the letter from. the northern syrian city of afrin is bombarded by the turkish military as i encourage intensifies its operation against the kurdish fighters in the region. of schools for the palestinian leader at the un security council as he calls for the united states to show commitment to israel palestine peace process before walking out of the room leaving washington void addressing an empty chair. figure skaters excel at the winter olympics in south korea breaking two world records in just fifteen minutes.

international in moscow with me calling bright first off we're in syria where the northern city of afrin has come under heavy shelling from the turkish army as ankara ramps up its operation to dislodge the kurdish fighters who it sees as terrorists from the region. the last. letter but. the bombardment came after approach syrian government militia arrived in our friend to join the fight against the turkish military is president there one says that the shelling forced a group of fighters to retreat ten kilometers but other reports suggest the pro syrian government forces taking up positions within afrin. this is video of their arrival in the area on tuesday night r.t. senior correspondent mike gusty it takes a closer look at the situation. this was

a demonstration hundreds of pro assad militia fighters with tanks brazenly riding into africa with smiles cheers and cameras. the turks well see for yourself and korea's response was explosive loaded and delivered in artillery shells. today towards evening he was determined by the hasty s. militia that about ten pickup trucks were coming towards africa they were then forced to turn back following the shelling these cases being closed for now everyone warned that this would happen no one may help the y.p. g. said it's for the kurds themselves he's promised to put them in a choke hold in days i need the preparation on the ground takes time in the coming

days we were laid siege to the city of afrin here you have two major anti isis coalition partners terrorist and aggressor as they call each other turkey. why p. g. partner in all but name duking it out beating each other to bloody pulp one might ask where is america the head of the us led anti isis coalition. why are you still here why are these weapons still arriving america is in the process of creating a terrorist army on our border do not encroach on our borders do not provoke us we will run out of patience let's not forget how it all began with this statement a us declaration that it would build an army of kurds to patrol the turkish border that sent into a fit of rage and it was that statement that was used to justify this new

war washington backtracked it's now laying low but the damage was done the coalition imploded and it's up to others to stop this. we do not believe that the us will. a year strategy depends on creating new chaos in the middle east to pursue its interests in this region it is sad washington set the fire that is now consuming its own anti isis coalition and burning africa into the ground the us rule has been reduced to diligently expressing its concern worry but not regret middle east analyst joshua landis told us he thinks the kurds are falling victim to america's power play in the region. the u.s. has been supplying a lot of weaponry to the kurds east of the euphrates when the united states first

entered syria it turkey and the united states came up to an agreement that everything west euphrates was turkomans everything east of the euphrates the united states mendacious a sore point but that's still to be decided on but that's the way it's been in the united states it's been giving a lot of weapons to the white chick now it's obviously telling a white sheet do not attack turkey would lose weapons because the moment you do that you will justify everything that your door that says is going to happen that you're connected with it and so the united states is sitting on the kurds in essence is telling them why peaches you have to sacrifice your brothers and me to preserve us out east of the euphrates on a new development to tell you about this hour a spike in violence in the eastern ghouta area close to the syrian capital damascus has provoked an outcry from the united nations it's calling for

a cessation of hostilities following reports that government as strikes on the rebel held area of killed at least one hundred people in recent days eastern ghouta is one of the few remaining opposition strongholds the syrian government says its attacks on the militants there in retaliation for shelling attacks that have killed civilians in the capital the district is among the escalations obes that were established by the warring parties last year. next we continue our look at recent discoveries from japan's official archives which shed light on the grim government run eugenics program which left thousands of people infertile over the decades that it was in force jacqueline vogel has the story. records of only a fraction of the people subjected to sterilization have been revealed but this may finally help the victims to get justice after decades of suffering and some are already taking action has a hard time going through the middle school that's when i was diagnosed with a mental disability my teacher took me for a medical check and then i was taken to hospital that's all i remember at the time

