and anne barnard, the new york times bureau chief in beirut, lebanon. this is democracy now, democracy now.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, we go to austin texas and look at a leave,e for paid sick the citizens trying to initiate it, and the koch brothers-backed group that is fighting it. stay with us. ♪ [music break] by pearls before swine's -- the bands founder died sunday at the age of 70. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we end today's show with an upcoming vote on mandated paid sick leave in austin, texas. this week marks 25 years since bill clinton signed the family and medical leave act which gave employees in the u.s. the right to unpaid time off to care for themselves and family members. a decade later, san francisco became the first city to approve paid sick leave. today, some 14 million workers in 32 municipalities and nine states have paid sick leave policies. amy: well on thursday, austin , city council members will vote on an ordinance that would make it the first city in the south to require paid sick leave fro

in london he's an expert on political islam and author of islamic state the digital caliph it in beirut we have mara osman she is a journalist and university lecturer and until around we crossed. he's an associate professor at the university of toronto ok and i think that means you can jump in anytime you want i always appreciate more well let me let me go to you because you are the closest to what we're talking about here. there are so many different things going on trends contradictory trends going on in syria right now i think we're all very familiar what has happened in the last six seven years would you say that this conflict is taking on a new form is it morphed into something and is it more dangerous than what we've seen before go ahead in beirut yes definitely especially after the talks and we saw last week was a hectic week inside of syria beginning in february for when we had the first launching of israeli the first and this month of launching of israeli attacks on the outskirts of damascus countryside killing and allies and certain military posts for the allies of the an arab

and anne barnard, the new york times bureau chief in beirut, lebanon. this is democracy now, democracy now.org, the war and peace report. whwhen we come back,k, we go to austin texas and look at a leave,e for paid sick the citizens trying to initiate it, and the koch brothers-backed group that is fighting it. stay with us. ♪ [music break] by pearls before swinine's -- the e bands founder died sundayt the age of 70. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we end today's show with an upcoming vote on mandated paid sick leave in austin, texas. this week marks 25 years since bill clinton signed the family and medical leave act which gave employees in the u.s. the right to unpaid time off to care for themselves and family members. a decade later, san francisco became the first city to approve paid sick leave. today, some 14 million workers in 32 municipalities and nine states have paid sick leave policies. amy: well on thursday, austin , city council members will vote on an ordinance that would make it the first city in the south to require paid sick lea

in london he's an expert on political islam and author of islamic state the digital caliph it in beirut we have morrow she is a journalist and university lecturer and in turn around we cross to. he is an associate professor at the university of toronto ok crosstalk rules and i think that means you can jump in anytime you want i always appreciate why well let me let me go to you because you are the closest to what we're talking about here there are so many different things going on contra veiling trends contradictory trends going on in syria right now i think we're all very familiar what has happened in the last six seven years is would you say that this conflict is taking on a new form is it morphed into something and is it more dangerous than what we've seen before go ahead in beirut. definitely specially after the talks in touch and we saw last week was a hectic week inside of syria beginning in february for when we had the first launching of israeli the first and this month launching of israeli attacks on the outskirts of damascus countryside killing and. allies and certain military

and then almost immediately afterwards as you order adulatory or bomb syrian government positions in beirut who are killing almost one hundred syrian soldiers and and immediately afterwards isis attacked their positions and took those positions as if they were. as if they knew what was about to happen so the united states is i think it's unclear who's in charge but we do know that trump has given the huge amount of authority to the military and the people in charge right now in the united states the sort of joint mcmaster calley and there are there are close friend. petraeus these people. they are revisionists alice a crook of congress conflicts forum the head of conflicts form wrote a very interesting article recently showing how these people maddest as well that these people are revisionists vietnam revisionists and they believe that if the united states army had been the not armed forces had been given the authority to you know destroy north vietnam that they would have won the war and if it wasn't for the politicians and the military command the united states could have won so these are

