sponsored by distinctive instagram or there's that v.w. story good to talk to each week all mr graham. you're watching did have you news live from berlin no let up to the syrian government's brutal bombing campaign in eastern guta that the shelling intensifies in the rebel held on claims monitor say more than two hundred seventy people have been killed in the damascus suburbs since sunday. also coming up fighting for their lives students in the u.s. state of florida demand tougher gun control laws in the wake of last week's school

shooting but it is washington listening. also coming up promoting a movie at the berlin film festival means lots of early morning press calls but it looks like actor joaquin phoenix didn't get that memo he and director gus van sant fielded questions about their new film a contender for the festival's top prom will bring all the details. i'm sumi so misconduct good to have you with us we start with mounting international concern about the syrian government's ongoing bombardment of eastern ghouta new air strikes today have killed at least twenty four people and independent monitors say that more than two hundred seventy people have been killed in the rubble holed area since sunday now eastern ghouta is a group of suburbs just on the outskirts of the capital damascus a duma is the main town of this enclave and it is completely surrounded by pro

assad forces right now the siege has lasted more than four years it's thought to have trucked up to four hundred thousand residents. in the bomb does caucus of eastern gets these are the lucky ones terrified shaken but still walking . first responders usher them to safety as an air raid siren underlines the arjun singh as the escape for yet more of. the government's four year long aerial siege of the rebel held in place has intensified in recent days. with hundreds killed and injured and to national observers say it marks a new epoch of violence. we are witnessing some of the worst fighting of the entire conflict and the widespread

destruction of civilian infrastructure including medical facilities. double joy has received reports of attacks on five hospitals in eastern go into and is working to verify these reports of the casualties. syrian opposition leader begged for an international response saying the atrocities a moment into a war crime this the boy these children had been killed just for the game is doable but because of the bonbons of the sea their regime and the about the militias. their forces they are claiming that this artillery has the oh these are children and that it will five years. the bloodshed is so relentless here unicef issued a blank statement in response to the u.n. agency for children said words couldn't describe the suffering. which is left to numbers to tell the story of the state of

a station but even monitoring groups can barely keep up with the daily death toll here. more on the story now with martin milius from the aid organizations care in ahmad and it's working mark and thank you for joining us we saw such horrifying pictures there in that report we're hearing also reports that civilians are collapsing from hunger that the medical situation is extremely dire how much has the situation deteriorated in the last few days. we have to think in the period that besiegement in the last few months or. so basically this area as you mentioned in the report has already besieged since four years or ever since a number of months you know all the tunnels were closed all the checkpoints were closed so the situation before the military escalation in the last two days was already very dire we have seen the monitors generate storying we've seen shortage

of essential items drugs and medication and now we are witnessing in the last few days military of elation on thought on that enclave basically made many care and how they can seize to. suspend or asians just because of. this eurasian margin what are the most pressing needs on the ground right now. casualty rates unprecedented casualty rates in the area children in. civilians we see the civilian infrastructure targeted that is outrageous and that must stop immediately and we're also concerned that this is just a prelude for a ground offensive. and that would make matters much much worse more of course people on the ground they need they need safety but they also need for medication

to assist of the. danger to be both i mean lives it's just. life saving intervention that's required right now about first and foremost really a cease fire that's what we're hoping for. just briefly martin if you can you mentioned that organizations aid organizations like yours haven't been able to access this area in the past few days but in recent months how much access have you had. it has been very limited in the last few months and he stumbles i'm particularly you know it's it's a suburb of damascus i've been besieged since four years in the last year it has been extremely difficult for the last convoy that when the in was in the denver and had enough items for around thirty thousand people and there was around. four hundred thousand people that are locked into that area so access has been very much limit judge already for a number of months all right martin lilias from the aid organization care and aman

in jordan thank you so much for sharing your insights with us today. thank you for having. staying in syria turkey has vowed to press on with its offensive in a freeing despite a planned alliance between kurds in the region and pro-government syrian forces turkey's president claimed his country's forces were hindering the deployment of syrian forces in a free there are fears that a mosque in the region could further complicate syria's bitter civil war. to the u.s. for last week's mass shooting at a florida high school has ignited a new push to end gun violence seventeen people were killed in the massacre now the surviving students are leading the movement for change pressuring state lawmakers to pass tighter gun control laws but on tuesday they suffered a setback as politicians rejected a motion to consider a ban on sales of assault style rifles. students made the long journey to florida state capitol to pressure lawmakers to ban assault rifles they want this to

