made by cuba this time on al jazeera. the. the end. the top diplomat dashes to turkey to deal with the crisis triggered by on could his decision to release syrian migrants to its territories. i'm convinced this is all just there a lie from doha also coming up believe their media mogul mike bloomberg drops out of the democrats' race for the white house and the door says joe biden. drastic steps for difficult times in italy the government's planning to close all schools and universities as the corona virus spreads. and the discovery of oil in congo has a fire mentalists concerned about want drilling will due to the rain forest.

we begin with the latest on the diplomatic tensions due to turkey's intervention in the syrian conflict the european union foreign policy chief joseph brawl is an honor to meet with the turkey's foreign minister have a shoulder that they are and he'll also meet with president trichet top barrel says he told turkish officials the situation at the border with greece was unacceptable turkey and greece are trading accusations about the growing crisis there thousands of refugees and migrants are trying to cross into greece athens has dismissed reports its border security is shot dead a migrant on the battlefront turkey's defense ministry has confirmed 2 of its soldiers were killed and serious in the province turkish forces retaliated by striking syrian regime military targets the ongoing violence is also causing tension. between russia and turkey russian president vladimir putin will host his

turkish counterpart in moscow on thursday to discuss the developments in syria let's bring in hashem alba who joins us live from hard time near the turkey syria border hashem just 1st off bring us up to speed with what's happening on the ground there what are the on the ground kim the situation that remains quite tense with escalation in different areas there's been ongoing fighting around. the strategic city which is now partially under the control of the syrian government by the rebels that's why tokio are launching a counter offensive and they say that they are determined to take it back because the city is located on the strategic 5 an m 4 highways that links the capital damascus to aleppo and north eastern. syria and this is crucial for both parties the syrian government would like to take control of it but the rebels say it's

crucial for them because if they lose it that could just make it easier for the government to move forward to was the city of live south of the province of it live you have in terms fighting underway with the government trying to reclaim some government some rebel stronghold particularly. as we have as this continues and so does also the operation spring shilled the turkish military campaign in syria the government here says that it will continue its fight describing it as legitimate and in self-defense and it won't stop until the syrian army pulls back from the demilitarized zone hashim turkey has said time and time again it needs help it needs help from the e.u. and its other allies would want happening on its border with syria and also for its military operations do we know what came out of this meeting between have a show low and go on an on camera.

well officials here say that they the spoke to the to the e.u. delegation to joseph about the situation on the border with greece but they remain very critical of the to the point where they've been saying over the past few days that the this situation if it continues it would g.o.p. dies the 2016 agreement between the e.u. and turkey over refugees now from a turkish perspective they blame the a you for not coming forward and sharing some of the burden particular when it comes to the refugee crisis in syria turkey says that it has 4000000 almost 4000000 refugees who live in refugee camps on the border with or with syria by the same time they say they're very much concerned that if the offensive by the syrian army continues them that might drive for 4000000 syrians to cross

into turkey and they say that's why they have been engaged in the fighting while the they have been trying to push syrian government away from those areas that haven't seen any sort of assistance from the e.u. to the point where they said that we're turning their their blind eye into the refugees trying to cross to europe a less the europeans provide us with significant assistance and by that they need by the way military assistance we have come to the uk when it comes to the operation in that they're the same time financial incentives that were 1st brought about in 2016 and turkey says that if the e.u. has not delivered all the promises they made in the past has a habit of their life from hard time on the turkey syria border thank you one task a name is that turkey's northern border with greece and says the exchange of accusations between the neighboring countries is getting ugly. the world words we

have going on between turkey and greece turkey is saying that today the greek police shot and killed one man and injured 6 others turkey says that members of the parliament's human rights commission witnessed these events the greek government is flatly denying that anyone was killed at the border it is saying that turkey is disseminating fake news it's saying that migrants are throwing turkish military grade tear gas at greek police i can tell you what we've seen here at the border throughout the day we heard what sounds like sound bombs we saw a black smoke fire we spoke to farmers in the area who say they heard gunshots i can tell you we saw multiple in ambulances leaving the scene and then this news emerged that there had been a possible casualty and injuries according to the greek government there are about 12500 migrants amassed at their north eastern border with turkey but here at the