would be very would tell the pentagon be very careful because the russians don't bluff go ahead in beirut exactly exactly and if you read the mainstream media that was out on wednesday and thursday of this week and the u.s. you can see how they were gloating about the fact that they were bombing the post of the essay where they most probably have directly hit the russian servicemen we don't know if they are part of the army or not so one of gloating and they were saying we are at war with russia inside of syria this is no longer a secret so not only that they are pushing for some sort of a confrontation with russia but they are also under the ground working for this confrontation i mean could you tell me when has the u.s. ever bombed the isis controlled areas of their resort before it was the great never there are they now bombing the areas that have been liberated by the syrian arab army and its allies why because they don't want them to advance further more to the areas where they occupy was the oil rich obviously oil rich areas and there is storage as well they want to keep away from a

in london he's an expert on political islam and author of islamic state the digital caliphate in beirut we have morrow she is a journalist and university lecturer and in turn around we cross to. he is an associate professor at the university of toronto ok and i think that means you can jump in anytime you want i always appreciate mara let me let me go to you because you are the closest to what we're talking about here there are so many different things going on contra veiling trends contradictory trends going on in syria right now i think we're all very familiar what has happened in the last six seven years would you say that this conflict is taking on a new form is it morphed into something and is it more dangerous than what we've seen before go ahead in beirut. definitely specially after the talks in touch and we saw last week was a hectic week inside of syria beginning in february for when we had the first launching of israeli the first and this month of launching of israeli attacks on the outskirts of damascus countryside killing. and certain military force for the allies of the an

beirut. city but there are advantages here. burning hundreds of. british foreign visits rakhine state. mounting criticism over the. sexual exploitation allegations. resigns. in iran. showing that streak of running out of egypt. has become underneath it rain is falling away seems like in beirut and a good part of iraq jordan to jerusalem twelve degrees by twenty one freshly warm but there's wants to of it. see the rain as. which is a fairly rare event the whole lot does movies which so far to you from tuesday to wednesday obviously snow in northern syria and the higher parts of iran the caucuses so i can go because there's but sun follows temps isn't changed very much from the sun's out in beirut baghdad's about twenty degrees and this time the rain's gone beyond two took matters down to tashkent nine degrees to a freezing is three as well to the south so that temporarily it's pretty warm in eastern sadies thirty three in riyadh the max is thirty seven this is something of a short heat wave so has twenty eight probably but just as a forecast of twen

we lived in almost you could call it beirut. for a child it was like a war zone. her whole goal was survival for her children. >> reporter: young mary's survival mechanism was singing. >> i would wake up in the morning singing commercials, singing songs. singing just -- i would wake up out of my sleep, aaah. and my sister was like shut up, shut up. i just loved it. >> who was your favorite go-to? >> the children's aid society commercial. remember that? >> sing it for me. ♪ he helps me with my homework when i'm stuck ♪ ♪ they help me with my homework when i'm stuck ♪ >> i can't remember -- i remember it but i don't want to go through all that. >> reporter: blige hit commercial success with her first album, which was considered a revolutionary blend of r&b and rap. ♪

aggression towards the syrian government saying it will be met with force then a holder has more from beirut. it wasn't the first israeli air strike of its kind there have been numerous strikes over the past few years but this is the first time the syrian air defenses have shot down the plane a very serious incident a very serious confrontation between syria israel and iran and after the plane was shot down there were further strikes israeli warplanes targeting syrian army positions what they said were iranian targets and they were targeting an area southwest of damascus an area known as close by where we understand an iranian military base is being built it's not the first time they've targeted this area the base is not operational yet but clearly it is a message to iran we will not allow you to set up permanent bases we will not allow you to entrench yourself militarily and we want you away from the border so serious escalation hezbollah's media unit issuing

bring in diana seaman here she's a syria researcher from amnesty international and joins us now from beirut how does the temporary cease fire brought any relief to the people of eastern go to. not yet i mean people who've interviewed her and side of history would have told us that the ceasefire was lighted or breached even before the two pm deadline that was said by russia a doctor told amnesty international that even before two pm ten bombs fed on civilian areas in eastern. including a hospital in one of the neighborhoods and yesterday who died and thankfully nobody was connected but there were some people who were injured in addition none of the humanitarian aid convoys were allowed or even the access by this your government and very stern who. wanted. but as we heard in our report both sides in the conflict blame each other for violating the cease fire why is this truce proving so difficult to implement. i mean we've seen in the past six years how un security council resolutions are being adopted and yet the syrian government and in some cases armed groups have violated or did not implem

