on jews in. turkey downs 2 syrian fighter jets in rebel held province as part of a new offensive. alone barbara starr you're watching al-jazeera live from london also coming up on the program tensions flare as migrants try to cross into europe from turkey the greek prime minister convenes a meeting of the national security council a major setback just that day after the u.s. taliban deal was signed the afghan president refuses to commit to a prisoner swap. let's get back on. and back in the race joe biden's

presidential debate gets a much needed boost in south carolina next on super tuesday. welcome to the program turkey has announced a full scale military operation against the syrian government dubbed operation spring shield it follows the killing of $34.00 turkish soldiers in italy province on thursday turkish jets have shot down 2 syrian army warplanes that were carrying out a combat mission in the rebel held area of reports stuff from the turkey syria border . but you aren't turkish and syrian fighter jets faced off in an encounter in the skies above aleppo and it with 2 syrian warplanes down the confrontation marked in u.s. collation in the conflict between turkey and syria. turkey's defense minister

warned that turkish troops will retaliate against and if air that attack. also announced operation spring shilled and your campaign aimed at pushing syrian government troops out of the so-called buffer zone near the border. we do not aim to face off with russia our only aim is to stop syrian regime's most ekers radical groups the displacement of civilians. turkey has stepped up its military campaign in it lipped province it responds to that of 34 soldiers in strikes on thursday a. funeral processions in turkey for the deaths soldiers have turned into rallies calling for revenge in rebel held it live people took to the streets showing support for turkey's bistrica a little western syria in recent fighting in southern it to provinces to keep that

rebel groups recaptured villages they lost a few weeks ago including symbolised. further south syrian government forces have launched an offensive to some the main the city was a major opposition stronghold but in 2017 russia brokered a deal that allowed the syrian government to administer the city and the rebels to withdraw the heavy weapons that deal didn't last and syrian troops are determined to control the city this time but the rebels hung on. or we can cross live now to hashem in of course in turkey's border with syria it does seem that the situation is obviously escalating the sides may not want a full out war but increasingly it could it could happen so diplomatically what is going on behind the scenes to try to avert further consul confrontation because the presidents of turkey and russia are meeting in the next few days aren't they.

indeed there will be a meeting or bubble of the 5th of march and there are hopes that turkey and russia with set aside their differences about it live province and negotiate a settlement something similar to what they did in 2017 when the implemented the buffer zone the ceasefire agreement and. the way for civilians to return home turkey thinks that it's been betrayed by a russia and that russia has not been managing to has not has failed to rein in syrian government forces which have lost an offensive moved into the buffer zone and targeted the opposition in different areas of this is why you have this mass exodus of civilians into the boat to the border with turkey turkey says this must stop you have different interpretations russia on the other hand that the syrian

government say that what they are doing is legitimate and will continue because they say their fight is not against the civilians their fight is the guest here at the head of this sham which is one of the most powerful rebel groups operating in moscow and damascus consider that yes a terrorist organization turkey on the other hand says the push by the government is just to create a humanitarian situation where the 4000000 people live with cross into turkey turkey has almost 4000000 refugees or its border area so if they can manage to overcome those differences about how to move forward the hope is that they will reinstate the ceasefire push the syrian government troops beyond behind the buffer zone and allow civilians to return if they failed to set aside those differences we're likely to see a wider confrontation playing out in italy province. vajra with the latest there

from the turkey syria border hessian thank you. was mentioning that there has been a mass exodus of civilians because of the ongoing fighting in a province and as the fighting rages on in syria greece has reinforced its border with turkey after hundreds of refugees amassed there. greek police used tear gas and stun grenades to keep the crowds back on friday president there the one announced that he was suspending a multi-billion dollar deal brokered with the e.u. back in 2016 to stem the flow of migrants to europe the move was the zine to put pressure on european countries to support his operation in italy. well as migrants try to cross into greece by london c. the prime minister meets with pakis has called a meeting of the country's national security council greek police say that at least 500 people had arrived by boat on the islands of less false some most and kielce

