Welcome to the program its 2300. 00 g. M. T. And a ceasefire brokered by russia and turkey and syria is no them in the province seems to be holding for now at least the breakthrough was reached after 6 hours of talks between russias president Vladimir Putin and his turkish counterpart reza typer the one in moscow the 2 back opposing sides of the syrian conflict well theyve agreed to establish a 12 kilometer wide Security Code all along it lives and for highway which connects the government stronghold of the takia with syrias largest city aleppo have also agreed in a joint patrol along that motorway later this month when a Syrian Government offensive in libyas pushed nearly a 1000000 civilians towards turkeys border and its not clear how and when theyll be able to return to their homes. Steps and begins our coverage now from moscow it was clear from the start that this was going to be a tough meeting the partnership between put an end to one which was carefully nurtured in the past appear tense now with the turkish and Russian Military facing each other in italy and turkish and Syrian Forces taking a high number of casualties but a direct confrontation has been averted for now but a cease fire clear if. We dont always agree with our turkish partners on what happens in syria but every time including moments we manage to find Common Ground on controversial issues and find an acceptable solution based on the high level of our bilateral relations thats whats happened this time. Well negotiations in moscow were underway fighting and it continued an airstrike claimed by opposition activists on russian warplanes killed 15 civilians including women and children a few hours before the landmark meeting took place. Undoubtedly a meeting on it live is of great importance in fact the situation in the region is very tense i know that the worlds eyes are on us. Early a ceasefire as brokered by russia and turkey havent held for long he has blamed Syrian Government forces backed by russia for a start of hostilities several times before but some analysts believe that put in might be less willing to back assad as strongly as he has done so far. But russia helped to solve it lives problem as long as it didnt lead to a direct confrontation between russia and Turkey Russia to a large extent has fulfilled its obligations towards assads regime so after that russia will likely try to make steps towards ankara. The test will come on march 15th when joint patrols of russian and turkish troops are planned around the am for highway and the buffer zone they announced in the meeting on thursday will have to materialize tense but constructive thats how president putin has described the 6 hour talks with his turkish counterpart the complex relationship between the 2 leaders is seriously being tested. And although tangents have been reduced today nobody can predict how this dangerous diplomatic game will and step last in aljazeera moscow. Where the ceasefire deal is being seen as a major diplomatic victory for the turkish president and offer some hope for the internally displaced families as bar reports now from hatay in the turkey syria border until a few days ago there were huge concerns that turkey may not be able this time to get what he wants from the russians particularly about about it live so the gov the ceasefire to be implemented plus the safe corey doors and also resettlement of the civilians back into their areas and i think this is going to be widely seen as a major diplomatic victory for president as a deal and at least for the time being because of one hand it will it means that he will have to be concerned about his soldiers deployed in the north west some province of it live because with the ceasefire with the buffer zone with the Demilitarized Zone there will be no risk whatsoever for any attack targeting those positions but i think also turkey has been very concerned about the potential for a protracted conflict in it live that would pave the way for 4000000 civilians those who were displaced to cross into turkey i think now with this agreement they will be able to go back to some of the villages. Well even though russia and turkey backed different sides of the syrian conflict they have many common interests and shared goals the ties between the 2 were 1st tested the turkey down to a russian warplane in 2015 moscow retaliated with economic sanctions and export bans but since then the relations between the 2 have improved turkeys bought russian s. 400 air Defense Missile system defying the u. S. And other nato allies russias use its jets and bombs to routinely back Syrian Military offensive while turkey has been backing the rebel fighters but so far moscow and ankara have avoided direct military confrontation while Joshua Landis is director of the center for middle east studies at the university of oklahoma who joins us via skype from the city of norman in oklahoma joshua good to have you back on the program i mean weve seen ceasefires come and go in it live the question is of course is this latest one likely to hold do you think. No its not likely to hold the russians got a quite a good deal here i think that the syrian syrian circles seem to think that its a victory for them just as the turks are claiming that a civic duty for turkey because the m 4 highway goes right through the middle of the elite province and through the middle of the very strategic city of just im sure who it which is held by rebels and that