joining me now from beirut is newshour weekend special correspondent jane fergun. jane, let's just clarify. there's been some confusion about theimeline of events. what happened when? >> at the minute, we're looking at a number of events today. the first thing that we heard was that this this israeli fighr jet, an f-16, had been downed. but the israelis have now said that, actually, the initial incident is what they're calling an iranian zone entered israeli air space. it was shot down imdiately by the israelis. they then launched attacks inside syria to take down what they say are iranian drone facilities. and it was then that one oae the ii fighter jets was shot down. we know that the two pilots ejected. one of them is supposed to be in decent condition. the other is actuallyti crilly ill at this point. >> sreenivasan: tell us, how is this playing out in the region when peopl are actually exchanging fire-- i know you're in beirut-- but what is media coverage of it? are tensions higher? >> tengsions are hih because everybody is aware of the fact that this is a hug

it will go tomorrow and beirut let's go a little bit closer to home to you there's a lot of open chatter right now with the israel's heighten involvement i mean it's you know what is that over the even the last year it is the legally. violated syria's airspace and looks like now the syrians are not accepting that and they're making it very clear but there's a lot of talk chatter that israel is eyeing another war against hezbollah again fighting a war against lebanon and it seems this all kind of goes into it because that is the paradigm of hezbollah and iran that's their narrative right here interestingly enough you have the united states based in syria as well i mean all the puzzle pieces seem to be coming together go ahead in beirut. yes i definitely agree with that specially after the blow that was taken by the israeli occupation air force on saturday when the jet when the f. sixteen jet was downed by the syrian arab army over a syrian land i mean they were hoping for some kind of a war to start whether in the southern part of syria or with lebanon for that matter but after that ahead

in this program is certainly in the shifting sands in the region many thanks to my guests in london beirut and in iran and thanks to our viewers for watching us here darkie c.n.n. and remember it's. twenty four you know bloody revolution. the demonstrations going to be relatively peaceful political protests to be increasingly violent. revolution is always spontaneous. is it your goal here i mean your list would be would really mean the neighbor loses out of the new school in the middle. the former ukrainian president recalls the events of twenty fourteen. those who took part in this today over five billion dollars to assist ukraine in these and other calls that will ensure a secure and prosperous and democratic. palestine is getting international recognition with the help of israel at least in the world of zoos and nimble fiddlestick misted you like you know. this isn't my cup of tea is going to suddenly all be a bit. old john. the only palestinians who gets the most help from its jerusalem counterparts i don't think some of those who in the world under the oak vision know only could do th

yes i mean the he calmed down fears in beirut of potential cut down of all u.s. support to the lebanese as you sions and there has been lots of talk about sort of making hezbollah equal or equivalent to lebanon's a students including the army of the body's own forces this has been how these have been happening in white wing circles around the u.s. administration so there are some basically calm down these fears and and now he has we have the u.s. position vis a vis supporting the live in the state as you sions including the especially the lebanese armed forces which united states have been backing. and the past in the past phase so this this is a we are for nation of the u.s. position on on these issues and at the same time it's also a sort of an acknowledgment that. the united states sees these two entities are separate and basically also calming down the fears of the lebanese financial sector which has been very wary of u.s. sanctions against hezbollah and individuals associated with the party. and really to what extent would this expand then affect the lebanes

in this program is certainly in the shifting sands in the region many thanks to my guests in london beirut and in iran and thanks to our viewers for watching us here dark you see in x. time and remember. if you agree or really believes we're about to conduct a preemptive strike it's going to be a significant and a serious preemptive strike that may. they may be motivated to make it to try to visas. twenty fourteen. a bloody revolution to achieve the demonstrations going to be relatively peaceful political protests to be creasing the violent revolution is always spontaneous or is it just no war here i mean your list with video and the bill is that i new school in the middle of the former ukrainian president recalls the events of twenty four g. and. those who took. invested over five billion dollars to assist ukraine in these and other goals that will ensure a secure and prosperous and democratic. palestine is getting international recognition with the help of israel at least in the world of zoos a member of the commission to do loving you i can hear you this is in my capacity is going out l

