Damascus as the Syrian Government pummels rebel held Eastern Ghouta. Killed there is risen to more than two hundred plus its one thing to promise a million jobs but its another to actually say how hes going to do that south africas new president to tell the country how hell repair the struggling economy also. We have to do more to protect our children. The u. S. President proposing a ban on devices that some weapons into machine guns. In bangkok or the buddhist. Monks. Going around the system and theyre gaining support their story coming up. From the winter games chang. Braun in the womens downhill and. Likely her last to lead. So we begin this in syria and the two most important battles being fought in this latest chapter in the countrys near seven year war rebels holed up in eastern near the capital damascus are refusing to bend after more heavy bombardment by russian and Syrian Forces the rebels possess a heavy arsenal including tanks machine guns and anti aircraft weaponry thousands of civilians are trapped in the middle at least two hundred fifty people have been killed since sunday eastern was designated a deescalation zone to make civilians safer hooters not only just a few kilometers away from syrias capital its also close to Damascus International airport and military sites now all this is going on theres also the threat of more violence in the Northern Region of africa in Turkish Forces have pushed back Syrian Government forces there after theyre tempted to enter the district on tuesday well get the latest from eastern in just a few moments but first lets get the latest on that situation in a free and aljazeera is a sum a big job it is in whats the latest. In the last few minutes weve heard from the spokesman of president brigitte they are the gun the turkish president that is saying that there will be serious consequences if the city and militias continue their advances towards the city of a free and this is the city on the in the north on the border with turkey which is controlled by of i. P. G. A Kurdish Militia which turkey called a terrorist group in the last few days these this militia has asked for help from the Syrian Government and in the last twenty four hours we saw at least one called boy trying to make its way to words offering which was halted by artillery fire by the by the turkish government saying that it will not allow and even force winds to reach the this city of offering some of these scientists do believe have we have arrived enough seen but theyre in very small numbers and because turkey has been very adamant in saying that it will not allow them this is perhaps an attempt to try and demonstrate that turkey does not call all the shots yes president and a gun has been speaking to the president s of russia and iran but there are some there are some pockets that the regime in that this also controls and it also contains some of these fighters who are adamant to reach a free a side of the president of turkey says that his forces will capture the area within days but is that a realistic approach prospect could it happen. Well it is going to be easier said than done because a freend is a mountainous area that kurdish fighters know these londons quite well and military analysts and military experts who weve been speaking to say that theyre the month long advance has been slow the number of casualties on the turkish side has been much higher in tibet isnt do another operation they counted up in city called Euphrates Shield so it is going to be a slow and steady pace of the turkish troops have been making gains weve heard from the Free Syrian Army these are mostly arab fighters who are supported by the Turkish Military saying that they have almost encircled the city of control more than ninety percent shins and nearby villages around the city of offie so that perhaps gives president on the confidence to say that not just his troops but the forces that his troops are supporting in circling the city theyre trying to lay a siege on the city and once they choke and cut off all of the supply lines of it with which weapons and reinforcements are reaching the city of offering but up to that to be the decisive part of the battle when they can actually go in and capture the city all right of some many thanks indeed to some a binge of it and get out of those strikes on the rebel held area of Eastern Ghouta that have killed more than two hundred people zain a honda is live for us in beirut the u. N. Says the situation in eastern guta is beyond imagination what is the government doing there why is it bombing residential areas. Well were day four of this Bombing Campaign yet more civilian deaths what we understand from local activists ten People Killed so yet more deaths more than two hundred people hundreds injured this is a military tactic bombing civilian areas is a military tactics weve seen in the past what the government wants the Government Alliance is to bomb the area into submission to force the rebels to surrender to force the people to surrender for the people the population to turn on the rebels and say enough is enough we cannot handle this lay down your arms and accept the deal but the problem is the people do not want a deal that would involve them leaving their homes weve seen this in the past theyve had to lay down their arms there was a Mass Evacuation and they moved to