is there nothing to be said or done when indiscriminate barrel bombs are dropped in civilian areas ambassadors from the us 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 with terrorists was lost because. of 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 somebody new 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 pays out as iran at the united nations still ahead on al-jazeera tension in the balkans as serbia puts its forces on alert after police raids in northern cos about. hello there there's still plenty of very heavy downpours eva parts of europe at the moment we've still got the swirling mass of cloud over the central and eastern parts and it's still giving us some very heavy downpours to the east of it it's really quite warm for the west is quite chilly and this is the boundary between the

hawks and that cold air is sweeping its way eastwards and as it does so this ambush is a really drunk plain for many of us so warsaw will only have a maximum of around 15 degrees as we head through the day on wednesday ahead of it though kiev will be all the way up at 27 the thunderstorms are rumbling their way towards us there with the temperatures will begin to drop as we head into thursday meanwhile towards the west as some sunshine to be found but in the showers begin to start it gets a bit messy as you head up to the northwest impose severe. so london $21.00 degrees but a good deal of cloud around at times is hotter towards the southwest madrid will be all the way up at 30 degrees and the whole weather stretches across the other side of the mediterranean as well so for roberto maximum will be around just $27.00 degrees and there will be a cooling breeze off the sea and so the east them for many of us in libya is going to be quite grey and at times rather sandy there's also the chance of seeing a few showers out of the system that's going to stick around for wednesday and for the day too.

al jazeera was. on a roller coaster journey in iran and discover. how a refugee community itself beliefs and identity. like to prove to the world. i would be able to mine so much comes from. among so. the song child afghan you know on al-jazeera.

or watching al-jazeera let's take a look at the top stories right now chinese tech giant walk away has stepped up its legal fight against u.s. sanctions the companies filed a motion in court to have bans on its business stained i'm constitutional. protesters are into the 2nd day of a nationwide strike and sudan they're hoping it will force the transitional military council back to the negotiating table and the u.n. is warning that a lot of fence at the northwest syria will lead to catastrophic consequences at least 27 civilians were killed in it live in hama on tuesday. national security advisor says he is almost certain iran is behind the attacks against oil tankers off the coast of the united arab emirates john bolton also says there has been failed attacks against a saudi port shipping oil in the city who is visiting the u.a.e. admit escalating tensions between washington and tehran so much robby reports. in his 1st media briefing as iran's new form. 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 on line has always been respect for international agreements to least they could return there with the rubble. and based on delusion so we have no prospects for negotiation and invades for developments. as to offers by 3rd parties while iran's leaders are open to hearing from concerned friends of he says mediation isn't necessary yet stubbornly sticking to his 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. get better during a visit to japan this week the u.s. president struck an optimistic note i do believe that iran would like to talk and if 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. iran is not interested in empty rhetoric and pays more attention to behaviors and will decide. 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 rowland's loudest voice on the world stage made it clear iran remains wide open to diplomacy with everyone except the united states. to iran white house adviser heading to jordan to gain support for the u.s. plan on the future of palestine in israel on tuesday he met with morocco's king mohammed the 6th and robot. will travel to israel later this week and has to present the economic part of a plan at a conference in bahrain next month the palestinians are rejecting the proposals and are urging an arab boycott of the conference saudi arabia is being accused of using israeli spy ware to target a prominent critic and britain. sorry

a satirist who's racked up more than 200000000 views on his you tube channel where he regularly criticizes the saudi royal family saudi arabia's embassy in london was notified of a legal claim on tuesday accusing the kingdom of hacking the comedian's phone and using it to spy on him it's a latest allegation linked to the israeli n.s.o. crew. areas and tensions in kosovo having curry east african police operation in a predominantly serb area as a people including ethnic serbs were arrested in an anti smuggling operation. designed to intimidate and has put its troops on high alert. reports. 3 in the air and on the ground kosovan police in maturity 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 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 armed forces will protect people. serbia's russia has called it a provocation the un says a russian u.n. worker has been released by close of and police after angry protests from moscow at his detention. the u.n. is demanding the release of another employee also alleged to have been detained and injured. the river and makeshift barricades divide the 2 ethnic that the city majority albanian kosovo declared independence from serbia in 2008 a decade after nato stepped in to support kosovan 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. among them the president says the operation has about law enforcement and nothing else. i am sorry but belgrade. it should not under any circumstances be an address that protects those involved in crimes regardless of their ethnicity or 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. 4 years of trial test driving villagers from a desert region of pakistan to reports from the heart as our cattle are dying because of the lack of grass for grazing. these people have come to distemper to pray for rain.