this is part of the eastern mediterranean route to greece which was the main gateway for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers into europe in 201520161 the mainland further norse a group of waded across a river to the greek side at last then yes and bulgaria has announced that it's prepared to send 1000 troops to secure its border with turkey over concerns that migrants will want to cross over. that are going to aim is in the turkey's border with greece she says the situation is increasingly desperate for people trying to cross the border. for about 45 minutes we could hear sound bombs just to give you some contacts this road behind me leads to the official checkpoint with greece greek police were firing tear gas at refugees and migrants at the border who were throwing stones at them they've been caught in a no man's land able to cross the turkish official border but in between

a spot unable to cross the greek border and it has been a very tense and frustrating few days for people who say turkey told us the borders are open you can leave and go to europe but they say we are cold we have no food we have no shelter and we're not being allowed to leave a government spokesman has said as of a short time ago that since turkey opened its borders more than 80000 people have left turkey for europe now those numbers are being questioned by people on the ground given the great resistance they're facing and difficulty they're having attempting to cross the government spokesman says that the government has modified its policy it will no longer be preventing syrian refugees or any other migrants from leaving and instead it shifting its focus and its limited resources to formulating a contingency plan in the event there is an influx of syrian refugees from the

government spokesman adding that it does not have the resources to accommodate an influx considering that it already is host to $3700000.00 syrian refugees the spokesman says that it is time for europe to take action it cannot handle this challenge alone but also offices on the greek island of less bossy has been speaking to migrants who say the people smugglers have transported them for free. there is a response now to the turkish government's change of policy we've spoken to some people who came here free of charge at least 2 people told me that they were approached by turkish smugglers and told boats were being prepared on the beach they could just jump in at no charge. whereas other people who had made their deals with smugglers weeks ago obviously before the change of government policy 3 days ago. paid their money normally but they too of being speeded up they were

receiving text messages saying the time has come for you to go across now. the government has opened the borders so we're going to put you in boats now so both fare paying passengers but also passengers who are being approached to travel for free and now being put in these dinghies and the situation the numbers changing day by day. u.s. secretary of state like pump pale says he's hopeful that talks between the afghan government and the taliban will begin in the coming days the u.s. and the taliban signed an agreement in doha on saturday aimed at ending the united states' longest war from pale says the u.s. will be watching the taliban's next steps to ensure that it's carrying out its part

of that the. the agreement set out the conditions that set out the space but no this deal doesn't depend upon trusting anyone it has a deep complex well thought out multi month negotiated verification complex and mechanism by which we can observe and hold every member of the agreement accountable who will do that it's not about trust it's about what happens on the ground not only yesterday which was an important day but in the days that follow. well the agreement may already be facing a major obstacle afghanistan's president conny has announced the government has not committed to releasing 5000 taliban prisoners he says this means a prisoner swap cannot be a precondition for talks with the group as in the accord signed in saturday may says any prisoner release must still be part of future negotiations although bellamy it is in kabul with more of what president honey had to say. in less than

24 hours president. praising the agreement signed by the u.s. and the taliban. stepping stone towards peace and stability in afghanistan you know saying that he refused. agreement president. referring to. this part of that agreement about 5000 taliban held in afghan jails versus a 1000. taliban jails well president. talk about this he was not part of that agreement and this is what he had to say. that there was a request regarding the release of taliban prisoners but it can only be part of negotiations and it cannot be preconditions for starting be in traffic and negotiations also there must be no issue of good will because the afghan nation must be assured that whoever is going to be released will not stand against it one

day and he says that the end may be a good idea would be to put. the afghan people in a referendum and have. words that would not bode well with the white house 1 with the u.s. . he is due to come back here to kabul in the coming days to try to bridge the gap between the politicians here in the country and as he had said to ease or to help in this process of releasing the detainees. at least one person has been killed and another $24.00 wounded at an anti-government protest in the iraqi capital baghdad security forces used live ammunition and tear gas and the government protests have been ongoing in iraq since october leading to the resignation of former prime minister. the protesters have since rejected the appointment of prime minister mohammad saffi. so to come here on

