and flee the country. but they never gave up hope. when some of them resettled just over the border in lebanon's bekaa valley they began rebuilding their collection. i'm traveling to the i car to seed bank to meet one of these scientists dr ali shahade the ira good to see it to what happened to the seed bank in aleppo syria it became possible to access to the gene bank all 3 got the premises and the public 2015 because every band accessed through the center by the armed group controlling the area. they stole the vehicles they stole the lot of equipments nothing left in the head call to exit the buildings and the duma. the war forced 5000000 refugees out of syria. right now it's not safe for a doctor so hard to continue his work at home how hard was it to leave that seed

bank behind i spend more than. 27 years of my life working to the gym bag so it's a like someone who left behind the babies all long long history we dealt with them day by day we knew everything about the behavior of those plants in the field in the plastic houses even in the dream bangs time effort made by everybody. both syria and lebanon lie in the fertile crescent which is where farming began. it makes this part of the world an ideal place to work on safeguarding future food supplies this is the center of origins all we can call the the center of the dumbest acacia because it's gone all the forms of all crops like. wheat lentil chickpeas. all these cops or you need to trim this area. i want to get

a closer look at the operation dr mariana yes big leads a team of 20 scientists including 3 who have relocated from syria their task is to painstakingly rebuild the syrian seed collection the seed vault here has a capacity to store 130000 seed varieties for over 100 years. the seeds are preserved by freezing them at temperatures of minus 20 degrees. all right. there we go. there it's called. can see here south poles of the fresh crops are being conserved we're looking here . due to me this is the heart the hard week that is used for pasta making so we have a big collection of this and so i just decided for pasta safe here you're going to get you know. all the cups are here you have here barley and very important crops

when you talk about dry areas and you talk with the 3 main crops which are we to talk about rice and you talk about corn so these are 3 main staple food that most of the users are using so for in place this is a treasure these are important samples that we have to make sure they are surviving they are monitored they are available to the international community. there are $1750.00 strategically placed seed banks around the world each keeps a backup copy of their collection at the jewel in the crown of seed banks norway's fall of our global vault. the doomsday vault it is built into the side of an arctic mountain so that the seeds can be frozen without the need for power. over 1000000 c varieties. are stored here so when the syrian seed bank was abandoned due to the war dr yes because team were able to recall their backups so this isn't was made

to reconstruct our connection we did. we brought part of it here to 11 or you could build our collection here we could make it a pain of a leg and for researchers. all the seeds that come here are tested in the lab for viability some are then cross-bred to increase their resilience and improve productivity we have to make sure of 2 things 1st that they are free of diseases 2nd that they can actually germinate they can produce patents they're alive and working and working see each one of those should have at least 85. out of $100.00 that are out and did have that that's the pressure that's the pressure. these seeds are thriving. but back in syria the war has decimated the country's ability to grow food one of the goals here in lebanon is to

create a healthy seed collection to help ensure the future of agriculture in syria when the conflict ends. up here from the roof i can see that there are fields there are greenhouses there is even some cattle and it's not just about saving the seeds but also testing that trying to find out the best variations that can withstand climate change and secure our food supplies in the future. this region has been struggling with worsening drought for decades the dry soil in lebanon a similar to serious by testing seeds in the harsh conditions here doctor see how they and his team can be confident that the crops will be resilient enough to survive the arid syrian farmland. what are these plants right here this is a wind we this is opposed to domesticate and wheat they are very unique. i am very viable for our in the group closely because they have adopted already been to the

hotshot environment and that has very very useful genes to overcome climate change afaik diseases. frost heat. with climate conditions changing the biodiversity found here is vital not only for local but also global food security. already one of the wheat strains bred here has proven resistant to a disease known as yellow rust and has been sent to the us where crops were failing to fight it. but with global warming seed banks themselves can be vulnerable. what's worrying is that melting permafrost is even threatening this fall bar doomsday vault. research shows that the arctic town in which it's based is warming faster than any other. which makes the work being done in lebanon even more

critical. 25 syrians in the same number of locals attend the farmland here. so it looks like they're doing some really important work over here can i give them a hand yes of course they are doing the hand weeding. seems that modern science hasn't quite figured out an alternative to getting down your hands and knees and just getting your hands dirty so we're just looking for the weeds we don't want weeds interfere with his experiments we want to make sure that his crops grow right and we have to also be careful not to hurt the crop so the weeds kind of grow in between here so you really got to have a good eye. a so good. but. but then fannie and i had a civil lawsuit on income the issue and stuff in the. overhead. dr ali has invited me for lunch meals are of course the final products of the crops

