on al-jazeera. qantas council take any concrete action. syrian forces pined rebel held at low province killing civilians and forcing the un to suspend some aid operations. and alamo hitty and this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. serbia puts its troops on alert after kosovo police raids in the north sent in long simmering tensions soaring. divisions among european union leaders as they meet to discuss

who should fill the box top jobs. process leaders in khartoum will but today a national strike will force military leaders to join a new round of talks. hundreds of thousands of syrians are fleeing a wave of airstrikes in the northwest as the government and its russian allies pined rebel held areas. at least 27 civilians have been killed and she's days attacks health officials in the opposition held it live province a government rockets have to strike a hospital in the time of foreigner book areas in the provinces of hama and aleppo were also targeted forcing civilians to flee towards turkey. well the u.s. state department has called the escalation of violence reckless and the u.n.

is warning that an all out offensive on it will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe for its $3000000.00 residents or that from isaac editor james bays reports from the u.n. . yet another meeting on the 5th time it's been raised in the security council since the offensive by the syrian government and russia started yet again though division among council members means there was strong words but no prospect of our action and for a top humanitarian official made this appeal con to this council take any concrete action when attacks on schools and hospitals have become a war tactic that no longer sparks outrage is there nothing to be said or done when indiscriminate barrel bombs are dropped in civilian areas ambassadors from the u.s.

and europe talked of war crimes and the need for accountability attacks directed against protected medical facilities are prohibited by international law and are in defiance of many security council resolutions including 216-522-6824 extension 49. there must be accountability for the forces and leaders who planned and conducted any such strikes russia was represented at the meeting by one of its deputy foreign ministers he said his country's military will working with the assad government to fight what he said were terrorists. the russian aerospace forces are providing the necessary support to the syrian government forces to force the terrorists out of the regions that are used to bombard russian bases and the positions of the syrian air force. he's right there all groups operating in international humanitarian law is clear it says military forces must show proportionality and as well as the armed groups

there are 3000000 civilians living in the province. at the united nations. last september russia and turkey reached an agreement to reduce hostilities and since then an arms group formally allies with seized large parts of the area triggering the regime's latest offensive saying the harder reports. like the intensity of strikes like these is increasing and so is the number of civilians killed across southern adlib and northern russian and syrian jets are carrying out more than 100 raids a day. and most are hitting crowded residential areas marketplaces are reduced to rubble hospitals clinics and schools have been destroyed in the offensive in northwest syria that is entering its 2nd month. there are still.

many civilians have been killed the planes have returned to hit moderate and norman the people are panicking afraid opposition activists are accusing the government and its allies of using internationally banned weapons like cluster bombs and white phosphorous they say it is part of a strategy to de popular. a belt of territory on the southern edges of the province to secure 2 international roads more than 200000 syrians have moved north towards turkey's borders seeking safety in open fields but tens of thousands are believed to be caught in the area of hostilities the russian backed syrian government offensive has barely changed the lines of control government forces are trying to recapture territory to connect cities under their control and revive trade but they haven't been able to take much ground russia too is trying to push the rebels nourse so that its military base in lucky i will no longer be within the opposition's firing range. opposition forces have united and are

fighting back and some of the armed groups say they are getting military support from turkey which wants to strengthen its negotiating halved many believe the offensive is about pressuring turkey which is trying to balance relations between moscow and washington there are reports that turkey is holding behind the scenes negotiations to try and revive last year a cease fire deal and create a demilitarized zone that fighters from. or h.t.s. and the syrian army will respect that's. all i ask. yes. mortars artillery. something. that's

not although a ceasefire would save lives there's no sign of a deal but for now through their proxies russia and turkey are reminding each other how costly it is when they're not working together. big but. it's one of the balkans most volatile ethnic flashpoints and tensions and kosovo have flared after kosovo and police pushed into the cities serb dominated north they arrested dozens of people including ethnic serbs in an anti smuggling operation serbia says the move was designed to intimidate and has put its troops on high alert for a challenge reports. in the air and on the ground kosovan police in metro are on edge their raid into parts of the city has prompted serbia's army to be put on full combat readiness. this morning at 629 as

