Security council awaits a vote on a cease fire plan. President rallies the conservative faithful saying a school with no guns is a dangerous place. The u. S. Confirms it will open its new embassy in jerusalem in may this year palestinian leaders call it an obstacle to peace. And Nigerian Government officials apologized to parents falsely told that missing daughters had been rescued we have an exclusive report. Top story in sport a second the olympic athlete from russia failed a drug. All the details coming up for you later in the program. We begin the news hour in syria where the governments relentless Bombing Campaign on a rebel held enclave near the Capital Shows no signs of abating rockets have been fired into eastern for a sixth straight day pushing the death toll to four hundred thirty two people in the past week alone the United Nations last minute wrangling is delaying a Security Council vote on imposing a thirty day ceasefire to end the hostilities. Reports from gaza on the turkey syria border. Theres. The. Floor but in the dense dust and debris its hard to see who left the upper floor. The doctor tells ali to open his eyes so he can wash out medical workers in eastern guta are calling for urgent assistance because of the continuous heavy bombardment but the Syrian Government calls this robin propaganda. As it was it is not only we do know we are saying that many of these faking it was staged. By the. By your cousins. By by the terrorists by the syrian moderate opposition. Incendiary bombs are now appearing in the night skies weapons intended to start large fires when they hit the ground. People in bodies are pulled out from crevices between buildings the nearly four hundred thousand people in the besieged enclave are dying in their hundreds graphic videos weve chosen not to show you contain body parts scattered in the aftermath of the latest onslaught by the Assad Government and its allies how to be whats taken place in eastern is a genocide and a crime against humanity in violation of international and humanitarian law and the perpetrators should be held liable accountable and cannot escape punishment under any circumstances russia is to blame for directly being involved in the military campaign and even apartment we are shocked by what we see happening now in eastern and we fear that the situation will will worsen the opposition holds russia and iran responsible. When the dust settles the destruction is clear people have been forced to live in underground shelters. Along with the message to the Security Council is for a cease fire or truce for days airstrikes and bombardments of forced families and children into underground shelters we cant do anything we cant even go outside to get food but when the outside looks like this there arent many places people can go to the ferocity of the bombardment and the arrival of troops on the outskirts of without battling with fighters is reminiscent of what happened to other rebel held parts in places like homs and aleppo entire populations were evacuated to new places in syria and people inside besieged with there have been cheering order of evacuation zones convinced that this is what is going to happen to them as well as. Does young. Al jazeera arabic correspondent Mohammed Al Jazeera is inside eastern go terrine sent us out today. Now. The aerial bombardment on guta has been without interruption as the russian and the regime jet fighters are still pounding the city around the clock the shelling is targeting critical installations like hospitals and residential areas any moving object within the residential areas is a target to them the picture behind me speaks volumes this is living proof the residential buildings are destroyed theres no movement on the streets residents have fled their fear shelling by russians jet fighters the regimes artillery and rocket launchers we are standing in the most dangerous spot that the recon planes in the jet fighters are hovering which was of russian and syrian helicopters hovering above our heads any sign of life in ghouta has been targeted nothing has been spared above all critical installations of residential buildings were targeted alike bakeries hospitals schools you name it theyre either destroyed or now out of function the situation in eastern kuta is nothing but catastrophic we cannot continue covering the situation life as it is very dangerous here and the jet fighters and helicopters are coming our way diplomatic editor james bays joins us from the United Nations headquarters in new york whats the latest news on the resolution and the reasons for the delay. Well the vote was supposed to take place two hours ago it has been delayed the current time for the meeting is an hour and a half from now and the reason for that is all going negotiations negotiations with the russians who want to change some of the language in this resolution but its certainly not. Apologies for that well try to reestablish a connection there with james bays and were just waiting for a vote to take place so we know its been delayed the u. N. Security Council Resolution on a thirty day cease fire across syria that vote was supposed have taken place at sixteen hundred g. M. T. That we understand has been delayed for a few hours as diplomats work furiously behind the scenes to try and reach some sort of agreement so that this time the resolution is actually adopted james base is back for us now and james you are saying a lot of work going on behind the scenes there to break the impasse and make sure that russia backs this resolution everywhere you look around the Security Council chamber in the immediate area around it youll find diplomats in huddles youll find diplomats on the phone negotiations underway the russians there trying to persuade certainly talking about some of the details in the language of this draft resolution with the new time for a vote set an hour and a half from now its interesting that in the driving seat of this of the ten elected members of the Security Council who are the ones that are putting this resolution forward it was actually two of them kuwait and sweden that drafted it and a short time ago the president as the