grown here it's a chance for him to tell me more about the life in syria he was forced to leave behind this is actually the. nice memory everybody had a role for leading because we had. failed infested by autobahn keys unit had decided to go all together the breed the. international the scientists the technicians assistant they the labors even the tea lady contributed to that day happy days it was happy days one of the most beautiful days and you're sure you'll go back yes very confident i go back. i should go back to. nothing like home. it would've been easy to write off the car to see the bank as just another casualty of the syrian conflict but the hard work and dedication of ali and his team have ensured that their work transcends the conflict and is able to continue to play a vital role in protecting global food supplies. environmental

fallout of who can linger for decades but what is being done to heal the damage. the charity hainault trust have cleared nearly a quarter of a 1000000 mines from cambodia helping to make over 6000 hectares of land safe in farming. in cameroon almost 50000 trees to be planted on degraded land around mina wow count which shelters refugees escaping violence in 1000. until after 50 years of conflict in. mesko was able to protect colombia's gibby cattail rain forest a former guerrilla stronghold. declaring this rich spider virus arian to be a world heritage site. in the midst of war the consequential damage to the environment can easily be overlooked but if we don't act to protect our natural

wiles they'll be nothing left to fight for. a $150000000.00 trees disappear every year into the public that we all know from upcycling just safe the forests the famous yellow dress it's made from blue jade. to conserving the world's twinkling wetlands 3 of the world's global bird migration watch intersect right where we are the basic discover the treasure it is most special that the place thrives ecosystems alert on al-jazeera. we understand the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how you take it al-jazeera will bring in the news and current affairs

that matter to al-jazeera. the pollution is palpable. delis shares the symptoms of many modern metropolis but its unique features have been gotten a crisis. people in power investigates the toxic mix feeding the city's invisible killer and asks why more is not being done to relieve its citizens delis deadly aired on al-jazeera. when the news breaks the inauguration of comedian and actor as president of ukraine when people need to be heard there were days of making blood work with no food for much joy because it all went to sleep with an empty stomach with exclusive interviews and in-depth reports al-jazeera has teams on the ground to bring you more award winning documentaries more russian goals

hardly a truth none and lightnings on air and online. qantas council take any concrete action. syrian forces pound rebel held province killing civilians and forcing the un to suspend some aid operation. watching al jazeera live from our headquarters here in doha also coming up the chinese tech giant takes legal action in the us to have its blacklisting ruled unconstitutional. serbia puts its forces on alert after the police raids in

northern ca server with tensions high in this volatile region. activists in argentina renewed their battle to legalize abortion as a new bill is presented to congress. top story hundreds of thousands of syrians have fled a wave of airstrikes in the northwest as the government and its russian allies pound rebel held areas health officials in the opposition held province say government rockets have destroyed a hospital in the town of a foreigner born at least $27.00 civilians were killed in the attacks on tuesday areas in the provinces of hama and aleppo were also targeted forcing civilians to flee towards turkey. the u.s. state department has called the escalation of violence reckless and the un is warning that an all out offensive on it will lead to

a humanitarian catastrophe for its $3000000.00 residents diplomatic editor james bays now reports from the u.n. in new york. yes 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 were strong words but no prospect of action for a top humanitarian official made this appeal can't 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 ringback 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 by. 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 to go he's right there are 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 james. at the united

nations. now last september russia and turkey reached an agreement to reduce hostilities in italy but since then an armed group formally allied with big parts of the area triggering the regime's latest offensive is in a hole to reports. the intensity of strikes like these is increasing and so is the number of civilians killed across southern adlib and northern how 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 thank god the law but. many civilians have been killed the planes of return to hit model to 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 depopulate a belt of territory on the southern edges of province to secure to international wrote 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 north 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 have to 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's cease fire deal and create a demilitarized zone that fighters from the leadership or h. t. s. and the syrian army will respect that's. all i ask. us. but. actually that's not the same. mortars artillery that something. else that's

not although a cease fire 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 senator i was big but. ok let's examine a developing story for the next minute or so let's take you live to a news conference because the chief legal officer for the chinese czech tech giant whey is conducting a news conference there. is stepping up its legal fight against u.s. sanctions the company's filing a motion in court to have bans on his business deemed unconstitutional the u.s. federal agencies and contractors are prohibited from using qua equipment for national security reasons.