my parents told me that i was operated on and now i cannot have babies my father disposed to sign documents by my teacher and welfare offices there are many move him the government should make apologies and pay compensation to them it's believe there are up to twenty five thousand victims all under the eugenics protection law in force for almost forty years as late as the mid ninety's the procedures were in order to quote preserve the purity of the japanese race people with mental disabilities or hereditary diseases or target but misdiagnosis of such conditions was common causing even more unnecessary suffering we managed to speak to the relative of one such victim when i got married my mother in law told me that my sister has been sterilized after i made an information disclosure request i found out she was only fifteen when the ration took place genetic mental disease was the only listed reason for her sterilization however it is not true when she was

a one year old she became mentally handicapped because of the anesthesia three different doctors gave her so she didn't have a genetic condition in over sixteen thousand cases the procedure was even carried out without consent and shockingly victims were as young as nine years old a pill to admit the practice had taken place were dismissed for years with victims being told that the evidence was simply gone the only show the question is who's responsible for all of this to me it's the government's fault thanks akita the program as well as the national legislature which adopted the law needs to take responsibility and make apologies a soonest possible doctors well sort of. sponsible but in a way that we used by the government. i think that the now defunct eugenic protection law existed for the sole purpose to reject a band of deceit. when i requested the disclosure of these documents regarding my sister surgery they told me the files which are said to have been strictly process

had been thrown away the evidence of the mutilation of my sister's body were simply trashed in the case of another victim mrs zucker the documents were thrown into the fire when i heard about it i was beside myself with a. hotlines have been set up to bring together becomes for what's likely to be an extremely long and traumatic battle for justice but while victims one compensation they say money isn't the main reason their goal is to create awareness to ensure that horrors like this never take place again. it's been a tense encounter the united nations security council between the u.s. envoy and the palestinian leader mahmoud abbas delivered a vitriolic address on tuesday aimed squarely at washington for recognizing jerusalem as the israeli capital and claiming america is not committed to the peace process. one of the us administration took an unlawful decision which was rejected by the international community to take the issue of jerusalem

off the table and to recognize the city as israel's capital almost gradually but we are ready to begin negotiations immediately in order to achieve peace and security for all in our region and the world. and here's what happened next after finishing his speech i stood up and walked out of the meeting without waiting for the response from the u.s. envoy mickey halley. oh he has left the room i will dress the balance of my remarks to him. president abbas i sit here today offering the outstretched hand of the united states to the palestinian people but i will decline the advice i was recently given by your top negotiator side erekat i will not shut up mickey how he was reacting there to comments from the palestinians chief peace negotiator he told her to be quiet not criticize the palestinian leadership

reacting to the editor of the palestine chronicle told us that he thinks america is now becoming a third wheel in the peace process. u.s. has lost its right to participate in any kind of international mechanism that would attempt to bring peace and reconciliation between stein and and israel they have lost their right to do so when they decided to flee and biased unfair and untrue is really a position the us has never been honest peace broker mahmoud abbas trying to send a message to the palestinian people that after decades of pursuing this fruitless and futile peace process and nothing has been achieved as a result his message to the palestinian people that i'm still here and i'm still fighting and i'm still challenging the american diktats and american foreign policy . to world records were broken in the space of just fifteen minutes by russian

athletes at the winter olympics in south korea earlier today the first was set by figure skater you have getting a medvedev in the women short program but her score was then topped minutes later by her own teammate and then as you get over with the details in pyongyang is really a potential the younger russian figure skater had been hot on the heels of her older teammate for a very long time and there you have it again you need to be a devout could all the enjoy her world record for a few minutes because then i mean if they did even better and scored an extra point as to what it takes to set these kind of world records both figure skaters include some of the most sophisticated elements in the sport and we see them at the end of the program all these difficult jumps when the athletes are more worn out it's a higher risk but if everything goes smoothly it automatically adds skyrocketing

points i guess something. precious for us journalists to take note of was the reaction of you gave the following her immaculate performance she said it was not my best but it was ok and apparently that ok was enough for a world record while indeed we heard from experts in the sport that's either of us program was more difficult so i guess she definitely deserve it when it comes to the other competitors it seems that now they can only hope for bronze they are way too far behind so it looks like the female figure skating competition at these olympics and young chang is turning into a head to head class between two russian teenage girls eighteen year old you gave me a do and fifteen year old eileen as they gave them up they got one coach they are from one country but of course they only have one gold medal to compete for at piano