checkpoint in journey there are several 100 and there have been reports for the last several days of a lot of tension and frustration as hundreds of migrants push to try to make their way into greece greece of course has stepped up its deterrence it has massive amounts of personnel which we've seen even here. billionaire media mogul mike bloomberg has dropped out of the race to become the democratic challenger to donald trump in november it follows a disappointing result on super tuesday the most important event yet for democrats kristen salumi joins us from fort lauderdale and florida so kristen bloomberg is out and he's backing biden. absolutely the super tuesday results made it clear that moderate voters the ones

that mike bloomberg was counting on were coalescing behind former vice president joe biden mike bloomberg someone who is known for collecting lots of data lots of polls lots of information he said in the statement just a short time ago that he believes in using that data to inform his decisions and after studying it he just does not see a viable path for him to the nomination he spent a lot of money as you said 560000000000 dollars 1000000 dollars i have $1000000000.00 just on advertising alone initially when joe biden was faltering after the 1st few contests mike bloomberg seemed like he might have a shot at this but then he had this lackluster debate performance he never got the african-american vote to coalesce behind him we saw them instead coming out and strongly supporting former vice president joe biden so mike bloomberg saying that

he's getting out of the race for the same reasons that he got in the race to defeat donald trump he wants to throw his support behind biden and not take votes away from joe biden who is now running neck and neck with bernie sanders chris ok you to stay there for a moment let's take a minute now to recap the super tuesday results now for the other democratic presidential nominees who are still in the race for us vice president joe biden has made a major comeback to win at least 9 of the 14 states that voted on super tuesday including the 2nd biggest texas performed poorly in the 1st 3 contests but has since seen a surge of support. among army. john

already got me over what maybe i am never right. 30 cent is went into the night as the frontrunner and he won the biggest prize the state of california he also won in his home state of vermont and 3 of his essential ones what he calls the same old politics won't be trump what we need is a new politics that brings working class people in our political move good. work springs young people into our political goal for the of the and which in the example will create the highest voter turnout in american political history. but for the other hopeful from the progressive wing of the posse the night was more disappointing elizabeth warren came 3rd in the state she represents in the senate especially true sits and failed to win any others. so question what does all of this mean going for.

well mike bloomberg has vast wealth and infrastructure that he built up in just 3 months is now going to be solidly behind joe biden that's a really important step for joe biden who compared to mike bloomberg 500 $60000000.00 in advertising has only spent about $16000000.00 he should now as the clear moderate in the race and the only moderate in the race be able to raise more money and also borrow some of that infrastructure from mike bloomberg bloomberg said initially that he would be working for the democratic nominee whoever that may be he has campaign staff all across the country exactly what the arrangement will be and that exactly how much support he'll give to joe biden we don't know at this time but he has promised to support the eventually nominee and he is in georgia

saying joe biden so we're now getting down to a sensually a 2 person race of course elizabeth warren is still in the fight she could be taking votes away from bernie sanders that's been the argument of some on the far left that it's time for her to get out but she's so shown no signs of doing that yet but there's a lot of pressure on her to step aside as well so that's where things are looks right now like a race between bernie sanders and former vice president joe biden thanks so much for that kristen salumi bringing us up to speed from fully loaded down thank you. still ahead on al-jazeera a new battle over abortion rights in the united states the new faces in the supreme court could sway the long. i'm florence story in rakhine state reanalyze new restaurants around with civilians are increasingly being caught in the middle of the fighting between the myanmar military and we are a cry on and make. hello

we've got quite a weather pushing into japan now we do still have some wet weather some wind she weather some disturbed weather there across northern parts of the kountry in chicago some snow there maybe but some pieces of sleet and snow into northern areas of honshu but for much of the country it is now largely dry that wetter weather now pulling out into the open waters dry skies to prosecute parts all of northern china central areas still see a splash of showers as we go on through thursday and on into friday perhaps a little wetter as we go on towards the weekend here but you can see dry skies there course a good part of japan at that stage is sunshine the shows meanwhile across southeast asia show starting tonight a little further north woods even the southern parts of the philippines we'll see some heavy spells of rain from time to time and that rain becoming more expansive