Security Council this month its kuwait came out flanked by the other elected members of the Security Council. As you can see the whole. Member of the we are here just to show that we are all united and we want the draft resolution to be adopted today two thirty were still working on. The language on some of the but i grasp what we are almost there and we would like you know as a pen holder as a president of the council to thank actually the eternal for their support to our efforts and hopefully we are so close to adopt this is solution today and so the delay perhaps bodes well possibly james for this resolution being passed if and when it does come to a vote but even after that happens how difficult will it be for all parties to enforce it. Weve had so many attempts in syria to get ceasefires say sions pauses use the arabic word theyve tried so many Different Things it has been very very difficult and very patchy to try and get everyone to put down their weapons difficult to get the fighting groups to put down their weapons yes some of the western nations of the arab nations have sway difficult to get the Syrian Government to stop their bombardment in eastern guta i spoke a short time ago to the Syrian Governments ambassador here Bashar Jeffrey if there is a resolution passed will you comply he says we will get back to his comment in the last few minutes of course its not just about Eastern Ghouta there are military operations taking place in other parts of syria the russians are in the air the americans also have air power and one place to watch because this resolution will be a thirty day cease fire call for all of syria is a free man where theres that ongoing Turkish Operation is turkey going to stop its operation because of a Security Council decision a big question of course not tied to ask it yet we still dont know if this resolution is going to pass you know it will thank you james bay is where the latest from the United Nations. The republican governor of florida has announced a raft of state measures in response to last weeks attack on a high school which left seventeen people dead rick scott is proposing raising the minimum age for buying a gun in florida from eighteen to twenty one years old is also calling for a mandatory Law Enforcement officer in every school in active Shooter Training for all students and staff and us President Donald Trump has been talking about guns as well among other things hes been addressing the conservative Political ActionCommittee Conference in oxon hill maryland alan fischer watched that speech and joins us now were just speaking about gun control in florida and where the latest School Shooting took place we definitely heard. Plenty of ideas from the president trying what did he have to say at this summit today. Well he talked about the families of those who die in florida and also some of the survivors as well who are deeply affected he had been by those and you could genuinely see in this piece clearly he was remembering some of those conversations he held a number of listening events and he came up with ideas joining those listening events that he has floated as some he would mention here and some he wouldnt mention here because this is a very poor growing very poor in ari and you know there are political talking points call your own on both sides both republican and democrats on the same issues keep being raised the same phrases keep being repeated and certainly thats what we got from donald trump in the last hour or so when he talked about how schools shouldnt be less safe than many other important american institutions. Why do we protect our airports and our banks our government buildings but not our schools. Its time to make our schools a much harder target for attackers we dont want i mean our schools. When we declare our schools to be gun free zones it just puts our students in far more danger. So what is donald trump talking about while ideas that these days that floated over the last couple of days he would like to see more teachers being armed with concealed carry permits he talked about crowd choosing veterans and former members of the coast guards to protect schools as well but ideas that hes floated that he wouldnt raise here such as raising the age where you can start to legally buy guns that probably wouldnt condone terribly well here another idea that is also talked about is improving background checks thats something that the n. R. A. Has talked about they see states need to play a bigger role in making sure that those background checks everything is fed into the system so that it can be carried out properly and that may be something that moves on but certainly people know watching donald trump because he has said that his administration is going to do something about this issue and people will be watching to make sure that he delivers rye and what about Foreign Policy issues alan because we know that there have been these overtures between north and south korea jaring the Winter Olympics but at the same time the trouble ministration looking to put more pressure on the regime in pyongyang. That thats right we run through a number of issues that dont thomas talked about repeatedly since twenty sixteen around deal is bad we know that he wants to see renegotiated part of the core bad for American Business thats why he pulled out of it with he also talked about moving the the u. S. Embassy to jerusalem that got the biggest cheer of his speech and he talked about north korea and interestingly enough the white house had flied that there was going to be a big announcement on north korea they said that the details would be in the speech and it ended up essentially being no more than an afterthought at the end of the speech when he said were going to impose more sanctions on north korea no were expecting more details on that first of all when donald trump talks with markham tumble the australian Prime Minister and then gives a News Conference at the white house so expecting something on that someone will ask a question on that and were also expecting more information from the Justice Department and also the Treasury Department but we know that this is the