Decision to resign as president of the republic with immediate effect south africas scandal plagued president jacob zuma reluctantly steps down under intense pressure from his own party. Also seventeen People Killed during a Us High School shooting the suspect is a former student hed been expelled and. Russia can push the regime to commit to seeking a real peace in syria the u. S. And russia again trade blame at the u. N. After the special envoy for syria says the violence is at its worst level for years. Also around moves in on black market money traders and sinking currency inflicts more pain on the economy. Welcome to the news hour jacob zuma has resigned south africas president heeding orders from his ruling party the a. N. C. Hes going immediately bringing an end to almost nine scandal plagued years in power for me to miller possible from johannesburg. A reluctant announcement from an in vattel to president i have therefore coming to the decision to resign as president of the republic with immediate effect even though i disagree with the decision of my of the leadership of my of going to zation i have always been a disciplined member of the. It came just hours before parliament was due to vote in a motion of no confidence against jacob zuma president s hand may have been forced but zuma says his party did not give reasons why he should resign thats despite being in broiled in scandal after scandal throughout his presidency including accusations of corruption and a court ruling that he had broken his oath of office when he ignored the public protect his recommendation that he paperback some of the state money used to rehab issues private residence. Despite all the criticism against zuma the a. N. C. Says the decision to recall him was a difficult one to make following zoomers resignation the ruling party saluted what it called his outstanding contribution and thanked him for the role he played in the a. N. C. For many decades. Earlier in the day the home of zimmers associates a family known as the guptas was raided. Five people have been arrested after an investigation revealed that billions of dollars of state funds was siphoned from a dairy farm project into business is linked to the group does. Next week the National Prosecuting authority will decide if a corruption charges against zuma that were dropped in two thousand and nine will be reinstated and an inquiry into the extent of external influence in seumas administration known as state capture is due to begin his removal as president may just be the beginning of zoomers troubles for media Millar Al Jazeera johannesburg but for me to mention the gupta brothers alleged role in jacob zuma is troubles takes a closer look at who they are. Twenty five years after immigrating from india to brothers a. J. And brijesh one of the richest families in south africa they went from success to success with investments in media energy air travel mining and technology they first met president jacob zuma more than a decade ago one of the company of events wasnt long before several xoom is working for the govt is but their relationship didnt become controversial until the go to strew a luxury waiting in twenty thirteen and chartered a plane with more than two hundred wedding guests to an air force base that is reserved to state dignitaries it was a National Scandal about the same time allegations surfaced that they had pushed president zuma on certain ministerial appointments allegations that guptas and zuma denies. Charge of the government im in charge ill point. In terms of the constitution there is no minister who is that here was appointed by the who does. But the accusation stuck the National Ombudsman published a three hundred fifty five page report on the matter and twenty six doing its title state of capture the came household term the normally media shy group has had little choice but to respond. Im not a lobbyist im not a state capture as far as concern of that im a friend only. Going to do me as a friend of the people of matting and met office what are the been a list explain and by understand that captured is there. When you are digging and the advantage of anybody a. J. Good to see it less than two percent of their business is government related the image was tainted now with the arrests of several members of the gupta family many will be looking to see how this case will impact the president so robert poser faces a mountain of challenges as he moves into the presidency despite the seas promises to build homes that improve basic services millions of people still live without electricity or water levels of Violent Crime remain the bugs the highest in the world while official figures put unemployment at twenty seven point seven percent many suspect its even higher than that and capetown south africas second largest city is also running out of water. For khuda is a researcher at the Aljazeera Center for studies he says zuma is removal is an effort by the African African National Congress to move on from a tainted presidency before Elections Come soon i think sort of the polls of the current leader of the sea. Insistence of removing jacob zuma was clearly to try and have a smoother electoral period because jacob zuma would have indeed impacted on the in c. Winning the next elections and twenty nineteen because hes around it and suddenly by all of these people who bring the petition down and then the corruption charges that are hanging over his head so it was an agent issue for the a. N. C. To get rid of jacob zuma and if that i mean if this is the only hope actually they head to replace him with sort of oppose it because if zuma was going to take and see today to the election next year many people argue that in a scene might have is in the last