into those central areas for friday but the wettest weather will be a little of the south we want to see showers into thailand not too much to speak of want to see showers to the southern parts of india again not too much to speak of the wettest weather we have a westerly disturbance making its way out of afghanistan northern parts of pakistan northern areas of india quite a bit of rain coming in unless there is the possibility of some flooding as we go on towards the next couple of days. perception is validation we believe want to be seen but in one lifetime we cannot see everything that we will live and experiences of others and the legacies of previous generations. of that testimony we let you know very little.

witness documentaries that open your eyes on al-jazeera. you're watching al-jazeera a reminder of our top stories this hour turkey's defense ministry says 2 turkish soldiers have been killed in serious problems during an attack by government forces a total of $59.00 turkish soldiers have died in the past month. turkey and greece a trading accusations about the growing crisis for thousands of refugees and migrants trying to get into the european union greece accuses some migrants of using military grade tear gas and denies turkish allegations of causing injuries by stopping them from crossing the border. billionaire mike bloomberg has dropped out

of the u.s. democratic primary race and endorsed a former vice president joe biden had a poor performance on super tuesday he secured just a dozen and. it's league is preparing to close all schools and universities after a large spike in the number of coronavirus coronavirus cases thousands of people have been infected and at least 79 people have died several towns in the north are on lockdown john hall says the italian government has been taking serious measures to counter the outbreak. there's no doubt that italy's dealing with a very severe medical emergency in terms of this outbreak that makes makes it the epicenter of the spread of coverage 19 in europe and it's apparently getting worse with big jumps in the number of fatalities from sunday into monday monday into tuesday we haven't heard updated numbers for wednesday but that appears to be the direction of travel and efforts up to now don't seem to have been successful in

containing the virus in its northern hotspots in italy they've been sending the italian government reinforcements of medical supplies and personnel to affected towns there are already fairly restrictive measures in place there's talk of widening all deepening so-called quarantine red zones in those areas and there's a call out to the european union to allow italy to exceed its budget ceiling and effectively be able to throw more money at the problem but as i say the virus spreading elsewhere in the country all but one of its other regions have reported infections in italy therefore taking a much broader approach and indeed a more dramatic approach with measures thought to have been approved by a government cabinet meeting headed by the promise to conti we haven't had an official announcement yet but thought to have been agreed to include the closure of all schools and universities country wide from thursday until the middle of march at least that will have an enormous impact we've seen similar measures in japan

empty classrooms their parents having to take time off work interruptions to the education curriculum and so on meanwhile iran has announced another 15 deaths that brings the total fatalities there to 92 the most outside of china the country's health ministry has confirmed more than 2900 cases since the outbreak began there described as in toronto he explains how iran has stepped up its efforts to tackle the virus. present hasan rouhani during his cabinet mean to meeting earlier today struck a very different tone from last week when he said that things would begin to normalize in a few days now he was taking it more seriously trying to calm the public and trying to show that the government is taking this very seriously he warned people against hoarding medical supplies like masks and gloves and we've heard that later this week the courts will hear the 1st 10 cases of people arrested for public order earlier this week the government announced a prison sentence of 5 to 20 years even the death penalty if you are found guilty

of hoarding supplies that would help medical facilities to cope with this virus the president also said that they were working with neighbors to try to keep commercial avenues riddle's and transport networks for business open so as to make sure that people don't suffer more economically than they need to but of course small and medium businesses are suffering the most they make approximately 40 percent of the country's g.d.p. but unfortunately we heard earlier today that because exxon had just closed its ports on the caspian sea to any vessels and passengers coming from iran the r.g.c. is trying to do what it can the revolutionary guard it has set up field hospitals and clinics and it's also set up a hotline that people can call explain their symptoms discuss ways to prevent the disease to try and keep the hospitals and clinics around the country that are at capacity from being overcrowded overburdened unnecessarily with patients trying to seek treatment while the international monetary fund is warning that the coronavirus poses