other rebel controlled areas in the north like the province of idlib we saw that in aleppo so this is why people are so concerned but at the same time the suffering is unimaginable airstrikes are continuing almost you know continuous airstrikes targeting multiple towns so the situation is very dire you say they want people to surrender people a truck that what are they supposed to do to think. Well they should pressure the rebels and tell the rebels accept to lay down their arms this is collective punishment its indiscriminate bombardment this has happened they consider everyone who lives in rebel controlled territory terrorists so this is the governments narrative theyve been bombing civilian infrastructure hospitals hospitals are now out of service so the situation is so bad that at the end they say we give up and this is exactly what the government wants theyre sending reinforcements on the ground the ground offensive has still not begun in earnest that is going to be costly i was going to ask you about about the issue that this bombing. These bombing raids that have killed so many people in such a short space of time is is this a prayer you to some sort of ground offensive their release. Well the Syrian Government newspaper el one time says yes expect the Bombing Campaign to be the beginning of a major vast operation against which can start at anytime now is the government serious well its going to be costly for them theyve tried this on numerous occasions in the past but they have not taken ground the rebels have been able to repel that advance keep them away from taking territory so if the rebels are able to hold ground they would have a better negotiating position really but even if theyre able to repel the ground advance how well how can they stop the bombings from the sky i mean people will keep on dying civilians will keep on dying so its a very very difficult situation so the government sending thousands and thousands of troops really eastern huta has been a thorn in the governments side for some time now the rebels are able to threaten damascus the seat of the governments power for some time now so a victory there will definitely be removing a threat if you like for the for the Syrian Government on its own and many thanks to the heart of the reporting from beirut the state of qatar chad to restore diplomatic ties chads government ordered the closure of qatars embassy in august that was two months after the start of the gulf crisis in which saudi arabia bahrain the u. A. E. And egypt imposed a blockade on gaza. It with a new saw from out of syria still to come on the program. Our negotiators are sitting right behind ready to talk but we will not chase after any warning from the u. S. About the peace plan palestinian president has put to the United Nations plus. Im Natasha Butler in southeastern france is the french government revealed his new plans for an Immigration Law the mayor of this city kannada says the stage to be doing more to protect refugees and later in sport chelsea and boss a lot of set up the Champions League cliff hanger at the new cup. The u. S. President has agreed more needs to be done to protect children in the wake of last weeks School Shooting in florida donald trump called for a ban on socalled bump stocks devices that allow a semi automatic rifle to fire at the speed of a machine gun hes expected to speak to survivors of several Mass Shootings in the coming hours aljazeera is Heidi Joe Castro reports from washington. The bomb stocks a deadly threat was witnessed in october when a gunman used them to rain down bullets on a crowd in las vegas killing fifty eight people the call to bamba stocks was swift. But it took until now four months later for President Donald Trump to take action. After the deadly shooting in las vegas i directed the attorney general to clarify whether certain bob stock devices like the one used in las vegas are illegal under current law that process began in december and just a few moments ago i signed a memorandum directing the attorney general. To propose regulations to ban all devices that turn illegal weapons into machine guns announcement came six days after yet another mass shooting dominated the headlines seventeen people mostly students were killed in a Florida High School theres no indication the shooter also used a bomb stalk in the attack but trumps move to ban the devices now appears to be the president bending to growing pressure polling shows the majority of americans think trump in congress havent done enough to stop Mass Shootings while gun Safety Advocates say banning bomb stops is good they say theres still much more that needs to be done as a function and that is to say. Every day. Theres a. Shot thank you. The young survivors of the Florida Shooting are expected to meet with trump on wednesday for what the white house calls a listening session expected to join them are survivors of past School Shootings sandy hook elementary Columbine High School and many others. Heidi joe castro aljazeera washington at least one hundred survivors of the florida School Shooting of arrived in the state capital tallahassee to push for gun control the set to hold talks with state legislators and call for a ban on assault style rifle assault of floridas house of representatives earlier rejected proposals to make them illegal seventeen students and