elections. Seventeen people are being killed in the u. S. State of florida by a gunman who opened fire at a high school it happened in the municipality of parkland north of miami police say the suspect is a former student who was expelled for well have a live update from our correspondent and a gala in parkland shortly but first heres mike hanna this report on what we know so far. Reports of gunfire were received shortly before classes were dismissed for the day a code red alert was issued the school was locked down with many students still sheltering inside there are more than three thousand students registered at the school and the rescue operation was made more difficult by the vast size of the campus. Multiple casualties weve had approximately fourteen people transported to area hospitals with varying degrees of injuries there are multiple casualties aerial footage showed hundreds of students running from the area some of the injured being treated on the scene the suspect here we are being a maroon shirt was taken into custody. In this footage shes shown being placed on a gurney hes been identified as a nineteen year old former student at the school the Daily White House briefing was canceled because of the shooting and President Trump took to twitter my prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida Shooting he said no child teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American School in washington the senator from the state which up until now was the scene of the deadliest School Shooting five and a half years ago at sandy hook said yet again a very american tragedy had occurred the scorch of School Shooting after School Shooting it only happens here not because of coincidence not because of bad luck. But as a consequence of our inaction we are responsible for a level of mass atrocity that happens in this country with zero parallel anywhere else before this day they had already been five separate School Attacks reported in this year alone a total of at least four students had been killed well over twenty injured and i was relieved parents are reunited with their children one stark fact remains the six and latest attack is likely to see release tragic numbers increase significantly mike hanna aljazeera washington lets go straight over to the calhoun whos in parkland for some the shootouts been apprehended and they are as well as we know in the last few hours but what do we know about the circumstances leading up to the shooting. Well were getting a clearer picture it is now clear that this was a premeditated attack were told that cruise entered the school with a gas mask smoke grenades and an Assault Rifle possibly an a r fifteen we are also being told that it is him that triggered the smoke alarm as he walked inside the school to create an atmosphere of panic and its also worth remembering that this is a school that he attended before he was essentially kicked out so he knew where to go he knew where the classrooms were he knew where there would be most people he is now in hospital his injuries are said to be not life threatening and already he is cooperating with investigators they are currently going through his social media through his facebook feed they already say theyre finding disturbing images and disturbing messages his motive is still not known but this is somebody who has left an indelible mark here in parkland in florida but as mike said this is not the first mass School Shooting in this country this year alone it is in fact the six and it is only halfway through the month of february so it is striking that yet again in the worlds most advanced nation that this keeps on repeatedly happening over the past fifteen years of just about covered every mass shooting that has been in this country and almost every time i am asked the question when will things change and i can tell you almost categorically nothing will change despite the loss of life here and despite the repeated times that this keeps on happening in the United States and of course you have to be when we see these shootings we hear about these shootings whether they were to school or to rock concerts we saw in las vegas just only what late last year the debate about gun control the debate about the Second Amendment comes to the forefront and then sort of at zero way. It does every time and there are many reasons for that soley that one of the main reasons is the National Rifle association who have millions of members in this country who lobby quite heavily in washington d. C. And give lots of money to politicians are extremely powerful and there are plenty of people in this country that believe the Second Amendment should never be touched but the fact remains that a nineteen year old student who clearly had issues on social media was able to go and buy an Assault Rifle if thats a weapon indeed used which is basically a military grade weapon one that we saw used in sandy hook in connecticut when twenty children were killed who were far younger than the ones here the debate happens it dies and goes away the only thing i can think of thats happened in the direction of controlling guns is after las vegas which i also covered they were talking about banning bump stocks which turn Assault Rifles into automatic weapons that still hasnt. Passed any kind of legislation in Congress People are frustrated people are angry that nothing ever happens but i can almost categorically tell you that once again even though this is tragic even though theres been a great loss of life nothing is bound to change once again for the moment i do believe that of course and come back to as a situation develops and a gal heather in parkland in florida well john boehner is a gun violence expert and joins me now from pittsburgh good to