i mean prime minister told challenges era. the of the. turkish backed rebels and syrian troops fight for control of the key time in the northwest and civilians have nowhere to hide. my. m how he'd seen and this is al jazeera life from doha also coming up 44 nations and territories around the world are reporting coronavirus cases and upping restrictions on travel and trade. if that's all from violent street battles between hindus and muslims in the indian capital climbs to 33. in. the college tuition

economic educated station is in. a deepening economic crisis and lebanon drains confidence in the government somebody says the threats and the process. my. syrian rebels are fighting to hold on to a key northwestern time they've recaptured from the army. supported by turkey opposition forces went into serach of overnights reversing one of the main gains of the government's devastating russian backed offensive in the region the army and its allies are pushing to get saka back kenzer chipping away at other parts of it lived province the last rebel held strongholds al-jazeera is milad fattal has made it to the town and says he can hear the army fighting to recapture its. no and that is the medina we are inside sort of keep the city seized

by the armed opposition forces today that's the sort of kid radio tower the city's most prominent landmark there are us what is the back of us well as we speak you can hear sounds of explosions clashes and airstrikes by russian fighter jets zooming across the sky fierce fighting is taking place on the outskirts of the city as the assad regime's forces are trying to recapture the city however it can be said the armed opposition has total control of the subject here in the city located on the international m 5 highway connecting aleppo with damascus and the m 4 highway connecting aleppo with latakia those international highways of great significance and sort of keep city has a strategic position as the meeting point of both those highways was for her there's an arc of his importance and if you look at the map you can see why you have a controls the m $4.00 and $5.00 highways gains critical military and economic advantages the m 5 in particular links aleppo with damascus in the size the growing reds areas

are controlled by the governments the shrinking green marks rebel held territory yellow in the north and west is controlled by the kurds well speaking in turkey as president richard sipe erdogan says the rebel gains an adlib should serve as a warning to syria's governments in it globe the developments on the ground in our favor but on the other hand the regimes losses are very big 3 of our soldiers have been killed let them rest in peace but there is no time to deal with this no negotiations with the russians will continue however we are operating in it live with the done agreement along with the 911 kilometer border we are safeguarding our country we will continue to operate in syria backing syrian rebels and told we win the war. well live now to hashem obara hussein had to say in turkey near the border with syria it's very fast moving situation was the very latest you're hearing on

the grounds well some civilians from a backhoe they say that despite the fighting which is on the outskirts of the city but the would like to go back home after the bulls capture the crucial city which is located on to a critical highways the m 5 and m. 4 at the same time to his defense minister who said that he is confident that there might be a progress in the near future with the russia when it comes to diffusing tension in stating that's one of the prerequisites for the turkish government is to be allowed access to the airspace in northwestern part of syria particularly over. and that's where the military has been building up its forces setting up a new military outpost ensuring to ensure what it says is the need to be

implement b.s. and push the syrian army back from the demilitarized zone but as we're going to see in this report the capture of. the rebel is just one step ahead in what looks like an extremely delicate political landscape in syria. this is job on the streets of south. for the rebel commander this is just the beginning of a long push to recapture lost territory after the end of the rocket is back under control we have managed to evict syrian army russian ally and pro-government militias from socket i want to reassure our people that we will liberate all the cities of syria and defeated the theater. but for the rebels to hold ground may be challenging the city is located on 2 highways in for an empire which link damascus to aleppo and northeastern syria. so in

government troops and russian fighter jets are striking rebel positions preventing them from reinforcing their lines of defense. moment of triumph for the rebels this is their 1st significant military gain in months. the opposition has lost many strongholds and retreated north allowing the syrian army to advance to words it live city and as government troops close in thousands of civilians flee the offensive has displaced almost 1000000 people and created the worst humanitarian situation since the start of the conflict in syria 9 years ago. here's the latest from what is happening on the ground now after securing said one of the rebels have managed to take over other villages in the area and saying their next step would be to take over another crucial area which is moderates and it was