a commander in chief of the armed forces i ordered full military readiness of our armed units in case of any serious disturbance of water or danger to life of serbs in northern kosovo our armed forces will protect our people. serbia's ally russia has called it a provocation the un says a russian u.n. worker has been released by cost of and police after angry protests from moscow and his detention. the un is demanding the release of another employee also alleged to have been detained and injured. the river and makeshift barricades divide the 2 ethnic harv's of the city majority albanian kosovo declared independence from serbia in 2008 a decade after nato stepped in to support cost of an forces in their separatist war with belgrade but north mature still has a population that is mainly and many of them like serbia itself still do not accept kosovo as an independent country nato peacekeeping force in kosovo k.

for is urging calm and says it's ready to intervene if necessary kosovo's government hasn't confirmed how many people have been arrested albanians and bosniaks are among them the president says the operation has about law enforcement and nothing else. that i am sorry but belgrade should not under any circumstances be an address that protects those involved in crimes regardless of their ethnicity and with its bloody history and complex ethnic and religious divisions the balkans have long been a focus for international tensions anger is rising there once again. now to syria. thousands of students and teachers have marched through the answer in capital and processed against the ruling elite their men tending pressure on the military demanding sweeping changes nearly 2 months after president of the seas beautifully kerr resigned army chief. has called for compromise between interim leaders and

protesters but demonstrators want salah and other figures from the put a fake era to step aside before new elections. now with no party holding an overall majority in the european parliament after the weekend's elections there is uncertainty over who will replace her as president of the commission elections to the parliament source sensorites and center left parties lou supports david chaytor has more from brussels. who is next for the top job in brussels the german chancellor angela merkel arrived with the name of only one man on her lips to replace john cloud your as president of the european commission that to me is this was actually a great coalition i support them for their vote but not all coalition partners do the same. the 46 year old but varian has never held a government elected office in his life but as the leader of the european peoples

party recent tradition at least say the job should be here is we know that we cannot celebrate a big victory we lost seats but we are still 2nd as a 1st party and that's why we are ready to talk now is everyone to sit together to find a common understanding prosecutor the french president emanuel macron though was clearly against his job and part most choice and he's gaining support among other leaders supposedly confound you don't want today to speak about a name and to turn to names i think we must take into account what came out of the polls what european people expressed we must have decision makers who have the credibility required to be able to react. no party in the european parliament now has an overall majority each decision on policy each decision on appointments will take time and calm provides. the british prime minister to resume a run out of both of those commodities in her negotiations with europe over breaks

it is a matter of great regret to me because i have been able to deliver threats but of course that's masteries now for my successor and they would have to find a way of addressing the face strongly held views on both sides of this issue the future course and impact of brecht's it were not discussed of the leaders in formal dinner the president of the european council donald tusk though did return to it in his end of summit statement reg's it has been a vaccine against. propaganda and fake us. the president also had a warning for his fellow diners everywhere the extremes are rising he said and what are they striving on on fear and on lies david chaytor al-jazeera brussels. still to come on al-jazeera saudi arabia is once again accused of targeting

a critic based abroad using is really technology. and u.s. drug companies under pressure as a court case seeks to hold them to account for their role in the crisis. or whether sponsored by cattle and. the showers are still with us over the southeastern parts of china they've been with us for a good while now and some places have been reporting nearly 500 millimeters of rain just in the last 3 days you can see the huge area of cloud we've still got with this and there's plenty more rain still to come so this region again on wednesday is working very very wet not only the southeastern parts of china either that's also stretching through parts of vietnam too so particularly the northern parts of

