angola's president declared a state of emergency in january and acknowledges people need help. this year we are concerned with the upcoming months especially the next four to five months until october which is the time the rains begin we believe that until then the situation we saw in namibia and k'naan will get worse therefore the emergency program should be expanded so that we no longer lose cattle and human lives in this region and. the oil producing country has suffered an economic crisis since oil prices fell five years ago and unicef says the government led response

isn't getting the funds it needs weaving maria and her family and many others facing a struggle that's only getting worse. and. south africa holds its general election in just under seven hours' time the african national congress the party of nelson mandela has won all previous five votes but a series of public scandals has dented its popularity malcolm webb has more from johannesburg. elizabeth pangolin says her brother christopher didn't have to die he had epilepsy and lived in a mental health care facility then there's forty. three years ago she says health officials moved him to an unregistered on licensed and ill equipped building he was among more than a thousand patients taken out of care at the time weeks later he was dead it's manly clearness. it's not i don't know i get enrolled it

really is one point six. i don't want to think we have to get along with christopher more than one hundred forty patients died nearly sixty are still missing campaigners say the officials responsible were stealing public health care funds that the officials deny it but it's just one of dozens of corruption scandals here in south africa that have lighted the ruling african national congress especially in the last ten years and it's made it increasingly difficult for the a.n.c. to retain both. the worst scandals surfaced on the former president jacob zuma treasury says billions of dollars of public money was stolen presidency around opposer took over just over a year ago launched a number of inquiries into the corruption scandals referred to some are still running others a complete but the national prosecuting authority hasn't yet sent anyone to jail. i

asked the a.n.c. spokesman why so far most or justice of the group for what we know is especially bad just follow up on issues which are based on conditions to ensure that we're possible we can investigate those a trial in the proper sanctions given the bulls were in conflict with the law. is expected to win wednesday's general election polls suggest it will have the smallest majority it's ever had since he came to power in one thousand nine hundred four the end of white minority rule. from opposes stays in office south africans are waiting to see how far his fight against corruption will go i hope that it won't just be that none of that this isn't just about the politics of survival the appetite to send the correct signals to the public to the international community and to potential voters to potential investors i would hope that this is a much deeper than see undertaking than that but i'm not sure an inquiry into the

health care scandal that killed. mr for hasn't led to any prosecutions yet elizabeth and her mother say they won't find peace until they know what happened and who is responsible malcolm webb al-jazeera johannesburg south africa. among the top stories on our jazeera more than one hundred fifty thousand syrians have been forced from their homes as government planes backed by russia continued to bomb parts of italy province at least twenty civilians have died in airstrikes the un has called for an urgent deescalation in the violence saddam's military council says it may call for early elections within six months if it doesn't reach an agreement with the opposition the council says it agrees with part of the opposition's proposal for a transitional government but wants the system to be based on islamic sharia laws

they are also divided over who will eventually leave the country. and our estimates document represents a genuine will towards finding an exit for the country that will lead to democracy stability and freedom and justice. we agree with them regarding with general structure of the form of government to be a transitional period based on the sovereign council will executive under the judiciary in addition to other complementary structures. to reuters journalists jailed in myanmar have been released after a presidential pardon well known and george who spent sixteen months in a prison for reporting on atrocities committed against reading it returned home to an emotional family reunion with that one of them meeting his daughter for the first time at her. seven opposition politicians in venezuela have been stripped of their immunity over their backing for last week's failed uprising organized by one

door it comes as go to address the opposition controlled national assembly six days after failing to persuade the military to change sides and turn on president nicolas maduro military police stopped journalists entering the assembly and reportedly harassed opposition politicians. protesters knowledge area continuing calls for the removal of the country's ruling elite students marched through the capital r g is the latest in months or rallies against the regime of former president denies these beautiful pressure from demonstrators forced the president to step down last month. coming out the football star who led his team to the world cup and challenged his country's president to end a civil war football rebels is up next thanks for watching this even sued by fire.

al jazeera. and for you. because i'm going to. lead to this i'm doing. a month on the pulse for the community for her that you don't see. this. then is all subsequent. in washington but at the same. body to follow. this all. the i's. are lucky.