in london he's an expert on political islam and author of islamic state the digital caliph it in beirut we have morrow she is a journalist and university lecturer and in turn around we cross to. he is an associate professor at the university of toronto ok in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want i always appreciate why well let me let me go to you because you are the closest to what we're talking about here there are so many different things going on contra veiling trends contradictory trends going on in syria right now i think we're all very familiar what has happened in the last six seven years is would you say that this conflict is taking on a new form is it morphed into something and is it more dangerous than what we've seen before go ahead in beirut. definitely specially after the talks in touch and we saw last week was a hectic week inside of syria beginning in february for when we had the first launching of israeli the first and this month a launching of israeli attacks on the outskirts of damascus countryside killing and allies and turned them into reports for the a

beirut. correspondent gary has the latest from inside eastern ghouta. yes shelling is still ongoing in eastern guta through many villages and towns and even the city of duma you can hear the intensive bombardment of several areas battles are also taking place the host go ahead and fronts as the regime forces are trying to advance and storm east and grew to russia yesterday announced a truce between nine am and two pm in addition to humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave the area but the civilians don't want to leave the areas controlled by the regime by these corridors or crossings because of the continued shelling the syrian regime forces are only a few hundred meters from where i am civilians have been killed today and people stuck here scared administrative and medical authorities here say that there is no contact or coordination between them on one hand and the russian side all the syrian red crescent on the other hand the administrative and medical authorities say this is aimed at circumventing the security council's decision on the truce. t

northern israel one was severely injured while in a few moments in a hot air will join us live from beirut but first let's cross to western talk to. some confusion as to whether or not these rainy operation is finished what more can you tell us about this jet being shot down. well can tell you that the israeli army have confirmed that the operation is still ongoing against what it's calling iranian targets and syrian ed defense systems on the syrian side now what they're saying about the israeli jet is interesting they're very very careful language they won't confirm whether it was actually shot down with it was shot down by syrian air defense systems all even russian defense system that is likely to try and avoid a big escalation of this conflict clearly the syrians are very angry and they've issued a statement saying that they will retaliate against any israeli aggression on the territory the ministry of defense is actually leading this operation they are in meetings right now trying to figure out what they're doing next but yes the operation is still ongoing but no confirmation as to ho

lebanon and lebanon enlarged by the un extension of beirut to paly to becca and serving as a model of what is necessary to achieve using indigenous and. and. these two men devised a plan that would not only divide the spoils of the declining autumn an empire between the two european powers but would draw lines in the sand that would ultimately influence the shape of the middle east for the next century. istanbul capital of an ottoman empire that had stood for six centuries. it spanned the three continents of asia africa and europe. its peak had been in the sixteenth century. that the other says i shall. adopt the euro see more score that there was the how well. the better of me and from. that. i look. many fee. but i. feel. that. no there are many year learn to call a double or a sin i can that there were a year to job. and. he. hasn't done a proper war othella sadat has to hear from his own poor who are living but there. are. a builder of many year. there with me if you're a little off up so on. from about a very. base of american have fathers monique america. has an illusion and i c

to beirut to the lebanese capital that you can see rex tillerson the u.s. secretary of state with. the lebanese prime minister a significant visit there on the part of rex tillerson the u.s. secretary of state he's doing something of a round robin to he was in latin america he's now made his way across the globe to the middle east he has been making comments about hezbollah reading of the interpretation of the financing of that perceived not just in beirut not just in lebanon but across the region as being. highly significant he is we understand thinking about reheating the idea of a legitimate lebanese security force how that will be received particularly across the region with regard to the israeli government that remains to be seen it does have a slightly finessed approach to say because he is very clearly separating out hezbollah the armed group from hezbollah which has political representation within the framework of lebanese politics the politics of lebanon and the people of lebanon there has to date been something of a refresh is being called a pressure campaign where the st