in the palace a government. it was a rebel stronghold but that if they are under the control of the syrian army so whether the syrian rebels are making those gains government troops on the other hand us trying to take control of areas in job as in the south of the province or video. was from $2111.00 of the most important bastions of the syrian opposition and it seems that the government is adamant to take over because that would pave the way for its troops to move forward towards the city of it what we're seeing is a spectacular sifting political ground in and rural parts of the rushers and the syrian government on one hand moving forward the rebels backed by turkey trying to reverse that gains however as the situation intensifies as the fighting continues the international community continues to worry about the potential for yet a massive humanitarian catastrophe in syria almost 1000000 people were evicted from

their homes most of those people are now stranded on the border with turkey and if the fighting continues we're likely to see more people leaving their areas and move into those makeshift camps in the open outer. ring is on the very latest there from the turkey syria border thank. now border cautious travel restrictions and trade routes suspended governments are imposing ever tougher measures to control the spread of coronavirus in the middle east saudi arabia's holds and visas for the pilgrimage and restricts interest travel from effect affected countries their rockers cause schools and universities and bans public gatherings as well as flights from several countries and in iran 26 people have died donald trump meanwhile has promised the u.s. government will spend whatever is needed to deal with the outbreak he's put vice president mike pence in charge of america's response and in europe italy has

confirmed its 12th death and there's been a 2nd in france overall some a city of thousands infections have now been the chords in 44 countries and territories and assyria current reports south korea's confirms another 505 cases in it has overtaken china in new delhi infection numbers. shopping centers a sanitized in seoul government employees a sterilising public transport as a south korean government steps up efforts to stop the spread of the current virus . joint military exercises with the united states have been postponed after american soldiers stationed at a base today tested positive for containment offers of cover 19 and a city of walk in u.s. service members were prioritized in making this decision the largest daily increase in the number of infections has been in

a city in the southeast where church at the center of the outbreak is located at the virus spreads the government has postponed some annual school exams and is asking people to avoid large crowds around 40 countries and now restricting travelers from south korea. if you know the government feels very sorry that our citizens have gone through the inconvenience in the process of entering foreign countries due to the country's sudden entry restriction measures the epicenter of the outbreak cuba a remains under lockdown while cities in the rest of china a slowly returning to work china reported the last death toll in a month on thursday the number of infections rose slightly. the 1st case happened in china but that doesn't mean the source is in china the foreign prediction of when this will be contained says end of may or june we think it will be the end of april. but some countries are not taking any risks

a struggle has gone one step further than the world health organization declaring the coronavirus a global pandemic and electing an emergency response plan we believe that the risk of a global pandemic is very much upon us and as a result as a government we need to take the steps necessary to prepare for such pain to me schools here in hong kong have been closed since january and will mind shut until at least the 20 to buy from japan to us announcing it will shut all schools until much china may be optimistic it can contain the outbreak by boat but the virus is spreading faster outside many countries and i'm not taking any risks sarah clarke al-jazeera hong kong. well let's head to tehran there and same bus driver joins us from there fire sky saying we're seeing the situation in iran starting to develop another spike in cases and it seems to be touching the most senior level since the

iranian government. that's exactly right we've heard from the spokesman for the health ministry during his daily briefing again this morning in that briefing a confirmed another 106 cases had been confirmed another 106 people tested positive for corona virus in the last 24 hours bringing the total to $245.00 and the death toll now stands at $26.00 among those infected by this corona virus it is the 2nd member of parliament has been confirmed to have it this gentleman's name is much those all north she is the head of the national security and foreign policy committee of the parliament a very important body within the parliament of the country and he's also a conservative member of parliament from the home the place that was ground 0 for this virus and so. i mean let's not forget saying that iran is under sanctions is it not and these sanctions are already affecting the infrastructure of

the country is the nation's health system able to cope with the challenges that this this virus is placing on top of an already challenging environment for the country. well the government is certainly taking it more seriously it would seem than it did initially we've just heard this evening that the committee that the iranian president hassan rouhani has set up to take charge of containing the coronavirus has announced that friday prayers in the capital to iran will now be canceled earlier this morning we were expecting friday prayers to go on but in affected areas in many cities they were canceled and we're committed to trying to forward with friday prayers here in teheran but those 2 have been canceled we're waiting to hear if the city will go the same way we are hearing the government leaders are committed to try to have friday prayers and at least in that city a very important religious heartland for the country but we will see how that