whole idea of donald trump targeting north korea because he thinks theyve managed to get round sanctions before particularly using shipping lanes so these sanctions are going to target twenty seven shipping companies twenty vessels and one named individual in the fall the idea is to put more pressure on north korea to get them back to the negotiating table to talk about first of all the Nuclear Program and also the Ballistic Program that was just a couple of days to the end of the the Winter Olympics we know that mike pence was at the Opening Ceremony it was his intention to meet a north korean delegation when he was there but given the rhetoric coming out of america as the North Koreans called it they decided to cancel that meeting we know that ivanka trump is there for the closing ceremony but we are told there are no plans for her to meet anyone from north korea was shes there at the closing ceremony all right well thanks very much alan fischer of all the latest from oxford in maryland a speech by president trunk lawrence rozental is the executor and a right wing. University of california he joins me now from but k. And i know that you have been watching that speech very closely how would you describe president trumps reception at the summit this year compared to the way he was regarded by these right wing politicians of an activist in two thousand and sixteen he began his speech by saying i guess ive now proved im a conservative and that was very well received in effect what he was saying is people who doubted me people who doubted my conservative bona feed days should now be convinced given the actions of my administration that i am a genuine conservative. Conservative and i was just not just going to ask you why it has trump standing within the movement changed to has he shaped the movement somewhat or as he adapted to become a part of it. I believe both are true. That is the say that both the left lets call it the republican establishment and trump have mutually adapted to one another in effect there is only the kind of hybrid and rather radical conservatism that thats that. Kind of in place in the. Republican party that is the say you have. Traditional although quite extreme free market conservatism and the free market conservatives wound up being getting something in the tax cut that was recently passed that they have aimed for for many many years that tax cut is full of strategies. That go relatively far into the future to undermine things like the american welfare state. And at the same time much of trumps speech as was true in the state of the union. He emphasized. The image and he became quite acute in this the image of the violence of the criminal violence of immigrants this was not part of. Free market conservatism this was not something that. The republican candidates in the primaries who opposed trump talked about and now it is it is clearly part of. The. What increasingly seems to be a kind of hybrid right wing rather extreme. Ensemble and so the reality is what what what does what does all this tell us what about the balance if you can call it that between the influence of the conservatives against traditional republican pragmatists and its an ongoing question. The pragmatists seem to have made up their mind that opposing trump they there was one after another after another people who swore never trump most recently mitt romney has bowed in the direction of trump well and certainly the. House and Senate Leadership have have moved from never trump to embracing him and plainly they embrace him at least at first and maybe this is changing over time but they embraced him as a vehicle they embraced him as a vehicle to get legislatively and otherwise. Their longstanding agenda. And that longstanding agenda has at its core things like. Undoing regulations and doing. Things like obama care and above all tax cuts and when you very much lawrence rise and tell executive director of the center for right wing studies at california. You know with the news live from london much more still to tell you about a major funding boost for African Security the e. U. Doubles its Financial Aid for military alliance to combat armed groups across the south the region. For metron Campaign Aide rick gates will appear in court soon on charges of conspiracy against the United States. And in sport the olympic athletes from russia taste gold for the first time in chiang will have the details. The United States has confirmed it will open its new embassy to israel in jerusalem in may the opening will coincide with the seventieth anniversary of israels founding in december the u. S. Announcement of the plan move sparked angry protests in palestine and solidarity rallies across the world then joins me now from washington any karf occasion on why this date has been chosen for the moving of the new embassy. Well a senior u. S. Official told me that the reason is because they want to coincide with the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the state of israel this is of course something that is pleasing the president s supporters here in the United States now the process of moving the embassy is going to take some time the ambassador David Freeman and a few of his aides i am told will be moving their offices from tel aviv where the embassy is currently located to jerusalem and then the facility the consulate in jerusalem will then be declared the actual embassy however the rest of the people who work for the u. S. Government at the embassy in tel aviv will not be going to jerusalem right away that simply because there isnt enough room they need to find a location to build a physical new Embassy Compound that has to meet certain security setback regulations and it has to be put out for bid both for an Architecture Firm as well as for a Construction Firm in order to build this new facility so thats still going to take some years it could cost upwards of half a billion dollars if not more in order to build the new embassy in jerusalem all right thank you roslyn jordan and washington must have about hoochie secretary general of the Palestinian National initiative and former palestinian information minister joins me