i don't 500 families live very integral if you have food rom but day over a of life is threatened by a drought. situation is deteriorating by the day i am. we've had a drought here for the last 4 years our cattle are dying hungry we don't have water or the health facilities have someone among us get sick our wells are running dry our cattle are dying this village has 500 houses and we don't have water we are very poor in don't have money to rebuy food for ourselves or our cattle well though you know. these go to coping with the heat but. and most people here say they've gone financially so wife had a lucky and need to hey danny diaz on that the month that believe that our young men have gone to find work in the cities only the old men women and children have stayed back we're worried that our cattle are dying of thirst we request our

government to please arrange water for us. more to be bread living and a pair of dead there are already living below dup our deadline approaches. threatening their life dog many can't afford basic essentials and medicine and then you know about on me i yeah a sold everything including my case want to marry my daughter has no me and my wife living alone and we have to my wife is suffering from the pain and i don't have money to take you to the hospital these are hard times we're borrowing money from relatives and friends to buy food and it's a challenge. beyond most local people to overcome the situation and is cute and the sin government has declared it a drought hit india however. it is not unprecedented but in past years due to climate change the intensity of drought has increased the problem entirely

exacerbated by the fact that life numbers the number of people and their special community and their exports are additional pressure on the scarce water resources experts say the government should help people to find out their livelihoods. many here say they don't know how long they can go on without and redoubt rain. in pakistan. this is al jazeera let's take a look at the top stories right now chinese tech giant y.y. has stepped up its legal fight against us sanctions the companies filed a motion in court to have bans on it's unconstitutional federal agencies in contractors are prohibited from using weiwei equipment for national security reasons the company says this latest legal move is an effort to speed up the legal process always chief legal officer says the u.s.

is targeting the chinese tech giant for political gain. we believe that u.s. politicians are use in cybersecurity it's an excuse to gain public support for actions they doubt these signed to achieve other goals these actions would do nothing to make matter works. they provide a force sense of security. and the strict attention from the real challenges we face today is military transitional council is criticised a nationwide strike says cuts to electricity or water supplies could put lives at risk the strike is now in its 2nd day protest leaders are hoping it will force the transitional military council back to the negotiating table they're pushing for a civilian led authority because national security advisor says he is almost

certain orania naval mines damaged oil tankers off the coast of united arab emirates earlier this month john bolton is visiting the u.a.e. he warns iran that its actions risk a very strong response from the u.s. and security council is warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in syria's rebel held province of idlib as government forces continue their bombardment at least $27.00 civilians were killed in attacks on tuesday areas in the provinces of hama and aleppo were also targeted and serbia has put its soldiers on high alert after a kosovo and police made several arrests in its service dominated northern territory officers say they were targeting organized criminal gangs at least 19 people were detained or so the headlines keep it here inside story is next. president trump will be welcomed by the queen and outgoing prime minister to rescind made during his 1st state visit to the u.k.

but how will the public receive him trump's views on breaks it global warming and other issues are likely to cause controversy watch al-jazeera for full coverage and analysis. what's the price of peace keeping united nations is running out of money to pay for the blue helmets to 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. hello everyone i'm come out santa maria welcome to inside story they keep the peace but what cost as the united nations marks the international day of u.n. peacekeepers we're looking at the undoubtedly vital role peacekeepers play but also perhaps the flaws in their mandate and the shortfalls in funding that make their

jobs that much harder it's worth starting with the basics of exactly what a u.n. peacekeeper is you might know them as the blue helmets for obvious reasons but it's not some sort of u.n. army as such peacekeepers are actually provided by member states with most coming from africa it has to be said and they are deployed on missions authorized by the security council and they follow 3 basic principles that they are deployed with the consent of the main parties in the conflict that they are impartial and that they only use force as a last resort and this is where they are around the world as of april last year in fact 14 active operations 7 in african countries the rest in the middle east india pakistan plus cyprus kosovo and haiti those operations served by around $88000.00 peacekeepers and nearly 13000. civilians from $122.00 different countries but the un's budget for peacekeeping it's just $6700000000.00 which is less than half of

one percent of global military spending the us pays almost 30 percent of the bill china and japan and the next biggest contributors with 20 percent between them and there is the problem the un is now short on cash to fund its peacekeeping and some missions are now threatened so what can be done is it simply just a need for more money and fast discussion in a moment after this report from al-jazeera is diplomatic editor james bass. the un is holding its annual events honoring the work of its peacekeepers around the world they serving some of the most volatile places on earth last year 98 were killed while on chichi increasingly they also operate in a very difficult financial environment funds a tight with some budgets being cut or peacekeepers need better training and better equipment and their men to be realistic and adequately support these with both

resources and political will for many years un peacekeeping has been based on a grand bargain western countries the e.u. and the us providing specialized equipment and troops and the vast bulk of the money while most of the troops come from asia and africa. but the system is breaking down many countries but most notably the us are not paying their share un peacekeeping is owed a staggering sum over $1900000000.00 the countries providing the peacekeepers countries like pakistan which has over $5000.00 men and women serving around the world are the ones currently having to pay most of the costs so here we are $2.00 contribution countries making sacrifices losing lives in order to maintain international peace and security and facing budgetary challenges so i think we need to fix this it needs to be fixed because this removes the most