chuang twenty thing. new this hour in bahrain a prominent human rights activist in the bill rajab has been sentenced to five years in prison for criticizing the gulf kingdom's role in the war in yemen on twitter he's already serving a two year sentence for previously having spoken out against the regime in bahrain . rose to prominence as an opposition leader during the mass pro-democracy protests that swept the country back in twenty eleven he's also the president of the bahrain center for human rights between twenty twelve and twenty fourteen he was imprisoned for organizing an authorised demonstrations in the two years he's currently serving one hundred down for publishing on disseminating rumors unfolds news apparently in connection with a number of t.v. interviews that he gave in twenty fifteen and twenty sixteen. jobs coast shake from some on the senior advisor of the bahrain center for human rights joins us now welcome to the program appreciate your time what are your thoughts on the sentence that's been handed down in the past few hours tonight bill. well that sometimes is

a clear. mockery to justice a slap to the rule of law and to human rights values and standards and principles. after having more than twenty court hearings authorities failed to present substantial evidence to charge an a b. of an appeal did was he focused on warning of the destructive result of war in yemen he called upon. to resort to dialogue to peace rather than to war and destruction. being charged today for expressing his views openly in the nocturne which which is well agreed upon today in the human rights community and international level he forecast that.

if the war continues in yemen yemen or face a humanitarian catastrophe and he should be honored and given credit for dance because today the u.n. reports international community agrees that yemen is facing a humanitarian catastrophe do you persistence on war rather than dialogue and peace in yemen plus today we've seen as well the courts have confirmed that that sentence this on for the trainees which is a clear indicator that the government of bahrain is close and the space for freedom of expression for freedom of assembly and we are truly witness thing a human rights catastrophe and in terms of the level of punishments in the outside bahrain the bill is arguably the most well known but not the only dissident of course the treatments handed down to no bail do they seem unique to him or is the

case across the board. while. the government is following the policy against human rights defenders human rights defenders in bahrain are either imprisoned behind bars or are banned from traveling or are living in exile and the government. uses to partner with human rights mechanisms and you know and special proper tours to visit rain and the international human rights watch and other human rights organizations are not allowed to swell to visit the country so it's clear the government of. fortunately targeting human rights. today and what about the beales condition i read earlier that when this sentence was read out he smiled he gave a peace sign but previously he's had health problems while in prison that led to

a pardon a couple of years ago what are conditions like for him in there at the moment. what wild today is that fortunately placed. members in a cell together with four or five members of the rain ice this branch. the government the liberal place and the prisons. health concerns. in the bahamas center for human rights express their concerns on his health conditions and his. party to provide him with medical care so his situation. is quite serious at the personal level however his position. is basically.

on his right to express his fears to defy the broad's of. regardless of their religious backgrounds regardless of their identities. it's why he was smiling to court and he had the sign of victories so movement indicate he will remain persistent on his gold and lawyer to his human rights values and principles i will keep watch on his face as i'm sure you will too i really appreciate the time shake salmon senior adviser of the bahrain center for human rights thanks for time. you're watching american prestigious yale university's introducing a controversial new program looking at what it means to be white in modern american society more on that when we come back.

everybody steven both. hollywood guys the suspects every proud american first of all i'm just george bush and honored to say this is my buddy max famous financial guru just a little bit different. no one knows up with all the drama happening in our country i'm shooting the brood have some fun every day americans. and the stork to bridge the gap this is the great american to.

come back with islamic states self-proclaimed caliphate in tatters many children belonging to the terror groups fighters have been left stranded in iraq and syria following their parents' deaths he's conducting a campaign to return russian speaking youngsters back home to other relatives the latest child we've been able to reunite with their family is a young boy called saeed ati will be the airport later when flight arrives back in russia. martin you must because a lot. of the. other christan i mean i just.