al-jazeera european landmarks left empty coronavirus fears keep tourists away and workers worried for their health. a new president signals a new direction for your of why after 15 years of leftist leadership in the country turns to the right. hello there's still that storm continuing to batter the northwest of europe it is of course moving fairly swiftly off towards the east but look at the last year as still plenty of activity on sunday more rain pushing in to the west of europe but have a look at these pictures because this is on into south wales look at the size of these ways breaking across into the coast of japan to people here witnessing this

but that is actually a very dangerous thing to do of course the power of those the waves with those strong winds now through monday the winds will begin to ease across much of the u.k. still very strongly through on a more rain pushing in but really all this system is continuing to watch these rain across into northern spain much of the low countries and germany at the same time another system in the central med is going to reduce some very heavy amounts of rain through much of italy and of course some very heavy amounts of snow along the line of the alps that tends to be for the east was as well by choose day and as you had of all of this we have got some very mild air in place 20 celsius in book arrest 17 in these temperatures between about 7 and 9 degrees above the average more rain pushing in as well across through the bay of biscay through choose day and still very widely scattered showers and areas the rain across much of the u.k. so again the flooding situation they're not about to improve anytime soon but not a cold in london 9 and 10 in paris.

i was reason france. these are my grandparents. these are my parents and this is me. by them both isis and the us on. the 1st of a 2 part epic tale of a remarkable time and. the father the son and the jihad can't run on al-jazeera. the the in. on the back is a reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera turkey has shot down 2 syrian war

planes in the province the syrian army has confirmed the pilot survived and are safe in the last few days fighting is escalated between the 2 sides and it plagued the last rebel held region in syria on turkey's border while the syrian refugees try to cross into greece the prime minister has called the meeting of the country's national security council great police have used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of refugees on its border in afghanistan's president says the government has not committed to a prisoner swap as described in the deal struck between the u.s. and the taliban aimed at ending america's longest war but u.s. secretary of state my poor pale says he's hopeful that talks between the afghan government and the taliban will begin in the coming days. the corona virus has claimed another 11 lives in iran making the country's death toll the highest outside made mainland china 54 people have died since the virus was 1st reported a week and

a half ago infections in the islamist republic have now reached almost a 1000. is in tehran he says the outbreak is having a major impact on daily life and the economy. stores shops cafes restaurants all around the city wherever you go you can see signs posted on windows of closed closed businesses saying that they are closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus and those few restaurants that do remain open some businesses have to remain open and the on the tables at all of these restaurants you'll find a bottle of hand sanitizer sitting right next to ketchup bottles so that's really when i say new normal that's sort of how it's playing out in everyone's daily lives this is a city of around 10 to 15000000 people 20000000 by some estimates and really the traffic on the streets has almost completely died down you don't see the same level of people movement that you would on any sort of work sort of normal business day a lot of people who aren't out and about you know the streets are empty schools are

closed businesses are closed many people are communicating how they're experiencing this virus on social media you see people posting videos of medics burying those that have died instead of family members to avoid any further risk of contracting the disease hospital workers are trying to keep their spirits up by dancing but they do take it seriously they're also talking about how short staffed and short handed they are in terms of supplies to deal with this and people are also sharing clips of people collapsing on the street unable to breathe the young and the elderly the most likely to succumb to these problems but it has to be said the coronavirus is also exacerbated by the fact that we're seeing more and more pollution that iran is one of the most polluted kind of cities in the world and that is certainly having an effect on people susceptible to the disease. well meanwhile the husband of a british iranian woman jailed in iran on espionage charges believes that his wife

has contracted coronavirus richard ratcliffe said authorities at evin prison in tehran refused to test. cliff the spite her developing a strange cold that hasn't improved in more than 5 days the british foreign office has called on the government to allow health officials into the prison immediately thailand and australia meanwhile have reported their 1st deaths from the virus the number of new cases in china jumped on sunday after a slight dip more than 570 new infections have been recorded but chinese authorities insist they're getting on top of the outbreak katrina you reports now from beijing another patient is discharged from hospital in a province in eastern china. for the 1st time china's government says the number of patients cured of the new coronavirus subparts is the total being treated. 52 point one percent of. cases have been cured this signals