headquarters for combatting coronavirus decides going forward now president hassan rouhani in terms of dealing with this has been very forward has been very vocal in trying to regain the public message that was lost in the initial days of the outbreak to suggest that the government is very much in control to that in the public health ministry spokesman earlier today pointed out to the fact that there are some positive signs of the hundreds of people that were quarantined in a home a dozen approximately 40 people have now been treated and cleared and released back into the public. having been cleared of contracting the virus so the government is pointing to that as a success they have a robust medical industry they've said that the manufacturers have been working around the clock to make masks and gloves and other medical items that would be required to combat this virus but this is very much a global outbreak and when these things happen there's normally global cooperation

the center for disease control in united states of preeminence is jewish and we're dealing with global outbreaks of this nature iran and the united states simply don't have the diplomatic. anil's for ron to be able to rely on a resource like the american c.d.c. but china a long time friend has airlifted supplies they did provide medical kits for testing as well as masks the w.h.o. the world health organization is also shipped medical supplies but whether or not that will be enough there simply is it's simply too soon to tell ok as a matter of view they're getting as a live update from teheran thankee italian authorities say dozens more people have been infected with the coronavirus happens the total to more than $520.00 cases mostly in the northwest 14 people have died of a jump jim is in milan and explains why health officials in italy are so it's about hope to reports the number of cases. in the data that was introduced by the civil

protection agency it was also revealed that 40 people who were initially diagnosed with corona virus have since recovered 37 of those people are in this region of the lumber the region and they are in that red zone that containment zone close to the epicenter of this corona virus outbreak the town of could only oh now all that being said we should also mention that there is a debate that has been going on for the last few days between various italian health officials there are those here some hospital officials who feel that not every confirmed case of the virus should be reported because they believe that that leads to more concern and perhaps panic and we are now in the piazza duomo this is one of the most famous squares in all of italy especially in northern italy and it's basically almost empty this is a square that normally on a day like today would be full it would be full of tourists it would be full of

residents who come here to perhaps get a coffee or a meal and then go back to their place of work in the people that we're speaking with are also expressing concern about how these numbers are being reported because they say that business is off tourism is off and they're very worried about what this is going to mean for what is the economic hub of all italy and what this means for their businesses going forward all that being said though people are trying to remain calm they are trying to heed the advice of italian officials the past few days who have said it is not reasonable for people to panic. still to come on al-jazeera why the u.k. is threatening to walk away from trade talks with the e.u. before they've even begun. hello and welcome back we'll start this time in northeastern parts of asia and we

have an area of rain extending across central parts of china pushing across the yellow sea it's going to be pushing some rain into the korean peninsula but it's southern parts of japan which will see rain developing during the course of friday just 14 degrees there's a high in shanghai you'll notice under all that cloud and then through into saturday that system continues to develop pushing heavy rain across those southern islands maybe just flirting with honshu towards the end of the day so a sucker like you see some rain later on still dry in tokyo and still chilly further north in sapporo and that kind of that minus one the maximum temperature let's now move down into southeastern parts of asia is still looking threatening for western parts of java jakarta could see further heavy rain over the next few days but nothing quite as heavy as we saw a couple of days ago lot of showers across borneo. once again a very wet day is on the cards and then as we head across into south asia we've got one of 2 showers for the western ghats otherwise it's

a largely fine picture delhi their highs of 28 degrees but further north northern pakistan northern parts of india we could see some heavy rain in places with him showers in the foothills of the himalayas. but. the. my. this is al-jazeera could come out of the headlines this hour the syrian government has launched a counter offensive to recapture the town of soraya been in the province it was seized by turkey backed rebels overnight. countries are stepping up measures to stop the corona virus from spreading saudi arabia has suspended visas for the

pilgrimage and restricted to risk travel from countries affected by the virus and iran's health ministry says the death toll from corona virus infections has increased to 26 at least 245 cases have been confirmed and this includes the head of the parliamentary national security commission. saudi arabia's face more criticism of its human rights record from the united nations which is demanding the release of political prisoners at a briefing in geneva the un's top human rights commission also push for more transparency around legal proceedings related to the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi he was killed and 28 team at the saudi consulate in istanbul a diplomatic answer james base is in geneva. this is the high level session of the human rights council and michelle by chalet the commissioner for human rights was laying out what she saw as the problems around the world she had very pointed