have you with some in another shooting at another school and according to our correspondent you know maybe up to as many as eleven in the u. S. And its only february its a concern surely for lawmakers as well as Security Officials who not just guard schools but guard rock concerts shopping malls and the places where ordinary civilians go every day. Yeah unfortunately theres theres no place that you can explain to us here in america were seeing this in our schools movie theaters and like youve mentioned before proper reaction we have to do is we have to understand that these numbers are skyrocketing and one thing that we recommend in a School Setting is that every one of our School Buildings now have to consider putting Armed Security armed Police Inside these buildings for these children also fortifying the building with capturing vestibules and the third piece of this is to make sure that all the staff all the teachers know how to properly react so that they dont go into a freeze they dont go into a a fight or flight or they freeze these are the knowns is that you have to be able to react immediately which is paramount as to the reason why thats the billion dollar question here in america theres three hundred twenty Million People in america trying to figure out everyones intent is very difficult thats one thing that the investigators will now be doing eighty five percent of all active shooters died by either self harm or police force at the scene just like to say were able to take this man alive or allow them so i just to get in there just very quickly because youve raised a number of points that we havent at the time to discuss a vulture thats very interesting subject because basically if you if you talk about security in schools if you have extra security start telling kids how to protect themselves start telling children how to protect themselves use change the nature of the education establishment from one that should be a free and open environment full children to feel safe and comfortable to one where they wonder whos got a gun know whos got some sort of weapon to defend themselves and their teachers look after them in a state of emergency. You bring up vollard points a very valid points however this is the byproduct of what america has come to and if you dont prepare for this then theres a liability and. Youre not providing that security we will adjust here in america the children wonder stand that this is what we have to do now we have to learn these we have to have these deep discussions so that we can get that proper reaction to eliminate injury or death during one of these active shooters in terms of the scene of the crime right now the assailant has apparently been apprehended how does the investigation proceed now in terms of really how he managed either to get a gun or get into the school all of that right now theyre going to start with the epicenter theyre going to do everything in terms of search warrants looking on his social media his computers finding out every place he has lived find out if theres any blog network in starting out and nexus ing out to see if there was anyone involved what is his intent what caused him to be so angry every one of these active shooter start with a grievance part to this so to find out what triggered this man and to find out if theres any other individuals involved was he subscribing to any type of. Mohammad or is he upset with certain people in the school theyre going to be very open minded to try to answer every one of those questions well see what happens in. This investigation as it is at the moment joe bruno they pittsburgh thanks very much for joining us sir. But more ahead here on the aljazeera news hour including in more danger than ever a chilling new report about children in war zones. And pledges are made to help rebuild iraq but is there enough money to make a difference. Also shaun white in the olympic spotlight but its not just for his half pipe a row ix well explain it. To african our zimbabwes political opposition has lost a towering figure with the death of Morgan Chiang Rai he founded the movement for Democratic Change and became a symbol of resistance against former president Robert Mugabe with whom he briefly shared power was being treated for colon cancer in neighboring south africa perelman tassel looks back at his life. To his supporters morbid richard that i was a man who challenges of our time leader Robert Mugabe at a time when few people day to do so but it was a long and sometimes painful journey in one thousand nine hundred nineteen get ive been a trade union leader for the Opposition Party the movement for Democratic Change in the years that followed he organized protests to try and force mugabe out of office he was beaten while in Police Custody charged with treason jailed several times and labeled a chain by mugabe supporters. In the two thousand and eight president ial election he won the most votes but not enough to win outright. Before a second round took place his supporters were targeted in a campaign of violence the Opposition Leader put out of the president ial race in protest regional leaders and the International Community intervened after months of negotiations saying that i was sworn in as Prime Minister in two thousand and nine it was a temporary power sharing government but mugabe was still the president. Remembered fundamentally in the sense that he broke. Into god this will include those eight when we got before the first of this did last. The first president. In almost the majority overall of of religion in that is weve been done since then to doing. So for dogs. Four years later another election took place this time m. D. C. Party lost by a huge margin his critics said he had ignored the plight o