i found him at his home in beirut. did you see these waves of children? >> oh, yes, oh my god, they gave their little children, the children soldiers-- , 13 years old-- these keys to heaven. i mean, that's-- that's-- that-- that's really-- that's-- that's something that made me cry. i mean, usually the group was a group of children with an elder guy who had the imama, religious-- who was the leer. they go through these minefields. hethen they go through the iraqi... fortifications that were actually protected by a network of napalm mines. then they enter iraq, anduring all this process, they were under shelling. they were being blown up. earth up, sky down. (helicopter rotors whirring) they were being bombed by helipters, by warplanes, by howitzers, by rocketaunchers, o and stepn mines. and they kept coming! they kept coming. they kept coming. they were like actually like s waves. and there were me humans than bullets. they were stepping on their colleagues' bodies. (explosions) >> smith: these human wave attacks turnedut to be extremely successful. iran

beirut the capital of lebanon. the city has undergone many changes since the refugees arrived lebanon has taken in one and a half million syrians relative to the population that's more than any other country. today every fourth resident here comes from syria most of them eke out a living on the fringes of society they are merely tolerated and get little in the way of support from the state. eighty percent of the around one and a half million syrians here do not any longer have legal status to be in lebanon this raises an enormous range of barriers for them right it means they can't move freely for fear of arrest at checkpoints which means they can't work and when they can't work they have very few resources to support their families to pay for rent and to pay for basic things like transportation to send their kids to school. human rights expert. is the author of a study on the barriers to education that the refugee children face it's a massive problem. we found that lebanon had opened up two hundred thousand spots

he joins us from beirut. good to have you on the show. your organization released a statement today saying "it is impossible to bring in a humanitarian convoy in only five hours." what framework needs to be in place if you are able to do your job in eastern ghouta? ralph: absolutely. five hours is definitely not enough to bring in humanitarian aid for over 400,000 people who have been living ther ewith very little, access to medicine food, water, and basic necessities. what is needed is the government of syria and armed groups, that all the parties fighting come to an agreement to allow humanitarian organizations the safe and repeated access into eastern ghouta, first so we are able to assess humanitarian needs and devise our plan accordingly. even if we're allowed once into eastern ghouta, that would definitely not be enough, and we would have to enter again to distribute to the thousands of people who are in need. host: what are you going to do? as it looks right now, the un's cease-fire is not taking place, and the only thing that ocul

beirut for more their son joined. us from the white helmet souse in paris and watch how much as a humanitarian organization made up of volunteers you help syrian civilians on the ground thank you very much indeed for taking the time to talk to us or can you can you explain to us how serious the situation is in. in one week more than one hundred more than four hundred casualties just in the last week one hundred of them were children you can imagine what the situation there is no reason for the international community or for that we will to keep silent we are in the same in front of the sense you know your of your book or. any and it's really be it in two thousand and eighteen before that it was in a new book in two thousand and seventeen. we will face the same scenario without any areas on but just there is an international humanitarian law and no one cared about it i mean it that you say this they just silent but actually the un has been calling for a cease fire of a month and has pulled what has been happening in so

on we can continue this question is get some more middle east reaction on this joins us from beirut we know has been laws been speaking out on this one what's the message there. oh yes hezbollah the lebanese armed group allied to iran their media unit issuing a statement but this time around it was not signed by hezbollah but signed by syria's allies so iran you know hezbollah the iranian revolutionary guard all of them issuing this statement saying that any syrian aggression or an aggression against the syrian government or the syrian or syria will be met with course so clearly a very tough response and as iran was mentioning the iranians as well saying there is a message that as of today you know the downing of the jet is a message that you know they can't fly over syria and hit targets in syria without going unpunished so harsh rhetoric really it was a serious incident a serious confrontation but for now it seems both sides have taken a step back they've given each other messages we know what israel's red lines are it said this for some time now it will not allow to iran and its all

bureau chief for beirut for "new york times." thank you. >> thank you. >>> the first medals of the winter games have been awarded. we'll tell you who has taken home the gold. still ahead. i know i can be challenging... but i'm deeper than what you see. i'm craving something we're missing. the ceramides in cerave. cerave contains three essential ceramides, to restore the ones we've lost and help repair my natural barrier. so i can lock in moisture, and keep us protected. we're in this together, so we've got to have each other's backs... and fronts... and arms... and legs. cerave. what your skin craves. show of hands. let's get started. who wants customizable options chains? ones that make it fast and easy to analyze and take action? how about some of the lowest options fees? are you raising your hand? good then it's time for power e*trade the platform, price and service that gives you the edge you need. alright one quick game of rock, paper, scissors. 1, 2, 3, go. e*trade. the original place to invest online. >>> back to the winte

