captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, september 8: cease-fire talks in tehran fail as air raids target syria's last rebel stronghold in lib. in our signature segment, swedes head to the polls as a disruptive far-right party gains traction. and taking aim at climate change, in the run up to the global climate action summit next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. sue d gar wachenheim iii. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelo tdahe j.p.b. foon.

. rosalind p. walt barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and grouretirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional suort has been ovided by: and by the corporation foad public basting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. russian and syrian government forc launched airstrikes today on the last rebel-held territory in syria-- the idlib province. more than three million people are in the region-- including fighters from groups opposed to the government. video from a pro-opposition news agency showed smoke from what it said were bombings in multiple villages the british-based syrian observatory for human rights reported more than 60 air raids in southern idlib.

and the first responder group known as the white lms reported four civilian deaths in the village of abdeen. yesterday the leaders of russia, syria and turkey failed to come up with a plan fito end the ting in idlib. joining us now via skype from beirut is asso correspondent sarah el deeb. sarah, for those people who might not have been paying attention over the past few days or weeks, who are fighting idlib, and what's at stake here? >> everyone is fighting over idlib, to put it simply. i mean, everyone that is involved in theyrian war finds themes on the center stage in the idlib battle. the government is eager to retake idlib. it was one of the last spots that is out of its control. turkey, that is on the border with iib, is worried over an offensive, and is keen on not seeing one happen. and it also supports some of the oprsposition fightn and around idlib. russia, which is a supporter of

the government, iran, wants to sort out idlib. >> sreenivasan: who is actually in there? you have people who are against the islamic state. you have people who are against the syria you have people who are are ing the-- people threaten turks. what's the population really being targeted here? >> there are over three million ipeople in ib, and i think the way you put it is a little bit-- in a bigger picture. but what's actually in idlib isi ma of people who are against the government of syria. they've been displaced, mostly from other parts of the country. they've moved from aleppo, from homs in the capitol. there are people who are some of the most radical featu rs. they aated to al qaeda. they have taken over the province-- or large parts of the province over last couple of years. and so you have an estimate of

,000-plus of hard-core radical islamist fighters who are, don'tally, are actually anti-islamic state. >> sreenivasan: what is stalling theiplomatic approach to this? why isn't this being solved at a table at othe u. in geneva? >> i mean, if-- if you-- if you-- if you remember the description i just ge, it's a very complex area. and i think part problem is it's also the last holding ground for the opposition in syria. this is the last chapter, if you may, of syria. d i think with it comes all the complications, why the otconflict is resolved in the last eight years. so you have turkey that wants to fnsure that the situation there doesn't get out hand. there is no one on its border from the three million people

who willte pially be displaced by the fighting. there is iran and russia who want to ensure there is some kind of agreement in turkey's i presenc syria, because turkey already has some troops in syria. and u have the u.s., which also has some presence in eastern syria, on the other side of the countrywh. was elusive the last eight years is now on the table in idlib, but with a possible humanitarian tragedy also coming with it. i think we heard the u.s. officials yesterday describing it as 10-- 11 times bigger than aleppo. so i think there's also that consideration. >> sreenivasan: fie lly, does ited states have any leverage left here, besides our military presence? what sort of message, whether nikki haley sends it or not, what sort of message actually carries weight when it comes to alfeof the dnt parties that you just described are involved in this? >> that's interesting, because i think the eyes are on what washington will decide in syria.

i think what people have seen is that it has changed its mind, it has waivered, it has been hesitant on its policy in syri for all those years. i think in idlib, precisely, the no influence. it has very little players. it doesn't support any gs anymore, and it doesn't have any influence over what direction the politics of it will go. it also has no military presence or even near close military presence. despite all e defenses in thi agreement with turkey that the u.s. had over the past month, there is one thing that they have in common now in idlib is they both want to see bloodshed there. so i thk that maye one thing that the u.s. has there is that it ha difficult and easy ally. >> sreenivasan: associated press correspondent sarah el deeb joining us via skype from beirut. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: in iraq protesters in the city of baz bas r >> sreenivasan: in iraq, protesters in the southern city of basra set fire to government

buildings including t iranian consulate last night. the proteers stormed the consulate, burned iranian flags and shouted anti-iranian slo interfering in iraq and contributing to political corruption. demonstrators in basra are demanding the government fix crumbling infrastructure, including water supplies, and are frustrated by high unemployment rates. at least 15 protesters have died in clashes with police this week, according to officials. today, iraq's parliament held an emergency ses security forces were deployed on basra's streets. ratcheting up the trade war wit, chresident trump says he's prepared to tax virtually all chinese goods importedo th united states. at an off-camera seerion with repoyesterday on air force one, trump threatened a third round of tariffssn chinese go. the first round went into effect fully last monndthaxes on another $200-billion dollars of chinese goods are being finalized now.