looking very wet at the moment the showers are also with us a bit further south to plenty of them over parts of the philippines and across many parts of thailand as well as all stretching further south we're expecting more showers force in k.l. and singapore for the south it should be drawing i say for many of us in java i think we should get away with a dry day greatest risk of a shower here is along that northern coastline head out towards the west and for some of us here we've got some rather beefy showers there's a pretty monsoon showers a repulse of india and up into the northeast impossible say through bangladesh and a poor there's always the risk of seeing a few more showers at this time of year here and i think there's still going to be as we head through wednesday and thursday before then all that should stay dry not pull up at 44 degrees another hot dry day for us and no major changes really even as we head into this day. the weather sponsored by cattle and ways and investigation into the real powers that control the world health organization

their obligation to their shareholders completely overwhelms any consideration of public health can they be trusted with building a healthier future if their loyalty becomes questionable reason the people that are out of the h one n one porsche isn't getting much difficult for you now a w h o s s try as bruce has done here in terms of us trust that you trust who on al-jazeera. you're watching al-jazeera a quick reminder of the top stories this hour the u.n. security council is warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in syria's rebel had province of it live as government

forces continue their bombardment hundreds of thousands of civilians are fleeing adlib and how the provinces to escape the airstrikes. kosovo is tense after police raids in a predominantly serb area of the semi autonomous region officers say they were conducting an anti smuggling operation but serbia says the move was designed to intimidate and has put its troops on high alert. and with no party holding an overall majority in the european parliament discussions have begun over who will replace shawn called us president of the european commission election saul sense of right and center left parties both who support. president donald trump's national security adviser has arrived in the united arab emirates. against the backdrop of tensions with iran last week john bolton said the u.s. had serious intelligence on threats posed by iran but refused to go into details

iran says there's no prospects of any discussions with the u.s. unless trump reach commits to the 2050 new clear agreements he withdrew from same the reports from teheran. in his 1st media briefing as iran's new foreign ministry spokesman abbas moussavi wasted no time getting to the point if the united states wants talks with iran the starting point is returning to the 2015 nuclear deal. now we won't have any negotiation with the united states and our bottom line has always been respect for international agreements to we stay could return there with the rubber. and based on the illusion so we have no prospect for negotiation and invades for developments. as to offers by 3rd parties while iran's leaders are open to hearing from concerned friends mousavi says mediation isn't necessary yet stubbornly sticking to its guns seems to have worked in the iranian

government's favor the u.s. has rolled back hawkish language and even with the american military buildup still in the region a war seems much less imminent iranians often say they don't care about iran's strategic victories or even standing up to america they care about things like the price of diapers for their children the value of their real currency fluctuating from one second to the next and generally being unable to afford a happy life. in my opinion everything should be solved through negotiations but out of politics should be separate from social issues because innocent people are being grouped into political games if iran and america things get better during a visit to japan this week the us press. didn't strike an optimistic note i do believe that iran would like to talk and of they'd like to talk we'd like to talk also we'll see what happens but the iranian government says the u.s. pullout from the 2050 nuclear deal has shown negotiating with americans is

a fool's errand and as long as meaningful reduction of sanctions remains unlikely talking is a waste of time truly a slummy the iran is not interested in empty rhetoric and pays more attention to behaviors and will decide and act opened in iran seems to be meeting american sanctions and military threats with more soft power doubling down on a policy of strong links with other countries to build a chain of consensus and condemn america's role in the middle east to that end the new face of the foreign ministry often iran's loudest voice on the world stage made it clear iran remains wide open to diplomacy with everyone except the united states . saudi arabia is being accused of using israeli spy ware to target a prominent critic in britain and most 7 year olds of sorry is a satirist and the chief star has racked up more than 200000000 views on his

channel where he regularly criticizes the saudis the oil family saudi arabia's embassy in london was notified of a legal claim on cheese day accusing the kingdom of hacking the comedian's phone and using it to spy on him it's the latest allegation linked to the n.s.o. group the israeli surveillance company's products have allegedly been used to talk it activists and journalists around the world. just sun is the executive director of the search organization arab sense of washington d.c. he says the latest revelations pattern. this is not an isolated case i think and recent weeks we have heard some new similar attempts at hacking telephones and spying on others this isn't. across the united states canada in europe particularly most recently in norway