a serious threat to the wild economy jam an airline left on the ground in $150.00 aircraft europe's largest airline group claims what it calls extraordinary circumstances other airlines are also grounding planes sending cabin crew and canceling flights european airline executives have warned the west is yet to come to the industry. saudi arabia is extending its ban for pogroms visiting mecca to perform rituals the kingdom say the temporary ban now applies to everyone after foreign visitors were barred last week. fighting in northern me and is raising concerns of a new humanitarian crisis that the army is at war in rakhine state with the our economy it's fighting for an independent state for the majority rakhine people mainly bogost ethnic group rakhine state is where there's been years of intercommunal conflicts between ethnic rakhine buddhists and ethnic muslims foreign soil reports now from

a township in the northern part of rakhine state. for these students school is now in a monastery and home is a temporary shelter in a camp for the internally displaced they had to leave their village when fighting between the myanmar military and the arc on army and ethnic group that erupted in january last year got too close to an eternity there was an airstrike they fired on to our village our homes were burnt artillery shells hit our houses many have been here for at least 7 months and escaped with little more than the clothes on their backs. soldiers and village and we didn't want to run into them so we ran away we were scared. they haven't been able to return to their farms the shops dependent on the un says that near daily reports of civilians being killed or injured and child casualties on the rise last month more than

a dozen students were injured when an artillery shell hit that school landmines also pose a threat according to a recent landmine monitor report by the international campaign to ban land mines the government says it's doing all it can to protect civilians. we don't know where the fighting is going to happen we want know ahead of the fighting we're trying to do as much as we can we give support to the people they get compensation from the federal government and the injured are treated for free at our hospitals he says it's fighting for greater autonomy on behalf of the time and mainly buddhist ethnic group who make up the majority here the state is one of the poorest in myanmar and there is growing resentment towards the government we were in last lights area but we cannot and all are sharing. not satisfied with this condition

but for the. the conflict has disrupted services the un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs says transportation routes used to distribute food have been affected and many aid organizations have reported greater difficulties in reaching areas and internet shutdown has made it more difficult to get information on civilian casualties and living conditions in the camps rakhine state is also where the myanmar military launched a violent crackdown against the mainly muslim minority more than 2 years ago. which denies committing genocide has been ordered by the international court of justice to prevent further killings of the road. but as the conflict continues civilians whether rakhine. are being caught in the middle florence al-jazeera township rakhine state. landslides and flooding in brazil have killed at least 12 people and

forced thousands from their homes dozens remain unaccounted for in the states of rio de janeiro and sao paulo the governor this is the equivalent of a month's rain fell in just 12 hours. u.s. supreme court judges a hearing a major case that could make the law on abortion meaningless herring and the way zana is the 1st since president donald trump appointed to conservative judges and he gallacher reports from new orleans down by the law i up course in does not sound problems outside one of louisiana's few remaining abortion clinics a protester urges women to make a different choice the state's laws are among the most restrictive public fundings only available in cases of rape or incest women must receive counseling discouraging them from the procedure and mine is need parental consent the case now before the supremes court could make abortions in louisiana harder forcing clinics

to get admitting privileges to a hospital within 50 kilometers of their practice a move critics say would force most to close it's very concerning in that that the supreme court took this case up at all caruso her studies women's health and says louisiana was trying to undermine a ruling known as roe v wade that made abortion legal in 1973 brother than overturn roe v wade which at one time seemed so insurmountable kill it by death through a 1000 cuts and so these are medically unnecessary regulations that have the effect of closing abortion clinics other states are in acting similar so-called heartbeat laws and bold and by the appointments of 2 conservative judges to the supreme court and to abortion rights groups are hopeful the tide is turning in their direction toward to be competent sometimes when we see the toll that abortion is having on our nation but we believe that our country is going to write its wrongs as it's