>> sreenivasan: despite the tariffs, newinigures show s trade surplus with the u.s. hit a record high last month. rising fro$28-billion in july to $31-billion dollars in august, which was also the first full month the first tariffs were in effect. search and rescue operations ntinue in japan where a 6.2-magnitude quake caused d damage to roads and buildings. flights resumed at the airport where's hundreds of tourists were stranded. for more on today's global climate marches, read our coverage online at pbsou.org/new >> sreenivasan: sweden is a day away from one of the more disruptive elections in recent european history. analysts are predicting a shift to the right, away from the center-left politics that have dominated swedish thinking- and swedish government-- for more than half a century. alon with healthcare and education, one of the main

issues on hand has also been roiling the rest of the european continent: immigration. newshour weekend special correspondent malcolm brabant reports from the southern swedish city of malmo. >> brabantre: han any other election in recent history, this is a battleor sweden's soul. often ealized as a model society, nosweden is divided between those who want it to remain generous, egalitarian and open to foreigners and others who vigorously oppose immigration and multiculturalism. stav kasselstrand heads one of the most extreme right wing parties that advocates mass deportations >> ( translated ): we have the swedes on our side. our healthy political ideas, we are starting a new phase, a renaissance in sweden. >> brabant: for one f te in the crows election has become personal. he's a 23 year old refugee from thsyrian city of homs. abed allmugharbel left syria when he was 17, before he could

finish his high school education. in september 2015, we met abed at this mosque in izmir on the turkish coast, where hundreds gathered before taking rubber dinghies to the greek islands en route to norern europe. since tlmhen he hasost finished his high school education-- and did so in swedish. he has two jobs to pay for his tuition fees. he doenoreceive welfare benefits. he hopes to study psychology at university, but fears the rise of the right will thwart his ambitions.

>> brabant: the party abed was protest on the fringes of the campaign, but what's significant is that until recently supporters of the ab called alt-right, like lotten peterson, were sht airing their opinions. now, being anti-immigration is no longer taboo. >> oh, it costs a lot because they don't w i mean they have a very low percentage in work if you compare itswo swedes. thes pay the taxes. and welfaevre is free for ybody and the left who have been screaming here say that no people is illegal. i mean, what kind of languagis that? >> brabant: at the peak of the european crisis,re 200,000 gees and migrants made it to sweden, encouraged by the f sanctuarys offer o for syrians.

>> 398,399, very big family. >> brabant: it wasn't just syrian there were asylum seekers from across the developing world, lured by troheect of subsidized housing and generous welfare benefits. malmo in the south was a particularagnet. sweden hoped other european follow it woul example. the then-migration ministso morgan johawas frustrated that many e.u. partners closed their borders instead. opat do you say to those who think your immigration policy, your open door policy is naive? >> juonst turn your television set and see for yourself what these people are fleeing from. >> brabant: as sweden found itself overwhelmed by the influx, it sealed its formerly open border with denmark to the south, to tre y to stem thow. it was like closing the stable door after the horse had bolted, say those on the right, like the alternative for sweden's gustav

kasselstrand. >> the politians have forced policy upon us, with mass immigration that we have never ever voted for, never ever supported. >> braba: prime minister stefan loven presided over thewh influx, ich has strained the hallowed welfare system and changesweden to the point where one in four of the population now comes from a foreign background. his center left social democrat party advocates high taxation to pay for the cradle to grave safety net. >> if we can continue four more years, at least four more years, we we l continu invest in the swedish welfare system and that is what people need now. we need to build sity and trust between the citizens of sweden and wthat's what t to do. >> brabant: this is a social democrat campaign video. >> ( translated ): what would i like? i'd like a society where security ces before tax cuts; and we can hire more people in the medical sector so everybody