now from ramallah and so we have here the decision by the Trump Administration to move the u. S. Embassy to jerusalem in may of this year what is your response to this coming sooner than anticipated this decision to move there and bus you got what you could. But at the end some. And when they want to move the embassy exactly on the worst diversity in the history of palestinians the diversity not of the establishment of israel but of the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian People and the creation of the system of Racial Discrimination and apartheid. Was this date and this represents a very serious provocation to the palestinian side besides the fact that moving the embassy to jerusalem is by itself participation in both lucian and national. Ministration is going very far and i think the response should be very strong from the palestinian side think all the organizations that does not want us to do you should join immediately there should be no delay and that including you and agencies. We should also respond by complete by total implementation of the solutions of the Palestinian Central Council including cutting all forms of security to coordination with israel and what is happening going to. Miss about. Eve laid out a series of measures but will that do anything to really make life easier for the palestinians its you know we were just listening to a speech by president trying to right wing activists and conservatives there he mentioned the decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel to a rousing applause i know that wont come as any surprise to you but the point is that president Mahmoud Abbas has asked for the Trump Administration to change their decision they are refusing to do so the measures that youve outlined there it doesnt seem as anything you can do to change this decision as it stands now. With this decision will not be changed we know that as long as that im sitting in the white house and as long as not then you know is in his place these decisions will not permit change but they have proven that the United States is incapable and should not be. A part not even a mediator in peace talks but the measures i talked about are about showing the United States and the world that we will not give up nothing go improve our lives and nothing will improve our Living Conditions unless occupation ends less the system of apartheid is over we will not accommodate mr thompson the decision and we should not accommodate the situation of occupation and apartheid the palestinians would resist against that today we would in a huge demonstration in hebrew and against the massacre that took place there twenty four years ago against palestinians players there and this is this is what they will get Palestinian Resistance a palestinian struggle we will not give up we will insist on our right foot freedom and independence and these measures will not because we have seen the trunk of ministration repeatedly voicing that disapproval at the fact that the palestinians have refused to engage in the idea of any sort of negotiation or coming to the table for talks is it going to be increasingly difficult for the palestinians to resist the pressure coming from washington because it seems as though at least right now it that there is sort of a vacuum and the International Community and very difficult to supplant the u. S. In any future process if there were to be one given the leverage of the israel. No we cant resist the pressure that is coming from washington that is not the most difficult issue but i personally believe that even an International Forum will not solve the problem today simply because the balance of power between us and israel is so skewed in israels interest our strategy should be new not relying on these negotiations that not provide anything during the last twenty five years but first to change the balance of power through popular nonviolent resistance through an enhanced amount of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions Campaign and so all establishing a strong palestinian internal unity and through the consolidation of the palestinian state fastness on the ground without changing the balance of power no negotiations will ever produce anything but it is very important to say here that it is so unfortunate that mr trump is leading his administration in a direction that makes it completely totally controlled by israeli wishes and by the wishes of the extremists but out to ends in israeli state what they are doing is the newly totally contradictive to the interest of peace and the solution from ramallah mr secretary general of the Palestinian National initiative thank you for speaking to us thank you. Still to come for you on the program as russia marks hundred years of the red army we examine how the military has been rebuilt become a force to be reckoned with the desperate journey in the hope of the battery life we look at how the refugee crisis is hitting the big screen but in Film Festival i mean sport Spanish Police investigate off to an office that dies during football fan violence. Weve got some rather unusually wet weather coming in across the middle east over the next couple days i dont get it often get the chance to say that that cloud stretching its way across afghanistan pushing over towards the northwest of pakistan slightly clearer skies do come in behind but its a very young settle picture across much of the middle east a lot of bad looks fun and dry beirut at about eighteen celsius a wet ninety in the the baghdad as we go on through the weekend much of iraq can expect to see some rain syria also seeing some clouds and rain that will make its way down towards kew way gradually moving a little further east was as we go on through sunday a little bit of snow over the high ground thats certainly a possibility a couple at around twelve degrees celsius but i cloud are right but if iran seeing some very disturbed weather then over the next couple of days should be somewhat drought across the levant but notice there into syria we saw him for his central parts of turkey will run in the full cost for the year and right in the forecast to a crusty Arabian