the kurds ok jamal wakim professor of history and international relations at lebanese university in beirut thanks very much for your thoughts and for coming on to our program thanks to. the u.s. is relying on kurds while trying to violate the sovereignty of syria and separate a piece of its territory that's the view of the russia's foreign minister in every interview. we're going to split and as that would you u.s. special forces and other units are on the ground in syria illegally without any invitation from damascus actually from the legitimate government or any u.n. security council mandate. it's understood that the u.s. probably has some kind of strategy which i think means settling in syria forever with its armed forces they want to do the same now in iraq and afghanistan contrary to all their previous promises they are already sparking a situation where a huge part of syrian territory would be separated from the rest of the country violating the sovereignty of the syrian arab republic there they are creating quite as i local ruling bodies all the time trying to give them some kind of

in beirut just coming back to the current government strategy the assad government strategy right now and looking specifically at eastern ghouta on the outskirts of damascus which has been under siege now for almost four years by government forces that strategy doesn't seem to have worked they are some reports now suggesting that the assad regime could be considering a ground offensive there how risky would that be. yeah first of all let me tell something whoever about the missile whoever provide the insurgent by this message or other and when. those missiles. delivered to search around the borders of turkey whether two years or three years ago so why what is the third issue of first of all the north of syria. second i've done from the situation and north of syria and turkey involvement and i fried is making a very big again. a success and that will be to aleppo and the south and the north of hama it's very important to put a talk to protect the. highway between aleppo and damascus and and every day they can make. an order to solve the problem on the table right later on with the. sec

rather harshly the spokesman for the international committee of the red cross joining us tonight from beirut mr hart thank you very much thank you. here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world in jerusalem protesters opposed to a proposed tax on the church of the holy sepak or were rewarded with success when the tax plan was suspended today the church on the site where christians believe jesus christ was crucified and buried was closed in protest it will reopen on wednesday in washington d.c. the street outside the russian embassy has been renamed to boris nemtsov plaza after the russian politician and critic of president vladimir putin who was gunned down three years ago at the same time in moscow else supporters placed flowers at the place where he was shot close to the kremlin a former security guard from chechnya was jailed for him solves murder. greece's economy and development minister has resigned demetrius of a dummy trio stepped down just a day after his wife left the government now this followed a public outcry when it was revealed that the weal

for more on the situation in syria we are joined e barnard of the "new york times" via skype from beirut. let's put this in context. 500 people killed in just the i an of a week. an, these are just rough estimates. but what is responsible for this surge of violence?>> well, mainly, right now, the governmetot is trying take over the last couple of large rebel-held areas, and one of them is eastern ghouta, which is just to the east of damascus. it's really adjacent to the capital city. it's suburbs, a collection of sort of concrete block buildings and agricultural fields. right now, the bombardment, in a sense, are just a more intense version of what's been going on year after year after year. the besieged area that people can't get out of, and the government heent really been able to advance much on the ground up to now, so the strategy is just to bomb the area and try to force surrender. >> sreenivasan: you mentioned a phrase that's important the. the "the people can't necessarily get out of." people are going to wonder, if there is so much strife goin on, why don't people leave? how are

lives is the highest priority as well ralph el-hage from the international red cross joining us from beirut thanks very much thank you we're turning now to the u.s. where president donald trump's son in law jared kushner has been stripped of his top level security clearance kushner's downgraded status takes him a step away from the president's inner circle especially in terms of access to america's top secrets kushner's not alone many other white house aides who had temporary clearance also seen their privileges blocked by chief of staff john kelly if you have had donald trump here like jarryd krishna. from the early days of the campaign the discreet son in law has been a constant at trumps a advising coaching watching his back doing his best to turn an improbable candid it into a president. of the. air and have a job in the white house on access to the u.s. is most closely held secret but on friday trump said krishna's privileges were in the hands of his chief of staff so that will be up to general kelly general kelly respects general lot and general kelly will make that call i will make t