>> this is a referendum on the swedish welfare system. >> brabant: isn't it referendum on immigration? >> no, it's not about >> brabant: it is perhaps telling that the prime minister responds to a question aboutwi immigratio an answer about crime. on the day he was in malmo, violence raised its ugly head. superintendent glen sjogren is sed in rosengard malmo's biggest ghetto. we're on our way to a murder scene in neighboring ghetto. hundreds of gang members are fighting for control of tcrhe ive cannabis and cocaine trade. according to the police, almost all of those involved have immigrant backgrous. >> this year, so far, 11 homicides and shootings involved. >> brabant: and who are the >> brabant: for many swedes, the gang war symbolizes a failure of integration. it fuels resentment against immigrants. the latest victim was 20 years old. he was killed next to a local mosque. the fthac rivals are killing each other is of little

comfort, because the number of shootings is oe n se, and often there's. crossfi >> my name is jimmie akkesson and i will do everything in my power to sol this chaoshat you social democrats and you liberals have created. >> brabant: jimmie akkesso ms is benefitit from sweden's growing sense of insecurity. mi leads yet another far right party, the anti-ant sweden democrats. the party has neo nazi origins, but it has jettisoned its more extreme policies and members who espoe openly racist views. despite becoming more mainstream, the sweden democts are widely regarded as pariahs. in one election video, akkesson paintfs an apocalyptic image o sweden that critics say whips up e climate of fear. >> mass immigration hasn't paid off. we know that today. and we know that in reality it inflicts enormous costs and a huge burden on our society. you have creat a sweden where families are forced to move because they no longer feel safe in their own homes.

>> brabant: one reason why th right is gaining ground is that ny working and middle class voters have abandoned the center left social democrats, because they believe the party ignored their concerns over immigrationc rding to the latest opinion polls prime minister loeven's center left social democrats will get the most votes. but they won't get a majority, which means that in order to and even though the far right sweden democrats are on course to become the sey,nd biggest pahe prime minister intends to prevent them from exerting influenc >> for me one thing is very clear. no coope the sweden democrats. >> brabant: but that's ignoring a large percentage of the swedish people who perhaps have those views isn't it? >> this is a party with values so far from mine. they do not protect, that each individual has the same human value, they speak bad about

minoritiey s, treaten media, this is not just another party, this is an extreme party. >> brabant: a party with some unexpected support. nima gholam ali pour is a rare creature. he's both a refugee and candidate for the sweden democrats. his parents fled from iran 30 years ago toave his brother from being conscripted as a child soldier. despite the prime minister's stance, ali pour is convinced the voice ofis party's supporters will be heard. >> a lot of political parties said they would not grange on the ion issue. and they change overnight. so, we will see after the election. they need a government that functions. and if we get a lot of support, you know they need support in parlment, so they have to seek our support somehow. >> brabt:f the right wing does as well as expected this will herald a substantial ndift in the fations of a traditionally social democratic society . it will provide a warning to the

rest of europe's liberal elite. if it can happen in cozy little sweden, it can happen to you. ignore the working class at your peril. >> sreenivasan: there were hundreds of coordinated marches and events today in more than 90 countriesde tnd action on the issue of climate change. tens of thousands of people took part in the events, timed to call attention to both anin rnational global climate action summit taking place next week in california and to the mid-term elections in november. in the united states there weren more than 250 planned. one of the largest was in san francisco, wre organizers focused on what they see as a lack of progress on climate issues at the federal level and called for more tion at the state and local levels. joining us now from san francisco via skype is may boeve, executive director of 350.org, the lead organization for today's events.

what's the message thaoyou're tryingget out there today? elected officials to do more about climate change chng. this march is called "rise for cldate, jobs and justice," there's a reason for that. there are 300 organizations who are putting this together-- local community groups, labor , environmental organizations. and we've seen dramatic impacts of climate change all year, but we're not seeing dramatic leadership from odr electe officials. this is one march of 800 taking place worldwide today. e ere have been tens of thousands of peo many cities around the world in more it's a global uprising to demonstrate that we really have the backing of a movement for the leadership that we need. >> sreenivasan: and you're also not just talking about, say, sea-level rise or the effect on polar bears. you're talking about lots of ripple effects that climchate

ge is having on these different communities. >> absolutely. for a long time, people understood climate change is a faraway problem affecting mostly wildlife. i think the movement has really shifted to represent that this is a movement fundamentally aut people. is is a movement about building political power. we're talking about a transition of our entire economy off of fossil fuels and to 100% renewable energy. this is going to take all of us, and it's going to take a movement.e and movements de of people. so that is how this has shifted, and that's why you see the diversity. that's why you see the front-line communities who are most impacted leading a march toda: >> sreenivasw does that transition happen when it seems that leadership, at least on the government level, on the federal level, is poited in the opposite direction nsome cases denying that climate change is happeng or at least the st that we need to do to mitigate it? >> we believe that changes by events like today's. over history, we've seen how social movements make something that seems politically impossibleto become politically inevitable. and so that's why we continue to mobilize.