a good trend nationally. millions of workers are returning to work to get the world's 2nd biggest economy moving again but a travel lockdown remains in her province the epicenter of the crisis around 37000 there are sick 7000 of them seriously ill at least $25.00 medics have died of the virus. more than 70 countries and territories have imposed travel or sections on south korea where around 3700 people are affected in the hardest hit city of daegu hospital beds are schultz apply an increasing number of cases a link to the shin georgie religious sect health service administrators are investigating the branch of the church based in the chinese city of war on. christian uncle the size of the group is not that big but there are some cases where we believe people visit with one hand in january. in japan baseball teams

play to empty stadiums many sports gatherings have been postponed or canceled raising fears that the coronavirus could do you rail the tokyo olympics due to start in july around 900 cases have been confirmed to japan most from the diamond princess cruise ship with corona virus cases around the world steadily rising chinese leaders are turning their attention to threats from a broad chinese government hasn't yet reporters travel restrictions on any country but officials say they're ready to rip patri chinese citizens for any affected by the outbreak if necessary to train e.u. al-jazeera thinking. the u.k. government says no tactics will be off the table in its plan to contain the corona virus in britain the total number of cases in the u.k. is now risen to $35.00 britain's health minister says is the parliament is working on a battle plan which may include bringing doctors and nurses out of retirement banning

large scale events and possibly even locking down entire cities if the outbreak escalates. in paris meanwhile queues of frustrated tourists snaked around the louvers court here are the after the museum closed for a staff meeting on coronavirus prevention efforts a union representative said that some workers were fearful of infection and voted unanimously not to open on sunday and the famed canals in venice normally swarming with tourists were empty on sunday the gondolas and ferries remained docked because of virus fears the final 2 days of the venice carnival have been suspended and the planned this 3 week shoot for a mission impossible movie postponed it's go to europe why now with a new president has been sworn in marking the country's shift to the right after 15 years of left wing rule conservative. ordinarily won november's election it was

a 2nd attempt to win office he's promised to decrease the financial deficit and strike new trade deals. while the outgoing broad front government began losing its popularity because of a rise in crime and the stagnant economy the new president has promised to crack down on crime reports there from the capital montevideo. the political tide is turning in europe why. and we get a little sun once the new government to tackle some of the country's biggest challenges you know. the economy is a problem they tell you you can live on the minimum wage but it's not enough i receive a pension but i'm still working because you have to pay for electricity water and food and it's difficult to pay for it all we need to have at least $2.00 jobs to make enough and it's tough. said to lead a center right coalition ending the 15 year reign of the leftist broad front party

that implemented reforms that turned general why into one of the most progressive nations in the region. was while in office the broad front legalized marijuana abortion and same sex marriage social policies helped reduce poverty and increased access to health care. but i mean rising unemployment and crime and those reforms were not enough to win november's elections. says he has been robbed at least 4 times in the past 2 years he hopes the new government will improve the situation. but i am not sure why because poverty has dropped but we have the robbed over and over again i hope will take measures that will allow the police to take actions everyone in this neighborhood has been robbed at least once. promises to pass an omnibus bill that will try to address social and economic issues we have always taking office in our country that in

spite of economic difficulties and rising crime is largely perceived a fable in a region that. the past year has been filled with social unrest and economic troubles his biggest challenge will be to carry out we form without putting this country's stability i'd risk. did not invite leftist president to his inauguration from countries like venezuela cuba and. only 60 percent of parliament are in favor of new lessons in venezuela and even the outgoing government had conflicting views about what is happening there but the new government that comes in will be tougher than israel and it will increase the pressure. in the past 15 years has managed to broaden people's rights now many here are hoping for further reforms to improve their lives.