knowledge jamal wakim professor of history and international relations of the lebanese university in beirut you're very welcome do you think that this cease fire is it possible to implement a and b. is it going to hold for thirty days. well i believe that the ceasefire is conditional and this is noted in the un resolution because the syrian government and its russian ally will. continue its operations against. isis which are on the terrorist list. this is on one hand and on the other hand i believe that we need to see what would be the reaction of the united states because the united states was the one to call for the un resolution for the ceasefire in the beginning however the russian intervention amended this ceasefire to fit. the needs for fighting terrorism. in syria. while the united states thinks that the ceasefire was meant not for the syrian government to take control of which should remain. like a region to direct threat to the capital to damascus and there were plans to link. them to a plan for region controlled by the united states to. open a quality door that would allow u.s. tr

but it's a very young settle picture across much of the middle east a lot of arab looks fun to drive beirut around eighteen celsius away nineteen 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 with as we go on through sunday a little bit of snow over the high ground that's 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 ensues 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 which i 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 for the south was across the u.a.e.

already lined up to bring rain through iraq on a fairly windy day on the coastal event eighteen in beirut breeze and bright i would suggest is the two words to use if anything the rain is still there on tuesday in iraq in syria but the sun has replaced the bright weather in beirut still a bit of a breeze there more rain a bit of snow for the higher ground in turkey but it's dried out through most iran except for that western border area to the sas more rain is coming yes there's already been some it looks like monday will probably be dry was always a hint with cloud around you might see something out of the sky but it seems far more like the right time to get to tuesday that once more rain will be felt in kuwait bahrain qatar and eventually beyond that in the u.a.e. . i remind her of the top stories on al-jazeera the syrian government forces have launched a new ground and their offensive against rebel held eastern kuta despite the un security council calling for a cease fire as the winter olympics and think young china and a voice from north korea has set his country is ready to hold talk

unicef says it wasn't aware of the complaints when it appointed for size if now the lebanese capital beirut is hosting an exhibition highlighting the plight of syrian children it aims to raise awareness of the challenges and trauma suffered by millions of displaced children seventy deca went to take a look. this sculpture of a young boy and girl represents the childhood of millions of syrian children killed injured orphaned or displaced their young thoughts displayed here in beirut through art inspired by their poems. if you want to do anything with the aid agencies they don't call you by your name or your family name they call you by your number this is very upsetting i want to be called by my name ya wrote a poem called a wish this is the artist's interpretation of her dreams that the best find this is my goal i have a way i want to finish my studies and become a lawyer so i can defend the rights of children all i don't want children to suffer like we have suffered. haunting images paint a picture of trauma experiences that have abruptly ended a carefree childhood. i was very upset to lea

attack in twenty thirteen the bombing has damaged or destroyed six medical facilities has more from beirut. the targeting of civilians is a military tactic their aim is to bomb people into submission to force them to surrender more than two hundred people killed at least sixty of them children in the past three days intense bombardment intense artillery strikes the government wants the rebel and claims to surrender they want the thousands of rebels in eastern who've had to lay down their arms and agree to leave to move to other rebel held areas in the north of the country and this has happened in the past in other rebel controlled territories so far the rebels and the people of eastern are remaining defiant but how long will be it will they be able to continue to endure this suffering hospitals are being hurt there's very few medical supplies the area has been under siege there's no food there's a lack of a lack of medicine now the government is sending troops to reinforce the reinforcements to the edges of eastern and it is promising a ground offensive that ground offensive has still not

which has been under siege since two thousand and thirteen reports from beirut and neighboring lebanon. rockets. could be the beginning of a large scale military operation. to bring about. have so far failed. yet again where the victims since the end of december a military campaign killed more than four hundred people at least one hundred were children. the numbers will only rise if. the syrian government and its allies are military. the edges of the rebel enclave just outside the capital damascus program of the media are promising victory in what they say will be a decisive battle it won't be the first time they will try to storm. past ground offensives where we by rebels and people are defiant. we have man who. they won't be able to one inch. this is what we have been steadfast for seven years they tried many times and he was all kinds of weapons but they weren't able to do anything. the syrian government and its allies haven't taken ground but over the years they have continuously bombarded residential neighborhoods this area and government and its allies have been recapturing one o