done in the past and give rights to the weakest and the least among us with the unborn child or working on criminal justice or whether it's reproductive rights organizations like the american civil liberties union say legal abortion is now hanging by a thread minister. vantage that may suffer it is young people poor people immigrant people people who are in this country lawfully but just don't have means that are going to be limited in their opportunity to exercise their constitutional rights many of the current laws are aimed at protecting the health and safety of women with a conservative majority in the supremes court a decision in the state's favor will have far reaching consequences if the supremes brock's louisiana's even more restrictive abortion laws this is likely to become the 7th state with just one clinic pro-abortion rights groups fear it may even lead to a direct challenge of roe v wade onto your abortion rights activists are more hopeful than ever but abortion may not be brand across the entire country the stakes that

couldn't be higher on a guy like are all the 0 new orleans louisiana. the last patient being treated for a boulder in the democratic republic of congo has been discharged. was led out of the clinic as staff sang and danced around her more than 2000 people died during the 19 month i'll break it's the 2nd worst in history after the west africa epidemic that ended 4 years ago it will be 28 days before the outbreak can be officially declared of. next door in the neighboring republic of congo vast oil reserves have been discovered but there underneath the 10000 year old pete lands discovered near the congo rain forest as malcolm webb reports from the capital brazzaville by mentalists a drilling for oil will release billions of tons of carbon. over. the swampy forest carbon equivalent to about 20 years of emissions from fossil fuels in the u.s.

. it's stored in peat lands the scientists discovered here in the republic of congo 3 years ago the government didn't allow us to go there and film this is the government's video but it did allow oil companies to drill there last year. it's licensed oil exploration in blocks of land across more than half of the peak lands and environmentalist say if wells extracted it risks releasing 30000000000 tons of carbon stored in the peat. it would be catastrophic even if we tried to exploit the oil in an eco friendly we we still have to destroy the ecosystem. or it will make the area i want to see before the exploitation of other resources and also indeed. so what. the river congo is the world's 2nd largest river by volume and the rain forest that sits in its basin is the world's 2nd largest after the amazon and its leaves and branches falling from the trees partially decomposing in the ground to

form the peak lands over about 10000 years have been discovered on both sides of the river in swampy areas and the carbon stored in them beneath the ground is as much as is stored above the ground in the entire forest. the congolese government signed an agreement to receive $65000000.00 of funding from european governments to preserve the pete lands and the forests to perve them but activists say the agreement doesn't rule out oil extraction the country's africa's 3rd largest oil producer 2 oil companies announced major on shore oil discoveries near the peat lands last year. but the environment minister told us the people on the safe. what we are saying to the international community is that the government will not touch that if we have a friend even if we have to do it if we friend. areas we will do our best to

do a good job the peat lands are also home to millions of people the government says oil revenues help communities environmental activists say they don't and that if oil extraction goes ahead here the world's largest tropical land and its vast carbon reservoir will be gone forever malcolm webb al-jazeera republic of congo. this is just there and these are the top stories turkey's defense ministry says 2 turkish soldiers have been killed in syria's province during an attack by government forces a total of 15 on turkish soldiers have died in the past month turkey and greece a trading accusations about the growing crisis for thousands of refugees and migrants trying to get into the european union greece accuses someone of using military grade tegan and denies turkish allegations of causing injuries by stopping

them from crossing the border. billionaire mike bloomberg has dropped out of the us democratic primary race and doorstep former vice president joe biden had a poor performance on super tuesday he secured just a dozen delegates kristen salumi isn't fort lauderdale and florida she explains what brand went wrong for the former new york mayor initially when joe biden was faltering after the 1st few contests mike bloomberg seemed like he might have a shot at this but then he had this lackluster debate performance he never got the african-american vote to coalesce behind him we saw them and said coming out and strongly supporting former vice president joe biden so mike bloomberg saying that he's getting out of the race for the same reasons that he got in the race to defeat donald trump the biggest winner of the night was former u.s. vice president joe biden he said to win at least 9 of the 14 states that voted on

super tuesday including the 2nd biggest texas. the attorney government is preparing dramatic measures to fight the coronavirus including closing all schools universities and cinemas and playing major football matches behind closed doors the virus has killed 79 people and infected 2 and a half 1000. iran has announced another 15 deaths raising the total to $92.00 the most outside of china are on south ministry has confirmed more than $2900.00 cases since the outbreak began well those are the headlines to stay with us here on al-jazeera the news continues to witness.

if. you see him.