and it seems to be a pattern and unfortunately the publicity it received by the killing of. who was the victim of such hacking and spying before he was killed and mutilated. doesn't seem to have taught the people in charge of security and the right lesson i'm not sure it will make a big difference in terms of the larger picture but definitely in terms of specific cases i think people have to defend themselves i do not blame. those or you for doing that in an attempt to kind of protect himself better against such steps and to prevent maybe more ominous and more threatening steps from being directed at him the same thing with colleagues like omar abdel aziz in canada. the most recently in norway and there seems to be

a common pattern with regards to the origin of that software and the methods being used by the saudi government as well as other governments in the region and beyond . protest leaders in c. don are increasing pressure on the military to hand over power to a civilian run administration a 2 day nationwide strike is taking place which has just hope it will force military leaders in see a new rhymes. imran khan reports from khartoum. on any other day this would be the main transport hub for the whole of halting but the central bus station is shut and the general strike is holding disruption to the capital's airport would strike is displaying signs saying we will build our country however the ruling transitional military council criticised the strikes saying the army was part of the revolution but i don't know who the ns armed forces are part of that

evolution by god we are an authentic part of this revolution and without us all morning rush here would have been said empowered by god i'm telling you no one would have been able to remove him not was out us. a handful of shops and government offices did open but the strike is widespread enough for the organizers to deem it a success the plan today walkout was organized by the sudanese professionals association on behalf of the opposition coalition speaking on monday night before the strike started organizers said they were forced into taking action because the transitional military council are not negotiating in good faith abundantly so what are the sole guarantor of the revolution are the sudanese people and the law in order in what we agree upon as a constitutional declaration or otherwise this is the guarantor of the revolution not a military rifle for the workers who have walked out they hope that the military leaders who replaced ousted president omar al bashir will listen to their demands for

a civilian led government 2 2 so he just likes to do this right but they're going for more if they don't live without them for the longer she was a little shocked that one of the 1st the transitional military. no signs criticize the strike saying it won't hand over power to an unstable and civilian government it's also said that the army is the most popular institution in the country according to these people that's not true however the transitional military council will be very concerned that the strike is holding and it's courtroom wide the opposition coalition will be hoping that the strike gives them negotiating power and that the transitional military council will have to listen and we hope talks if they don't opposition leaders say they will take further action such as more strikes for now the padlocks remain firmly closed as do the talks between the 2 parties iran card which is their hot. the 1st trial in the us against drug

makers over the opioid crisis is underway in the state of oklahoma is a test case to see if individual states can hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for widespread addiction and to gallaher reports from norman in oklahoma. in a small courthouse in norman oklahoma a trial that aims to take on a pharmaceutical giant is underway if you of course while people will lawyers for the state say johnson and johnson downplayed the addictive nature of powerful painkillers and flooded the market with their products and ultimately played a role in fueling a crisis that swept the u.s. according to the center for disease control nearly 48000 people died in 2017 in opioid related overdoses more than a 3rd of those were using drugs prescribed by doctors this trial is so important emily walden son died from an overdose in 2012 he was 21 years old she says

companies like johnson and johnson need to be punished it's time to be held accountable you've killed thousands of people across this country maybe not some of them directly but many and directly and you lied about your drugs you marketed them and appropriately and it's time to pay rather than go to court to drug companies and settled out of court giving the state more than $300000000.00 but health experts say the cost of long term addiction treatment programs will be almost $90000000000.00 it's not anywhere compared to the damage that the epidemic has done to oklahoma and it's not going to be enough to abate the problem and to get us back to where we were before they started releasing these medications irresponsibly over the next few weeks state lawyers will present the evidence to the judge attorney general my concept told the court that johnson and johnson only care about profits at the end of the day your honor i was sure one word answer.