that's why so many people will take a day like today with their families and come and participate because we need people to understand that these are political decisions, and we are building more pressure. in four days, leaders from a around the wor going to be gathering here in san francisco for the global climate action summit. we've seen a lot of summits with a lot of rhetoric, and we are not seeing commensurate action. and particularly here in california, we celebrate our state for alt l that is done. i'm a very proud californian, but we are still a major producer of oil in this state. so everydy, even our leaders, can do a lot more than they're doing. >> sreenivasan: so what do yo do to pressure california, say, for example, to try to get off the fossil fuels andurry this transition along? >> well, for today, we demonstrate that a lot of people are concerned about this from a lot of sectors of society. and on other days, we call our legislators. g days, we have coalition meetings, and we bring more people into the movement.

we protest. we do civil disobedience. we do giant artistic and creative actions that further help build the pressure. so it's a broad array of different things that are atte pted. today isticular kind of day when we actually take to the streets and show a unified message. so that's why our demands are sharp and clea and marches like this help us put them forward very clearly. >> sreenivasan: even if the federal government doesn't take the leadership roleat are the opportunities for local governments, or at least on a state or city level, cha is it actually accomplishable? >> i'm very glad you asked. w recently in california, sb-100 was passech commits california to 100% renewable energy by 2045. this ia fantastic example. there is a lot that can be done in the transthe sector, in the agriculture sector. >> sreenivasan: all right, may boeve, executive director 0.of

g joining us from the streets of san francisco. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> this is "pbs newshour weekend," saturday. >> sreenivasan: off the coast of northern israel, archaeologists have found ancient relics in the seabed where a gas pipeline is being built. but tapping into the undersea natural gas field known as "leviathan" is not without controversy. environmentalists and local residents worry thousands of years of treasures may be lost during the undersea construction project. newshour weekend correspondent megan thompson has the story. >> thompson: in the waters off the coast of northern israel oar the ancient port city dor, a team of divers has discovered earthenware jugs, anchors and the remains of wrecked ships; some dating to the time of phoenician and roman sea trade. the marine archaeogy unit of the isrl antiquities authority is working with the pipeline's developer which financed most of the research and recovery. >> we work very closely withhe antiquities authority here in

israel to make sure that should we discover such finds we rst of all avoid causing harm to those areas and secondly to make >> thompson: noble energy says its project will not harm the environment. but some local environmentalists and residents oppose the plannes re platform and pipeline and worry about what other treasures may e lost. >> there is no way that you can check all the hundreds of kilometers of pipeline. we know only that for 1,000 years, 5,000 years, shipwrecks are laying out here. if one sunk every year, there eare in the site of a football field we found ady 28, so who knows how many more under this region? >> thompson: protesters near the popular coastal area continue to object to the gas pipeline which is israel's largest energy project. >> it's crazy that with the wind ing this direction and the current going this direction that you put the petro-chemical indtry 400 meters from hotel region, resort area, from the most beaupreserved beach that you have in the country.

>> sreenivasan: finally tonight, the national hurricane center says it expects tropical storm florence to be a major hurrick.e by next w the storm is strengthening and speeding up as it heads towards the soheast coast. both north and south carolina have already declared states of emergency. and this afternoon, forecasters also said two more storms forming behind florence are intensifying. that's all for this edition of" pbs newshourm eekend." ri sreenivasan. thanks for watching. have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by ro media access at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by:rn

d and irene schwartz. the cheryl and philip manstein suedgar wachenheim iii. the cheryl and philip milstein family. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. walter.nd p. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america--st designing mized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. be more. pbs.

(upbeat music) (speaking in foreign language) (horseshoes tapping street) - [eugene] i never thought that we'd be coming to cuba. there's a lot of transformation happening. the island is opening up. this is kind of an amazing time to be heading there. in ng in foreign language) music gives you the opportunity to connect. there are limits to how far we can go in our counications. ow you knhow far we can express affection or anger, whatever, but music you can do everything. and you just put it all in there and it's safe. music connects.