staff were killed in the attack in pop and last week i knew that they were that they were going to hear as if you just stay say one in here park in florida we have to go to that me head and we have to you know show them how our boys you know usually tell them how everyone was like what our from zero to zero is and a guy like. Last wednesdays School Shooting in parklane florida was one of the worst in this countrys history seventeen people died when former student Nicholas Cruz walked into a school with an a r fifteen Assault Rifle but a bill that would have banned Assault Rifles has already been overwhelmingly voted down in the state legislature giving us some idea of the challenges they will face but these teenagers have been praised for their eloquence and theyre determined to keep the momentum going weve opened doors that i feel like havent been opened but. Finally our lawmakers are talking were on a National Stage right now interNational Stage action and. You know its the first time that ive ever seen people survive a shooting and then directly after demand change which is i think something that should have happened in this country a long time ago but its taking kids fifteen years. On tuesday fifteen year old peter wang was laid to rest hed been holding the door open for his classmates when he died in a hail of bullets a military couldnt hes now been posthumously accepted into west Point Military academy on tuesday also President Trump is now pushing legislation that would ban bump start modification that was used in the last Vegas Shooting but these students no matter how determined they are will face an uphill battle convincing politicians in this state and across the nation to change gun laws will be extremely difficult but they are determined to carry on with their campaign and plan another protest in march in washington d. C. Theyll gather here by the hundreds on wednesday their voices will be heard but where the change comes will be another thing the u. S. Says that its ready to talk peace with the palestinians but it wont chase after them the reaction at the u. N. Comes out but the Palestinian LeaderMahmoud Abbas proposed an International Peace summit with israel but he wants one that rules out Donald Trumps government as the chief broker not diplomatic editor james bays reports. President abbass presence here was rare and carefully calculated normally his ambassador attends this monthly meeting he came himself to express his displeasure at the trumpet ministration he suggested its decision to recognize jerusalem as israels capital and to cut funding to the un agency that helps palestinians disqualified it from leading peace efforts instead he proposed a new approach very early on. I would call for the convening of an International Peace conference by mid two thousand and eighteen based on International Law and relevant un resolutions with Broad International participation including the two concerned parties and regional and International Stakeholders present a bias left immediately after his speech nothing unusual there in terms of un protocol he was the only head of state in a room full of ambassadors and had another engagement to attend it didnt stop the israeli ambassador using it to score a point i expected news that a battle stay with us and have a dialogue unfortunately is once again running away. The u. S. Ambassador came to the meeting accompanied by the two men President Trump was tasked with leading negotiations Jason Greenblatt and his own son in law jared coercion or she said president abbas had a choice the United States stands ready to work with the Palestinian Leader since our negotiators are sitting right behind me ready to talk but we will not chase after you the choice mr president is yours it was a Security Council session full of drama and theatrical but the reality is depressingly familiar this meeting in no way brings any closer a resolution to a conflict thats already lasted over seventy years james byrd zira of the United Nations israeli media reporting that one of Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu is closest confidantes is set to testify against him over allegations of corruption last week Israeli Police announced that there is sufficient evidence to indict netanyahu for bribery fraud and breach of trust in two separate cases hes accused of receiving gifts an exchange of tax breaks and supporting getting u. S. Visas a prominent rights activist has been jailed in bahrain for five years the bill rajab was a leading figure in the pro in the two thousand and eleven prodemocracy protests hes been sentenced for tweets that criticized bahrains intervention in yemen civil war and the prison authorities use of torture rajab was already serving a two year sentence for accusing the government of torturing political prisoners. The u. S. Vice president mike pence was able to meet north korean officials at the Winter Olympics but pyongyang canceled quote at the last minute the state Department Says that penned seen here sitting in front of north Korean Leader kim jong il the sister was waiting to see her i know there are officials from pyongyang they were in south korea for the Opening Ceremony of the young chang games natascha game reports from seoul. This aborted meeting was two weeks in the making the cia learned that the North Koreans wanted to meet with u.