comments about saudi arabia remember saudi arabia is the only arab member of the g 20 and it's been chosen to host this year's g. 20 summit but she said with regard to human rights there were obligations that had to i encourage religious that the frameworks to app called freedom of expression peaceful assembly and association for all and reviews of the jets rights of those who have been convicted for expressing their opinions including human read the fenders religious leaders and journalist i call for the release of several women who have legitimately and peacefully demand that the reforms of this community policies in the country i also call for full transparency in the ongoing procedures and comprehensive accountability regarding the murder of journalist yaml kushal she talks about transparency clearly saudi arabia says it's pursuing judicial proceedings in that case very limited access form any international

diplomats no access from the media it's worth remembering the un itself hasn't decided to open an investigation the u.n. secretary general said that needed to be done by one of the main bodies of the united nations and none of actually done that the only investigation has been from an independent expert who works from for the human rights council agnes the special rapporteurs and she said saudi arabia as a state was criminally liable. the british government has declared it won't commit soon following european union rules to the post trade deal and it's threatening to walk away from talks as early as june if it sees no hope of a compromise you case when setting out its red lines 2 days after e.u. ministers approved their own joint approach to the negotiations after officially leaving the e.u. in january britain has until the end of this year to settle on

a trade deal and agreements on everything from fishing rights to transports will join holes in london and he says the pools and demands from both sides will make negotiations difficult. the government has here given notice that the political declaration is no longer the blueprint it intends to follow the blueprint will be rather the election manifesto that boris johnson won so handsomely on in december that commits the government to seek what's called a canada style free trade arrangement 0 tariffs 0 quotas and enough regulator a divergence from e.u. rules and laws to allow britain to do trade deals with other big economies like the united states the e.u. simply see this see this as the u.k. trying to have the best of both worlds both preferential access to its markets and watering down its laws and regulations and i think in the months ahead this is a problem that is going to be difficult. to square there are different schools of

thoughts on on this there's a sort of good case scenario or best case scenario and a worst case scenario in the end remember that the canada deal so-called was struck over many years these things take time and time is something that isn't on the table the best case scenario here is that they reach some sort of basic trade deal by the end of the year covering goods or some sectors of goods at least with other deals to come in months and years ahead in other sectors of the economy the worst case scenario as some see it is that there's no deal in december 31st the end of the transition period that there is no extension to that period and therefore the to break up on w t o lines world trade organization rules tariffs structures are put into place immediately that will be bad news for british manufacturers and exporters but a price the government here says it's worth is worth paying in the interests of being able to. get the holy grail if you like trade deals with other economies. a number of people killed in days of violence in new delhi has risen to 33 after some critically injured patients died in hospital relatives of some muslim victims

of accuse police of standing by as hindu crowds attacks allegations the government denies they've been months of nationwide protests against the citizenship law seen as a muslim it's only berkeley is in delhi. so this is the area shown by one of the hardest hit in those 4 days of violence people here are both muslim and hindu so both sides of the fence of the divide have been suffering here but at the moment now we're seeing a big show of force that's what they call in a show and tell a senior police commissioner is meeting the local people to assess what the situation is and trying to restore calm i have to say 24 hours of peace has changed the whole aspect of what's going on in northeast delhi people are a little bit more short reassured people are coming back but what the coming back to his scenes like this you're seeing rubble devastation burnt out buildings but it's burnt out buildings and devastation has affected both hindu and muslim

communities we've spoken to people here they're of lost everything businessmen have had shops that were destroyed and people who have suffered with loved ones being injured more than 250 people have been injured and the death toll is about more than 30 people now but here we having a situation where the commission is coming but the police here have received criticism for not stepping in earlier and doing something to stop the carnage and the devastation so people are slowly coming back to their districts in finding seems like this but the impetus now is going to the courts and people are now going to the courts to find out who started this who incited this and who should be charged and the police said they have about $100.00 people in custody no one has been charged yet we don't know yet who is responsible for the deaths of all those people all the injuries but these are inquiries that will have to go on people are asking questions why it took so long for the powell mission forces to come onto the streets and restore order and why it took so long for their prime minister to hand remoting to actually offer some words and call for calm. months of often violent