successful enterprise of the united nations and it should be adequately resourced the us owes way more than any other country to un peacekeeping that's been the case for many years but under president trump the size of the arrears has swelled to over $1100000000.00 a former obama administration official says it would make real sense to pay up now it's a little confused. the united states side the u.s. cares about peacekeeping we see it in our interest u.s. is a larger training training country for peacekeeping missions and our diplomats work worldwide to help them succeed because we see the value of these missions so some of this can and should be sorted out with congress so they fully fund the amount that the u.s. owes and we can resolve this shortfall the u.n. secretary general knows he must tread carefully president trump doesn't take kindly to demands for huge sums from international organizations even though in this case

it's money that everyone agrees the u.s. is james al-jazeera of the united nations. all right let's bring in our panel today to discuss u.n. peacekeepers we are starting in denver in the united states with mark goldberg he's the editor of un dispatch a u.n. and global affairs news website on skype from florence. the former african union commission official now a specialist on peace and security in africa and running up the panel from kiel in the u.k. he is our will arlo senior lecturer in law at kiel university and a specialist on human rights international law gentlemen lovely to have all 3 of you with us as we look at marking international peacekeepers day mark goldberg i'll start with you and i feel we should really before we get into any of the controversies look at the importance of peacekeepers there are 14 missions in place all over the world if they were not in place tell us about the sort of vacuum that

that might leave. sure so as you noted there are 14 peacekeeping missions around the world deploying about $100000.00 peacekeepers by and large these peacekeepers are deployed to places that if they weren't there there would be a security vacuum and conflict that they are there to keep a damper on would fester and would result in all sorts of human rights abuses around the world you know in different places peacekeepers serve different functions in south sudan for example as that country descended into a really brutal civil war a few years ago people from surrounding peacekeeping bases flocked to un peacekeeping compounds to seek protection so that was a very direct civilian protection mandate that those peacekeepers were acting against and there are several different examples like that around the world in which if those peacekeepers weren't there a vacuum

a security vacuum is what international relations scholar call it would form and conflict would just metastasized perhaps spread to other countries so there there really as a lid to keep. the conflict in check i'm interested in some of the specifics and i did some research on those individual 14. missions now for example the one in india pakistan kashmir which was established way back in $199117.00 personnel there now so i would be interested to know what you think about sort of the importance of that but then something like kosovo is still got 5000 people there 20 years after the war how important is it to keep 5000 largely troops there i should add uniformed peacekeepers there in a place like kosovo sure so there are several legacy u.n. peacekeeping missions which i call them which were set up you know decades and decades and decades ago that are there for 2 main reasons 1st the presence of

international troops still decades later acts as a deterrent for for. foreign governments for the parties to overrun and capture the territory and you see that also in that to a certain extent in the golan and in the sinai where there are still a small number of international peacekeepers kosovo is a little bit of a different story it's still. it's a middle aged peacekeeping mission let's say but it exists there much like the missions in kashmir exist because there are still lacks a political will to bring the conflict to a resolve and these peacekeepers their main function is to give international diplomats and politicians the breathing room they need to bring that political will to the table to finally resolve a conflict unfortunately in a case like india pakistan that political well you know decades and decades and decades later is still not there but you've seen other examples for example liberia

is a good good one in which you know 15000 peacekeepers were deployed there 15 years ago this year they left because they were able to give that country and the political factions in that country the breathing space they needed to come together and let the conditions for peace take hold. to that a motor in florence let's bring you in as i pointed out out of the 14 missions that there are active around the world 7 of them are in african countries i'll ask a similar question to you specifically on africa just how important are the peacekeeping to overall peace and security in many parts of africa thank you come on i think. mark was on the spot when he say. we have to use counterfactual. assessments usefulness of peacekeeping mission to syngenta. to meet lee. the fundamental question is

why do we need peacekeeping and. the the answer is because. look and national political systems that are broken and they have to be fixed and the fixing is done by the national and regional and all tossed them time local political activists peacekeeping in general provide this the environment for these activists to bring some balance of systems to be restored. unfortunately many of the peacekeeping that kind offer a sort of normalcy is not possible because not enough money latika legitimacy and will it spend on bringing scholarship so the counterfactual is that actually peacekeeping. missions have contributed significantly in reducing does and all saw followed as