Peninsula would you believe over the east as i said no the process saudi arabia gusty winds pushing through his some very wet weather we are going to see some flooding inevitably that rain will make its way down across costs are as you go on through saturday push by the south was across the u. A. E. As we go i wanted to sunday by disguise behind but looking very wet for the u. A. E. Once held in one of australias toughest Detention Centers now a world renowned surgeon. Dr moon. As returns to his hometown baghdad to give deputies the hope of walking again at this time on aljazeera we headed to Jerusalem Bureau covered Israeli Palestinian affairs we cover the story with a lot of we covered it with. The story we have presence here all the time apart from being a cameraman its also very important to be a journalist to know the story very well before going into the fields covering the United Nations and global diplomacy for aljazeera english is pretty incredible this is where talks happen and what happens there matters. On counting the cost how corrupt is your country Transparency International has the latest global rankings venezuela makes history by launching a crypto currency can south africa plug a hole in its finances as cape town faces a water shortage counting the cost at this time. Welcome back you with the news outlets update you on the top stories as new waves of bombs strike syrias east and the u. N. Security council is trying to Reach Agreement on a resolution calling for a thirty day cease fire u. S. President Donald Trump Tells a conservative audience that School Shootings could be stopped by well trained teachers. United states has confirmed it will open its new embassy to israel in jerusalem in may and it will coincide with the seventieth anniversary of israels founding. On other stories were following officials in northeastern nigeria have apologized for telling the parents of dozens of missing schoolgirls that their daughters had been rescued after being seized by boko haram the false announcement sparked outrage among concerned families the girls were taken from their school in the town of bay state on monday. Interest was the First International journalist on the ground and has this report from. Disappointment. I was after parents were told that daughters have been rescued the Student Government apologized saying the information was not true. For the relatives of more than one two students the wait has just begun. Some say its all over. The kidnappers but their older sister wasnt just lucky. The incident leaves them devastate. Their no one living as they came just after we broke our monday fast we heard gunshots there was chaos everywhere she tried to comfort us but it only got worse four of us sisters started running to give that she fell and i fell down to her but someone picked me up that was the last time i saw her she was taken. Neighbors poor into their home to offer support for the girls school we were refused access to from inside i would necessary some of the attackers dressed in military fatigues drove through the school gates but before they got in many of the girls alerted by the gunshots fired early on scaled the perimeter friends of the school on this cape but some girls say they saw some of their schoolmates being led into a waiting truck. So literally and his family thought they too would receive fourteen year olds and up but she was one of the school girls to become. A mother is in the hospital she fainted on hearing to her daughter was and from the grief is too much for her and. He said much is expected of the second Year High School student for now they continue to wait hoping to hear good and definitive news about the return of their child residents hope the tragedy will be a strong group of the twenty four incident where more than two hundred seventy two goals were kidnapped from the school or the last third of them are yet to be found one hundred Edris Al Jazeera doctrine. Now east eighteen people have been killed in the somali capital after two car bomb explosions Police Believe the first blast near somalias Intelligence Headquarters was caused by a suicide car bomb or a second blast occurred near parliaments Headquarters Police say the blasts were followed by gunfire near the president s residence as yet no one has claimed responsibility for the attack now u. S. President donald transform a Campaign Aide rick gates is expected to plead guilty to charges of conspiracy against the United States and of lying to special counsel Robert Muller so lets get more on this from patty col haney who is in washington how significant a development is this in the investigation patty. Well you know people been speculating about this for weeks but in about twenty five minutes we expect that its going to actually happen rick gates a former Campaign Aide as you mentioned were to walk into the d. C. Federal courthouse and plead guilty to two counts one of participating in a financial scheme with former Campaign Chairman paul mann afford the other line to investigators he was facing dozens and dozens of charges that could have landed him in prison for decades this means that he has basically flipped that he is willing to testify against paul manna for who he was a longtime aide to now theyre not saying in any of these allegations that he has anything to do with collusion with russia what they are charging them with there are things like bank Fraud Tax Evasion not registering as a Foreign Agent conspiracy against the United States so those are the sorts of charges that manifold is facing right now dozens of them so this will put added pressure on him to do what rick gates has done and flip and give whatever information he knows the reason this matters is metaphor to it was with the campaign the brief time he was forced out fairly shortly after he took over rick gates stayed with the campaign all through Election Night through the inauguration in the first few months of the presidency so the he will tell investigators everything he knows in exchange for a lighter sentence now they go to metaphor he is key because lets not forget he was one of the top Trump Officials in that meeting with what