israel is gearing up for its 3rd election in less than a year on monday with concerns that the vote will end in another inconclusive result the prime minister benjamin netanyahu is once again facing off against his former army chief of staff benny gantz polls predict that neither candidate will be able to form a coalition government. former u.s. vice president joe biden has won the south carolina democratic primary securing almost half the votes with bernie sanders coming at this 10 2nd with about 20 percent biden's victory may give him the momentum that he needs going into super tuesday when people in 14 states will have their say and the gallic of reports. he spent weeks fighting to keep his campaign alive but on saturday former vice president joe biden was back in the race a few months ago victory in south carolina was a foregone conclusion but both bernie sanders and billionaire tom steyer made

inroads that threatened barden's bid for the democratic ticket now though joe biden's campaign is alive and kicking thank you thank you thank you south carolina . was my thanks to all of your heart of the democratic primary we just won and we won big because of the biden victory ends bernie sanders winning streak after he emerged as the front runner in the 1st 3 contests the senator from vermont finished 2nd and is now looking to super tuesday when 14 states in american samoa hold their primaries they'll account for a 3rd of pool delegates a potentially game changing day in u.s. politics tonight we did not win in south carolina. will not be the only 2 feet there are a lot of states in this country nobody wins them all joe biden downplayed his early losses instead focusing on more diverse state his campaign received

a crucial endorsement when congressman james clyburn the most powerful democratic politician in south carolina endorsed him just 3 days before the vote that seal of approval pushed undecided african-american voters a crucial voting bloc here to back biden let's get back. right here people when you can already get a lot of reading this probably proud of this president so get our take back our country this is the united states of america there's nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together elizabeth warren and pete but it gets trailed the pack with disappointing results joe biden's referred to south carolina and its large population of black democratic voters a cease fire wall and it's held steadfast for a campaign now renewed to say this was a boost for joe biden's campaign would be an understatement the 1st diverse states

in the democratic primaries it's given the female voice president the kind of legitimacy and the manson he needs many establishment figures in the democratic party have been looking for a moderate to take on bernie sanders now they may have found him on the gallacher of the sira columbia south carolina. time after reminder of the top stories on al jazeera turkey has shot down 2 syrian warplanes an igloo province the syrian army has confirmed that the pilot survived and are safe in the last few days fighting is escalated between the 2 sides in it the last rebel held region in syria on turkey's border the fighting risks of direct confrontation between turkey and syrian government backer russia. greek police have used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of refugees

on its border with turkey the greek prime minister has met with country the country's national security council he has tweeted that the country will not accept any asylum requests for the next month and is appealing to the european union for assistance on friday the turkish president thresher type out of the one announced that he will stop stemming the flow of migrants to europe the move. was designed to put pressure on european countries to support his operation in italy afghanistan's president says the government has not committed to a prisoner swap as described in the deal struck between the u.s. and the taliban aimed at ending america's longest war but u.s. secretary of state mike pump ales says he's hopeful the talks between the afghan government and the taliban will begin in the coming days he also said the u.s. will be watching the taliban's next steps to ensure that it's carrying out its part of the deal the agreement set out the conditions that set out the space but no this deal doesn't depend upon trusting anyone it has a deep complex well thought out multi month negotiated verification complex and

mechanism by which we can observe and hold every member of the agreement accountable we'll do that it's not about trust it's about what happens on the ground not only yesterday which was an important day but in the days that follow at least one person has been killed in another 24 wounded at an anti-government protest in the iraqi capital baghdad security forces used live ammunition and tear gas at least 500 people have been killed in anti-government protests since october those are the top stories on al-jazeera stay with us talk to al-jazeera is coming up next and we'll be speaking to the palestinian prime minister have more news for you and half an hour thanks for watching by.

fine jane spays in munich where world leaders gathered for the $56.00 security conference among them the palestinian prime minister mohammad shtayyeh u.s. president double trump describes his middle east plan as the deal of the century the palestinians call the map of territory they've been offered squeeze cheese rather than a solution for a sovereign palestinian state so what now will explore all of this as the palestinian prime minister mohammed talks to al-jazeera.