greed this good you have drug addiction has plagued the us but proving that johnson and johnson played a role will be difficult big pharmaceutical companies on breaking the law by selling painkillers but lawyers here aim to prove they acted irresponsibly if they win here the knock on effect to around 2000 pending court cases will be significant johnson and johnson denies any wrongdoing and says they marketed their drugs responsibly if oklahoma wins this case though it could end up costing the pharmaceutical industry billions and gallacher al-jazeera norman oklahoma. a british financial war strong says the u.k. is the world's greatest enabler of corporate tax avoidance the tax justice network says britain and its overseas territories facilitates multinationals to pay little or no tax at all the fokker reports from london's financial districts. taxes have been described as the price that we pay for civilization we may not like

them but they're responsible for keeping our economies and our societies afloat paying for roads health care education defense social security the list goes on all companies pay corporation tax on their annual profits but according to a new report an estimated $500000000000.00 worth of taxes maybe being deliberately avoided by some of the world's largest multinational companies that's roughly the same as the economic output of sweden or 20 times the un's humanitarian aid budget now for the 1st time an index of worst offenders has been published the top ten's dominated by a british controlled network of jurisdictions the british virgin islands but muta the cayman islands and the island of jersey also in the top 10 is the netherlands switzerland luxemburg singapore the bahamas and hong kong according to the index these 10 places are alone responsible for hough of the world's corporate tax

avoidance big companies are free riding on the global economy and in many cases causing enormous damage to their pre-writing facilities to harming market quality they might well also be harming the countries where they're operating by not enabling those countries to invest properly in educating their workers training their workers fighting health services for their workers so this is harmful activity. tax haven such as the cayman islands a british overseas territory of the caribbean provide offshore banking services to wealthy foreign companies and into. vigils allowing them to avoid paying taxes their countries of residence and it's all largely legal 100000 companies are registered here including british petroleum but even by just the united for the past few years the corporation tax rate here has been 0 but it's not for everyone it requires well money to invest and to pay for expensive advisors the authors of

the corporate tax haven index say this isn't a question of legality but it is a question of fairness over a system where only the rich can afford to get even richer in a park al-jazeera london. scott morrison has been sworn in as a stray as prime minister that follows his surprise reelection this month when his liberal national coalition secures a majority governments the new cabinets will include a record 7 women and the 1st ever aboriginal minister. this isn't as here and these are the headlines the un security council is warning of a humanitarian catastrophe and syria's rebel held province of it live as government forces continue their bombardment hundreds of thousands of civilians are fleeing adlib and how many provinces to escape the airstrikes can't this council take any

concrete action when attacks on schools and hospitals have become a war tactic that no longer sparks outrage millions of battered and beleaguered children women and men cannot wait for another geneva round to succeed. kosovo is tense after police made arrests in a predominantly serb area of the semi autonomous region police say they were conducting an anti smuggling operation but service says the move was designed to intimidate and has put its troops on high alert. with no party holding an overall majority in the european parliament discussions have begun over who will replace sean could younger as president of the european commission elections or center writes uncensored left parties who support. the 1st

trial in the us against drug makers blamed for contributing to the opioid crisis is under way in the state of oklahoma it's a test case to see if individual states can hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for widespread addiction the state's attorney general accuses johnson and johnson of greed which led to an oversupply of the drugs the company denies any wrongdoing. process leaders in sudan are increasing the pressure on the military to hand over power to a civilian one administration that sees a nationwide strike is taking place and protesters hope it will force military leaders into a new round of negotiations. that see up to date the news continues here in al-jazeera after inside story.

what's the price of peace keeping united nations is running out of money to pay for the blue helmets who operate in more than a dozen of the world's conflict zones so who should foot the bill to protect the world's vulnerable this is inside story. summary a welcome to inside story they keep the pace but what cost as the united nations marks the international day of u.n. peacekeepers when looking at the also the vital role peacekeepers play but also perhaps the floor is a mandate on the shortfalls.