can't talk much more. how i was this was one of the. what's worse. what. this mean this. is a group. think you know. you're not. sure . if. america's world renowned yale university is launching a new study program aimed at deconstructing what it means to be white in modern day

society the module looks at how the issue of race permeates almost every aspect of cultural and economic life in the united states but not everyone's happy about it as samir khan now explains. racial tensions in the u.s. go back centuries from colonization and genocide to slavery and racial segregation the country's troubled past continues to fuel and tag an ism between the races and people of color have a waged war on what they see as a system that favors white supremacy but what's been happening in the us seems to have turned the tables reinforcing the conversation on so-called reverse racism for example yale university has introduced a course in countering whiteness through plays poems and memoirs and to quote the program constructing whiteness counter narratives in any creative form and it's not just yale many universities in the u.s. are making quote white awareness programs available but critics are fighting back or using that white awareness programs are just as racist as black or honest ones

in another extremely divisive case some women of color felt isolated and unsafe in their communities so they organized a healing retreat and coast rica and then banned white people from attending to white people is to let us have our space let us have our room and go hang out with other white people broke a you know you've done enough damage well of course screams of hypocrisy and reverse racism ensued and then there's this picture depicting black women beheading white women the artist explained it's a quote unquote sort of a play on the kill whitey thing critics are outraged alleging well you guessed it first racism they say imagine what would happen if a white person was shown chopping off a black woman's head however when it comes to all of these claims reverse racism may not exactly stand up to scrutiny when looking at the history of the country's racial dynamics but whether or not these cases qualify as hypocrisy or reverse racism the question remains will any of this actually qual racial tensions in the

u.s. or will this only result in further polarization. so mark on our to washington d.c. i'm picking up on that social commentator anthony bryan logan believes there are a double standard at play in u.s. society if it was a white woman holding a black woman say after painter way the painter would be called everything he'd be called a neo nazi supremacist because the default reaction to anybody white doing something against somebody black or even painting a picture is to say that white person is a racist because the default thought process is dead white people are racist anyway and then some say that if you're not white you can not be races which is really ridiculous there's been a lot of things floating around about white supremacy as of late that these things become normalized is seen as a rational thing to say in public so people again they get to feel guilty and when i tell everybody hey i'm not our races look at me i'm fighting the gays the white man i'm fighting to get by supremacies you get some white people day say to even

a white and say how do you hate whites your way it doesn't make any sense was like do you hate your parents do you hate your grandparents is really a crazy thing. next up for you a story we hope you'll find inspiring from russia's far east it's that of a woman with dwarfism who despite all the challenges that she faces still manages to keep a positive outlook on life. that it could get i ask. when i was a kid other children bullied me pardon me took away my food there was one old lady at school a janitor she always had a piece of bread and butter for me but the very moment i started eating other children beat me and that woman was the only one protecting me she even accompanied me home. just. how.

the beginning i got pregnant and had bad talk psychosis i didn't tell anyone at first but started to feel so bad and so went to hospital that the doctors said i have to have an abortion and i agreed but i just didn't know that some sicko says can have treated me as no one told me. that that. is a. good deal. and that then you see dealing knew she couldn't see couldn't stand. doctors also told me she has problems with her eyes. this is a much. more gag seeing this cut it off my husband has been diagnosed was disseminated sclerosis i can't live without him what he means everything to me where as a single hole he's my arms and legs and ninety's. took. cover

. and that's it from a thanks very much for watching your next world news update as with kevin irwin that. just over half an hour's time i can. laugh just. certain i want to do things that show everybody is doing really be very clear. the way. the. management. and they are they they when they have them they have then you.

must get me yeah you feel this really. sucks yeah i'm them what do you how much they have something like your body looks local just out do you want. to look at them and if you're going to make a living that would measure the cost more like a. child's seemed wrong when all rolls just don't hold. any old belief yet to shape out these days comes to educate and gain from it because betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground.

oh and welcome to cross talk where all things are considered i'm peter lavelle is the day of reckoning coming will the liberal corporate media ever own up to their dismal and even dishonest coverage of what is called russia gate there is growing evidence the media are at the very center of this fake scandal. the fake news media i'm joined by my guest charles or tell in new york.