they say were russian operatives who offer dirt on Hillary Clinton also in that meeting the president s son and son in law so this has the potential to be quite significant. You are saying that it might not go very far in terms of addressing that main question of collusion between the trunk campaign and russia but how and how important can you tell us more about the importance of gates role within the campaign and how close he was a period of time to president trump. And i dont want to give the impression thanks for pointing out that this doesnt have any evidence of collusion we simply dont know what rick gates has told special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team what this applies to is the charges that he and metaphor were facing face had something to do with conspiring with ukrainian officials that were tied to russian officials but nothing in the indictment says anything about collusion that doesnt mean theyre not talking about Something Like that rick gates was not a major player but he was up there he was on the trump plane every day in the run up to the elections often in the white house after he took office and its not just rick gates this is the Third Trump Campaign official that has been pled guilty and these are not small fish i mean i know the white house likes to dismiss them as not important players but lets think about this this is rick gates who is a top Campaign Aide he was the closest aide to paul metaphor who was the chairman of the Campaign Even bigger than him Michael Flynn former general Michael Flynn was the National Security adviser hes pled guilty and also a National Security adviser so what they do in these investigations is they start going after little fish these are little fish but they hope to get bigger fish and bigger fish and then they want to see where it ends so muller has been investigating for months it is by no means almost over but he is showing dramatically quick progress if you think about the vast conspiracy that we believe he is looking into thank you for explaining it all to us patty calling in washington. Leaders from five african countries are in brussels for a Security Fund raising summit they hope to raise more money for a joint military force that works alongside french and u. N. Troops to combat troops across the side and the reports from brussels. At the start of an International Fundraising called france in brussels for the g five style force it was the president of new who set the tone and emphasized the sense of urgency bush im going to be to have to act change what is going on in the soil region if we dont the risk is that this area of the world will be submerged by violence and the soil is one of the external borders of the e. U. It is like shale its a dam which should never crack that is why security is so important for them to be. The summit raised the five hundred Million Dollars targeted by the force of the european leaders promise to double their contribution the e. U. Hopes that improving security and development in the soil will help stop the growing refugee crisis in the region stem Human Trafficking and reduce what they call the threat of terrorism then. Premier the e. U. Contributed first of all back in june with an initial figure of fifty Million Euros about sixty Million Dollars thats money was made allies for the creation of the chief five cell group today we announced a doubling of that figure to help increase its strength but the most important figure which i am pleased to be able to share with you today is that weve been able to mobilize support worth four hundred fourteen Million Euros or five hundred ten Million Dollars which goes well beyond expectations. The g five joint military force was launched last year by the leaders of burkean a fast so chad needs jail mali and mauritania to combat growing filings in western africa its mission is to stop cross border attacks from armed groups including boko haram and crackdown on weapons and people trafficking its five thousand troops will work alongside un peacekeepers and french soldiers already deployed in the region. The money raised will allow the g five force to be fully operational but challenges remain African Leaders say that more money will be needed each year for it to continue its work and there must be more investment in development they also say that the International Community must make security in the syal a priority. We need to see more mobilization from only International Community that weve seen in iraq and in the syrian situation is a threat to peace and stability so we need to provide a necessary response. The g five force is seen as an important step in Regional Cooperation and part of a desperately needed solution in a region where violence has killed so many people and forced millions to flee their homes its future however will depend on a commitment from World LeadersNatasha Butler al jazeera brussels. Construction has started on the afghan section of a major gas pipeline linking turkmenistan pakistan and india a project has the support of the Afghan Government the u. S. And pakistan even the taliban its hoped the transit fees and from the pipeline will help stave stabilize afghanistans economy tony burke reports from kabul in afghanistan these days there is not much to cheer about on friday there was an exception construction began on a pipeline project to carry natural gas from turkmenistan through the country to india and Pakistan Workers welded the first link of pipe crossing the border between turkmenistan and afghanistans goes daraa district near herat. A ten billion dollars project will bring jobs and income. But this project brings electricity gas work and life it brings like to the dark homes in afghanistan pakistan and india and also brings energy to each of our investors. The ceremony was watched by took many stands president the Prime Minister of pakistan and india as minister for external affairs who joined by video link the project known as tappy the initials of the four countries is being described as a new page in Regional Cooperation and hopes for a better future. Than you have already said that after a long time afghanistan is