protests demanding an overhaul of lebanon's governance system have largely through and old in recent weeks new government is putting together an emergency economic plan that needs to win international supports and action on the streets could return if things don't get better soon as this report from beirut's. lebanese are becoming poorer there doesn't seem to be a clear way out of the country's worst economic crisis in decades shortages of dollars have driven up the price of basic goods the consumer protection agency reports increases of at least 40 percent which is how much value lebanon's local currency has lost on the black market in recent months. the milk used to cost $12000.00 the beast pounds it is now $40000.00 prices are increasing but our salaries have not increased and we are not being paid. official say they are working to address the financial hardships people face even though they have warned

it will involve unpopular measures the new government is battling a crisis of confidence at home and abroad there is no reason a country this blessed with so many gifts including incredible human resources does not have in 2020 modern waste management. 247 electricity for every one a single armed force under the control of the state and a growing economy. dollar reserves are drying up which makes it hard for the state to pay back the public debt and import basic supplies like wheat medicine and flour the prime minister trying to secure financial aid and. opponents of convincing arab and western nations not to give any help but those. made it clear. the government showing commitment to serious reforms and corruption. that has been the demand of anti-establishment protesters who have been

on the streets for more than 4 months and their numbers have dwindled and the movement has lost momentum but that could change we believe. the current situation economic and political station is still. i think it's building up there will be a moment that comes when people will come down again people try to bring down the symbols of the state and overthrow the old political class the state fought back but as more and more lebanese become economically drained and warnings of a potential collapse approach reality these walls may do little to protect those in power that a quarter of beirut. 5 bodies have been recovered after flooding in the central colombian region of count us 4 men and one woman were killed when a landslide hit their camps on a hillside houses built on steep slopes of a particular risk during the rainy season 2017 more than $250.00 people were killed

when a landslide hit the town of mccullough and parts of western england's are under water after the river severn burst its banks and flood barriers some areas in the u.k. are enjoying the worst flooding in decades after seeing severe storms hits within a week of each other. this is al jazeera and these are the headlines the syrian government has launched a kinds of offensive to recapture the town of saraki in the province it was seized by turkey backed rebels overnights has more from hottie you're syria's border. well some civilians from a backhoe they say there despite the fighting which is on the outskirts of the city but the would like to go back home after the burbles capture of the crucial city which is located on to a critical highways the m 5 and m.

4 at the same time to his defense minister who said that he is confident that there might be a progress in the near future with the russia when it comes to diffusing tension in stating that's one of the prerequisites for the turkish government is to be allowed access to the airspace in northwestern part of syria. countries are stepping up measures to stop the corona virus from spreading saudi arabia has suspended visas for the owner of pilgrimage and restricted tourist travel from countries affected by the corona virus the u.s. and south korea have for sports joint military exercises iran's health ministry says the death toll from the coronavirus infections has gone up to $26.00 at least $245.00 cases have been confirmed that includes the head of the parliamentary national security commission. the british government has declared it won't commit

to following european union rules in a post brics a trade deal it's threatening to walk away from the talks as early as june if it sees no hope of a compromise you case been setting out its red lines 2 days after in human history is approved there will joint approach to the negotiations and 5 bodies have been recovered after flooding in the central column the region of how the us for man and one woman were killed in a landslide ice is built on steep slopes are at particular risk during the rainy season and parts of western england's runs are water after the river severn burst its banks the u.k. was recently hit by 2 severe storms some areas are experiencing the worst flooding in decades are those the headlines stay with us and al-jazeera the stream is up next. israelis go to the polls for the 3rd time in less than a year 2 main parties having failed to pull governing coalitions and prime minister netanyahu facing the start of his corruption trial will israel finally sold its

political crisis at the 3rd attempt at the latest updates on al-jazeera. hi i'm josh rushing and you're in the stream panic about the corona virus outbreak is fuelling a global rise in anti asian sentiment but is covert 19 really to blame for people's racism tell us what you think in our live chat or on twitter. crossed the world chinese people and those of general east asian descent are reporting a spike in verbal and physical attacks let's take a look at some of those incidents in italy which is seeing a big outbreak in coronavirus cases this week there's been violence abuse and harassment one filipino man was attacked in a market after being mistaken as chinese.