be the last school shooting. on that's why we're going to tell. you that they were that they were going to just. park in florida we have to go ahead we have to show them how. hard everyone was right. there calls fell on deaf ears students was shocked when the state house voted down the motion but there are signs that washington is listening although he campaigned on a pro-gun ticket president donald trump announced his support for tighter regulations on gun to accessorise. just a few moments ago i signed a memorandum directing the attorney general to propose regulations to ban all devices that turn illegal weapons into machine guns i expect that these critical regulations will be finalised. jeff very soon.

on wednesday the president is set to host a listening session at the white house with victims of mass shooting violence but many in florida are tired of talk they want action. the students have vowed to continue protesting for gun reform their next stop is in washington d.c. in march. so. the funeral service was held on tuesday for fifteen year old peter weighing he died while bringing others to safety during the shooting youth across the nation are not giving up in the fight for their lives. now to some other stories making news around the world at least five thousand people have been cut off by landslides and hundreds of tourists stranded after a powerful storm battered new zealand's south island the storm was the tail end of cycle in quito which tore through several pacific nations last week. in bahrain

a court has sentenced human rights activist now be over a job to another five years in jail for job and criticize the saudis involvement in the many civil war on twitter he's already serving a two year sentence for voicing criticism of the bahraini government on t.v. . the u.s. state department says north korea canceled a planned meeting with vice president mike pence apple last minute he was supposed to hold talks with government representatives during the olympic games in south korea pyongyang reportedly scrapped that idea after pens denounce the north's human rights abuses. time to check in with the berlin film festival now and yesterday saw a screening of gus van sant latest film don't worry he won't go far on foot it's based on the true story of a cartoonist battling disability and alcoholism it was a highly anticipated film at the berlin allah but the excitement wasn't universal. what came phoenix and press conference is apparently not a good mix his media performance wasn't quite up to his acting performance when it

came to promoting his new film. doesn't like press conferences at all but was a director like good will hunting is gus van sant he could be forgiven for thinking the film itself. it tells the story of controversial american cartoonist john callahan exploring his life as a quadriplegic and his long battle with alcoholism. john tells. a story. of a strong. film stars jack black adam dream aren't you will say see comedy actually join the hill as never before it's a hot willing picture of one man's struggle to reinvent himself off the tragedy. how did you have this role was it to get. old.

you know you just do like what you have to do just. try to learn as much about the character as you can remember. phoenix and co you must've done something right the film was critically acclaimed when it premiered at sundance last month now it's getting a warm reception here in berlin. when he would be of special significance to director gus van sant this film was it ricky the brainchild of his friends the comedic actor robin williams williams first approached months and years ago to dream the betraying the cartoonist but it's never live to see it happen now finally the film is hitting the big screen. the costing crew have until saturday to find out whether they'll be taking home a coveted golden also back. champions league football now environment have good chances to add. dance to the quarter finals after they took apart tosh at home on tuesday and early red card saw the visitors visa sent off the pitch and byron

capitalized thomas miller scoring true goals on the night his a first came before the break and it gave the hosts a needed edge that carried over into the second half when environs often cirrhotic robert of these forward to after the break and vajra take a huge lead into the second leg in turkey. now britain's queen elizabeth has always had a signature style but with a wedding to attend in the spring she might be looking for some inspiration the ninety one year old monarch has made a surprise debut appearance at london fashion week the queen had front row seats for her designer richard quinn's cow walk show sitting beside vogue editor in chief anna wintour she later presented queen with the inaugural queen elizabeth award for british design. a reminder now of the top of the besieged rebel held town claim to have claimed hundreds of lives since the week after and also in syria pro-government forces have entered the northern are free in the region to

help the kurds defend against a turkish often said turkey's president is warning them to stay away or pay to have the price. could russia of the meddling unlock the head of that country's elections ben fizzling will have more on the controversy surrounding the law in central bank that's coming up in about two minutes stay with us.

from. where i come from we have to fight for a free press and was born and raised in a military dictatorship with just one t.v. shadow and if you are his favorites when official information as a journalist i have worked all of the strains of many cantrips and they have problems are almost the same color to social inequality a lack of the freedom of the press and corruption who can afford to stay silent when it's come.