taking part in a regional project which will provide jobs for our people im hoping that this Regional Cooperation will result in closer relations between the countries and that it will help afghanistan become more stable and work for the longer version of the turkey project brings a message of peace so it will help to bring peace in our country and also in the wider region the tension between the countries in the region will reduce the pipeline will run one thousand eight hundred fourteen kilometers and carry thirty three billion cubic meters of natural gas each year it is expected to be completed by january twenty twenty security in herat was tight for the ceremony but the taliban has given its support for the pipeline reversing an earlier stand observer say this is probably because of its close ties with pakistan which will take forty percent of the gas and make a profit of twenty five percent on the sale. With the Security Fears softened the main focus now is attracting the investors to raise the capital to complete the project but for now everyone seems to be happy this project takes many boxes money jobs prestige and importantly Regional Cooperation and thats the kind of good news event that doesnt happen all too often in this part of the world Tony Berkeley aljazeera kabul. Rush hour is marking its annual holiday dedicated to honoring military veterans its been one hundred years since the red army was founded and despite undergoing a decline following the collapse of the soviet union its once more become a force to be reckoned with as john holl reports from moscow. Its a hundred years since the first volunteers signed up to serve in the brand new red army almost immediately their task was to defend the october revolution in a civil war against anti communist forces. The red army would later succeed in fighting back hitlers invading nazis at a cost to the soviet union of millions of lost lives. These days the founding of the red army is more broadly as a tribute to old military veterans in president Vladimir Putins russia the achievements of the revolution to play down the occasion is an excuse for displays of communist nostalgia ownership really small scale those not not for none of the red flag is all flag its the flag of victory in the great patriotic war children of the victors they were. The red army then they began transform. Extend this into great especially in the beginning of the nine then there were several waves of different kind of reform and now actually theyre more or less back where they began and increasingly there is. No projection of the red army which is that their standard because right now the russian army has more or less the same enemies the red army did during the cold war and remain enemies the United States and its allies where in the cold war number two russias modern military has been rebuilt at vast expense both to counter the expansion of western alliances like nato and the European Union and also to advance russias own geo political ambitions since then there. Are wars georgia. And crimea now syria right now yes. But right. Maybe the. Best in the world but some with long memories place less. Alone. There are. The world has come to respect russias military might. That is a welcome new chapter in the countrys history. Right down to. From the war in syria to the mass exodus of wrangel muslims from me the past year seems to have been dominated with news of refugees but whats it like for those on the other side of the stories thats a concept being explored at this years ballon Film Festival the way it came has wall. In recent years this has become a recurring image the human cost of the refugee crisis. In the film eldorado we see the desperate journeys being undertaken for a better life. Because. From the moment of rescue for those adrift to the start of the process that will bring them ashore in a country where some people do not want them. And which puts them to work in jobs which pay little certainly that is the view the films director wants the viewer to take. And there is. Hope. That they will find. Somebody in a film. For that florio and. Or even worse the theme of migration is prominent in several films at this years festival where collectively the different aspects of adapting to difficult circumstances are laid bare and where we see the individual human stories of failure and success. As in the film which tells the story of money im shot the stateless refugee in lebanon who forms a Catering Company with friends in the. Camp south of beirut and around all of the editing and i see it i love with him and i had to get out of that if not both of them and not be or how we always act like im going out and what has happened in the film we see their struggles to build their business and how their efforts help to heal the wounds of war. Has been brought to the screen by Thomas Morgan he told me why he felt this was a story he had to direct the fact that it was women taking their dignity and their power back and having this unbelievable will to finish but ive always told stories of like underdog stories so its always people who face incredible odds and their lives and what theyre doing and so i think were really. Doing this not just for herself but for an entire community really embrace this opportunity. The berlin Film Festival will soon be drawing to a close but the issues many of its films have highlighted will not. Dominate came. Earlier. Live. Live. Live live up to his b. C. Now with all the Winter Olympics action and the rest of the sports. Right and thank you so much a Second Russian athlete has tested positive to a banned substance at the Winter Olympics and kyung Chang Development took the gloss off the countrys first gold medal of the games in his home and reports. Day fourteen of competition started in a victorious manner for the olympic athletes from russia fifteen year old elena zagat tarver put them on top of the podium for the first time in pyongyang after a victory in the womens single figure skating. I was. The celebration was short lived with russian tame officials announcing their bobsled competitor in a dish just agave had tested positive to a bad hard drug shed