a. scholarship of conflicts and devise stations in national systems to local areas and so on and so on or between countries but a 7 time this is at this juncture we have to look at that they are fulfilling the kind of function they are supposed to to perform and here. the kids of kashmir or kosovo. congo or les bierria the main issue that comes to mind is the idea that peacekeeping are a backup generator that's like. they don't have to stay a long time because you cannot france is on backup generator that they are supposed to be for short time to kick in the main source of. legitimacy and political process in some cases unfortunately that's not the case ok so let's bring in our

well and get his thoughts as well as he has made a very good point there we shouldn't well ultimately you don't want peacekeepers there you don't want to have to keep the peace but by the same token it's hard to imagine a place like let's say darfur or south sudan or central african republic without these peacekeeping forces at the moment what in your opinion might be going wrong that they have to keep them there for so long so in most cases peacekeepers are deployed in one of the most stable highly fried jail or in some cases failed states where government institutions state structures are simply not there to provide the kind of peace and safety that vulnerable populations need and also even for different parties that are suppose to come together and have that dialogue and conversation about moving the country forward situation doesn't exist so peacekeepers are there primarily to provide that kind of environment basic

protection for vulnerable groups and also a conducive political environment for the vice president's office to come together or out a deal to take countries forward so that is their primary object if there are a certain peacekeeping missions that have been in force meant to mandate in the sense that they can actually participate in fighting us well again as one of the part. that are that are involved and the types of peacekeeping missions are somewhat complicated in terms of their legitimacy elsewhere but overall i agree with. both of you guys that peacekeeping missions peacekeeping i joined the of the united nations house contributor significant to me in terms of maintaining international peace and security gentlemen i want to look at the composition of these peacekeepers as well because i think this is interesting that the bulk i mean we're talking $100000.00 plus peacekeepers around the world most of

them from africa and asia 7 and a half 1000 from ethiopia alone around 6000 from india 5000 from the poll and then you look at the quote unquote developed nations 752 from france 572 from the u.k. 34 from the united states mark i'll come back to you why the disparity there if this is a quote unquote united nations why is this such a disparity between where the peacekeepers come from is it just because that that's where a lot of the conflicts are yeah well in the case the united states it's a political question in general american troops and american military officers don't want to put troops under you know of the so and so control of foreign military officer but it's sort of a grand bargain though when it comes to the united states because you know as the introduction of this episode noted the u.s. has the bulk of the cost of peacekeeping missions around the world the united states is still the global leader when it comes to efforts to maintain international peace and security around the world so it does see value in funding

developing countries from sending their troops to hot spots around the world and the developing countries themselves get a lot out of this not only do they get their training and prestige and political power that comes from being what's called a troop contributing country they're also compensated to the rate of about 1400 dollars. as per troop per month when they send their troops these missions so the grand bargain is working it breaks down though when the funding isn't there and those troops that are deployed don't have the equipment and the personnel and the logistics backups that they need to effectively carry out their mandate which is where a lot of the problems are seeing in u.n. peacekeeping comes today i'll come back to the issue of funding in a moment but in a hurry can i ask you do you agree with that the idea that for ethiopia for example to have around 7 and a half 1000 peacekeeping troops as part of the un force is

a is good for them as there is a potentially positive outcome while the. the voters countries have a different kind of. kind of justification for participating in peacekeeping in general in the case of specifically ethiopia historical background where collective security was critical in this history you recall the invasion of you 30 off ethiopia long time ago during the 2nd world war and before egypt i was seeking for collective security and the legal for nations 1st and when that illegal for nations failed and the u.n. so that is historical just sufficient for that and it informs the foreign policy off the country that out of many countries similar to that like rwanda and others who have historical justification for involvement in peacekeeping but generally speaking the costs are going to have that existence is countries. sacrifice in

blood. and rich countries contribute in financial terms that is a kind of just expression that is commonly used so that is not really a significant problem in general but it shows also the sacrifice is higher for the peacekeeping troops which have. on the ground and other countries not willing really to comment to put troops on the ground. our loyal thoughts on the way the way my hurry described that it's sort of it got to me a little bit he said you know developed nations paying money and developing nations play in blood it doesn't it doesn't seem right that way that that sort of imbalance . i think my views on this more aligned with dr maurice point because if you actually look back there is no explicit constitutional mandates or concerted

basis for peacekeeping operation in the united nations charter although it is widely accepted as one of the most a novel kind of innovation of the united nations in terms of keeping international peace and security one of the reasons why a peacekeeping mission of the sorties invented is precisely because that is an excellent and also you know apparently get me a way of distributing responsibility for maintaining international peace and security for well the country so they can simply put in resources which they have which they can also benefit from the existing international order and pay into the system and poor countries who don't have the resources would basically contribute. troops so in a way is really a reflection of how messed up the international legal order is and i also disagree with the point of mark made which is. that the united states continue to be

a global player in the international legal order and i think the u.s. certainly was bad over the last few years where we see is the retreat of the united states from the multilateral international organizations and also from the kind of rules of the international legal all.