reporter: susan rashidi lives as a nomad in the kurdish region of northwestern iran. during the winter, she and the other members of her community head south to warmer climes. she always has plenty to do. women here work just as hard as the men. but they don't enjoy the same rights. susan: there are certain customs and rules that we have to obey. traditions are especially strong amongst us kurdish nomads. for examplple, girlsls arent allowed to participate in sports. for ages i didn't dare tell my parents that i wanted to do sports. when i finally did, my father was furious. reporter: but she remained undeterred, and despite her father's displeasure, she took up kickboxing. the memory of her childhood struggles makes susan sad. the restrictions placed on her as a woman have had a profound effect on her. susan: neighbors and family members looked down on my father because of me. they talked about me behind my back. many also said bad things to my face, but i ignored it and continued to do my sport. even when i started winning tournaments and all the media reported on t

now positioned less than five kilometers from syrian government forces the northwestern corner of syria. states turkey and iran are the main players syrian government forces want. to stop its military operation in the player. and the first time. and it's the first time civilians are the pawns the other main rebel stronghold in syria the damascus suburb is also coming under heavy fire many civilians have been killed and injured in the besieged the united nations is calling for the fighting throughout syria to stop for. aid deliveries and evacuation. is unlikely to be heated at least until the latest round of negotiations is settled on the ground. what do we know about the current situation given. hi julie i'm taiwan has had a major earthquake just an hour ago it's one am right now in time in taipei but about an hour ago we have a mega magnitude six point zero earthquake that has jotted eastern taiwan so far we have learned that and crew from that there is a major collapse the hotel in which probably somewhere between twenty seven thousand people to twenty nine people who had been trapped inside the hotel the co

northwestern corner of syria. and united states turkey and iran are the main players syrian government forces want turkey wants to clear. and it's no coincidence that iran is turkey to stop its military operation in the player. messages to each other and it's not the first time. on the battlefield. and it's not the first time civilians are the pawns the other main rebel stronghold in syria the damascus suburb of eastern is also coming under heavy fire many civilians have been killed and injured in the besieged area the united nations is calling for the fighting throughout syria to stop for a month to allow aid deliveries and evacuations of the sick and wounded that call is unlikely to be heeded at least not until the latest round of negotiations is settled on the ground to. beirut. for more on these developments we're joined by samuel ramani who is with the university of oxford specializes in russia a middle east relations very good to have you with us quite a dramatic increase in tensions infighting how do you see what's going on. well i think that what is happening is that the opposition have refused yes their

northwestern corner of syria. russia the united states turkey and iran are the main players pro syrian government forces want turkey wants to clear out free from the and it's no coincidence that iran is now calling on turkey to stop its military operation and the players are sending political messages to each other and it's not the first time. on the battlefield. and it's not the first time civilians are the pawns the other main rebel stronghold in syria the damascus suburb of eastern is also coming under heavy fire and many civilians have been killed and injured in the besieged area the united nations is calling for the fighting throughout syria to stop for a month to allow aid deliveries in evacuations of the sick and wounded that call is unlikely to be heeded at least not until the latest round of negotiations is settled on the ground to. beirut. head of policy and. she joins us here good to have you back with us while we say this escalation of the killing of civilians and right now i think the government of president bashar al assad has been trying. for the contrie for the past few months in fact because this i

iran are me not fight them everywhere. to fight. and the north. pole. the northwestern province of idlib which is also under the control of the opposition has been hit by dozens of strikes in recent days there are two residential neighborhoods and hospitals are being targeted pro syrian government forces have taken ground in the southern edges of it live in recent weeks recapturing the whole province will not be easy but many believe the immediate goals involve securing the north to south highway and lifting the siege on to loyalist towns. in the forces have been struggling to bring eastern under their control for years and now that russia appears to be honing in on rebel areas syria is once again in the midst of a major escalation especially with no progress on the diplomatic site this will only bring more suffering. a new report by amnesty international says the ethnic cleansing campaign against the rahane in all of me amal continues unabated the group interviewed nineteen of the thousands of refugees who've arrived in bangladesh in december and january fleeing from n

northwestern syria, where the opposition is holding out. laura: if there is going to be peace talks, does the u.s. have any leverage at all? geor is all the leve with russia and iran? robert: frankly, in a war, and this is a war, military forcepeaks most loudly, and the americans have never used military force to gain serious leverage in the syrian civil war. the american military effort was cused heavily on beating destrong the islamic state of iraq and syria and the militants in the eastern part of the country, buthe population lives in the western part of the country. that is where 90% of the syrian population lives. the syrians don't have any cards -- theca ame don't have any cards in that part of the country. laura: this war has gone on since 2011. you were ambassador to the country. what has been the cost to the syrian people? robert: it is just unimaginable. it is shocking.do 't think any syrian expected this.d i wok the viewers to think for a moment what it would be like for their country if one half of the population was displaced. if 20% of the population had to flee the country. the cost, the human cost, the material cost is unimaginable, and it is a te

northwestern syria. turkey launched an offensive to clear the city of syrian kurdish militia which it considers a terrorist organization >>> iran exact site where a passenger plane crashed over the weekend killing all 65 people on board high winds made it difficult to fly helicopters to the crash area >>> and that's our cnbc news update back to you. >> michelle, thank you very much >>> when we return, the ceo of on agra will join us, we'll get tas d lo on xeana t more stay with us my name is cynthia haynes and i am a senior public safety specialist for pg&e. my job is to help educate our first responders on how to deal with natural gas and electric emergencies. everyday when we go to work we want everyone to work safely and come home safely. i live right here in auburn, i absolutely love this community. once i moved here i didn't want to live anywhere else. i love that people in this community are willing to come together to make a difference for other people's lives. together, we're building a better california. >>> welcome back we want to go back to andrew ross sorkin at the winter olympics in pyeongchang, south korea, who ev