finished twelfth in the two woman event on thursday russian cola alexander crucial lidsky was stripped of a bronze medal after a positive test at fuels critics of russias participation in pyongyang chang one hundred sixty eight athletes were allowed to compete as neutrals without tame uniforms or flags after accusations of state sponsored diving i the action continued away from the storm on friday and the netherlands collected their eight gold medal of the games in speedskating children noice won the mens one thousand meter is the first skated to win two golds at these games. Was to canadian defending champion Marial Thompson crashed out of the heat of the women ski cross compadre at kelseys so took advantage she led the field from the start of the finals winning gold ahead of britains feeling was its been an emotional winter games for american ski star lindsay vonn on and off the slopes after finishing likelihood last olympics with a bronze medal she met with a group of south korean men who wanted to thank her for the service of her grandfather during the korean war john killed elder toward van de ski died three months ago. That i made my grandfather proud and it was definitely the most emotional ive ever been a race far far it was difficult to control everything and be focused for my competitions but in the end i gave it absolutely everything i had while another olympic seems out of bounds reach she will return to the world cup circuit next season ulis home and out to see her. With two days of competition remaining norway and germany are locked at the top of the medal table with thirteen golds each candidate have now surpassed their best of a medal haul at a Winter Olympics of twenty seven and or in food followed by the United States and the middle and. Despite canadas hall day of mourning the countrys failure to secure hockey gold medals they womens Ice Hockey Team were beaten in a shoot up by the United States in the gold medal match and the mens team have been knocked out in the semifinals by germany who will contest the final for the first time their opponents will be the olympic athletes from russia who beat the Czech Republic to advance to the Decisive Game for the first time in twenty years the decision not to allow n. H. L. Players to compete in pyongyang resulting in an unlikely gold medal match. Meanwhile south koreas womens curlers continue to capture the imagination of the host nation the team you have been nicknamed the goalie girls some say hail from a rule goalie producing area or into the olympic final theyd be japan eight seven in fridays semifinal. Well curling is not really a big sport in south korea but as you can see here the gold is really have captured the imagination of young and old the citizens of the host nation have taken to playing the sport at home and other nontraditional places as part of a craze. I know my hands with quitting because it was such a close game but im thrilled now because were true to the final and we will win the gold. Spanish police say the death of a policeman in bilbao was not a direct consequence of football fan violence a fifty one year old riot officer collapsed from cardiac arrest during clashes between supporters from athletic bilbao and Russian Club Spartak Moscow it happened before the Europa League match five people have been detained three russians and to spend. Well spartak won the match but bilbo advanced four three on aggregate theyll play more say in the last sixteen the big game sees ac milan take on arsenal while i figure madrid have been drawn against Lokomotiv Moscow the first leg of those ties takes place on eight march. The Oklahoma City thunder had to beat the buzzer on thursday to avoid an embarrassing defeat of the second into kings reigning most valuable player Russell Westbrook save the day for the thunder they have blown a twenty three point lead and as the clock take down the kings had come back to level the measured one hundred seventy each but then westbrook schooled verse three pointer to beat the buzzer and save face for the fund for the one hundred ten one hundred seven when he puts Oklahoma City in the west. Italian sprinter vivian he continues to lead into saturdays penultimate stage of cyclings. For the army holds a three second advantage over Alexander Christophe and stage three winner phil bauhaus who took fridays stage in a first of finish from fellow german marcel kittel. Thats all the sport more later marion. Great thanks very much. For the news hour but i will be back in a moment with much more of the days news a full but this and coming your way k. T. Of course around up of all of the days top stories ill see you very shortly stay with us. What makes this moment this era were living through so unique this is really an attack on its truth itself is a lot of misunderstanding a distortion of what free speech is supposed to be about the context its hugely important level right to publish it would have a duty to be offensive or provoke as its all about it as people do stashing this stage for a serious debate up front at this time on aljazeera. Is was just ten years old when a devastating earthquake struck mexico city in one thousand nine hundred five the quake damaged her familys apartment and the government moved them to distant shack around seventy families who lost their homes in that earthquake still live in this camp say. The government raised our hopes and then abandoned us politicians have promised that they wont allow a repeat of what happened after the earthquake in one thousand eight hundred five but the cost and complexity of housing hundreds of People Living in camps is a major task and one that many people here think the government will fail. From Satellite Technology to three d. Printing and recycled waste to solar powered classrooms africa is transforming young innovators aap propelling change Building Communities creating employment and solving problems bit challenging systems and shaping you want. Creative thinkers shaping their continents future innovate africa at this time on aljazeera. Incendiary rockets rained down on rebel held up as the un Security Council struggles to agree on a ceasefire plan