highway is supposed to be policed now by russian soldiers as well as turkish soldiers and the rebels are supposed to move all forces are supposed to move 6 kilometers away from the highway to the north and to the south this would mean that russia gets to police this area and rebels have to move out and its a rebel controlled area right now so in some ways this is an advance for russia and its its unlikely that its going to be observed for very long and seems to me i mean lets remind our viewers that this dean is extremely fragile isnt it because of the very nature of this tense relationship between turkey and russia and given a back opposing sides in the war anyway. And turkey doesnt control the rebels we have to remember that the rebels there in the 1st agreement other such accords the rebels were supposed to withdraw from a big hunk of the southern part of it the process they never did that and they didnt do it because turkey doesnt control them and and so its easy for turkey and russia to make an agreement about what where the rebels are going to be be positioned but ultimately turkey doesnt really have control over them so its it will see what happens between negotiations between turkey and the rebels in the coming days how much is this being seen then as a big diplomatic victory numbing hes on the growing pressure at home over the number of tattoo sold as an adlib but at least hes come away with some kind of deal with the russians. He has he has done that and you know many of the many of the analysts have big you have begun to say that you know turkeys in a very shaky position in its living its it cant really defend its troops well there in these outposts the middle of the province and russian planes have been bombing them so turkey cannot defend against this its not going to go to war against russia so its in a very very weak position and and nato and the United States are not willing to back turkey up so long as turkey had tell us 480 aircraft missiles so turkey is very isolated and to have this stop is good for air to want as you say because it will at least just want to jump in there with a final question because running out of time so what does all of this then lead the civilians who are caught up in the fighting i mean the u. N. Says more than a 1000000 people have been displaced by the conflict since december youre right and you know i suppose it is a temporary a temporary boon for the civilians who are in a terrible situation but ultimately the more this syria has turned into a great power conflict with proxies and so forth the longer this war drags out and the more the civilians are abused and and were seeing that and it lives as well where the more firepower there is and the more russians and turkish armament goes in there the more killing there is going to be and the people on the ground are getting crushed underneath this so so its not a its not its not good news ultimately for the people on the ground all right to just a land is as of a good to get your thoughts thank you very much indeed but your. And turkey has deployed a 1000 Police Officers to its border with greece to try and hold the pushback of refugees and migrants from their tens of thousands of people have been trying to cross into europe since ankara opened its borders last week but greece doesnt want them the red cross says the migrants are not being used as political pawns going to report some on the Turkey Greece border. The wind sliced through copes the cold left fingers numb it the Syrian Refugees from it live along with other migrants have been camped out on this riverbank in a dern a turkey for days theyre stuck here trying to figure out how best to cross into greece and continue on to western europe to find the good life im still young but i have to of course im not left all my life here or a city of course and the situation there is no i dont see it i sort of love i mean i think to welcome city because it was pretty good country before late in the day as the wind picked up Police Officers walked through the tents and clusters of people telling them they could take buses to a warm place suspicion spread as fast as the wind gusts only them just think it was not we wont be taking buses because they take us to the revenue they will give us to the creeks they take all our belongings and money and bank tests and they will send us back we human beings not animals the turkish minister of interior has announced 1000 members of Turkey SpecialPolice Forces are deploying to the merge river border with greece this is an effort to prevent greek troops from pushing back migrants who reached the country by boat the interior minister says greece tried to send 4900 people back to turkey and injured 164 get it military anger limit we will not provide an opportunity for the maltreatment of the people there i would like to express that weve taken the necessary measures to protect our borders from a push back and to prevent several attempts by greece which were in violation of the international. The greek government has not responded to the accusations but its deployed additional troops along its side of the border refugees say greece is just a transit point for them many like ibrahim. Have crossed into the country and been deported back to turkey with awful memories ibrahim says a few days ago greek police shot him in the neat with a rubber bullet and beat him. Women attire it meant a target were all tired of the please open the gate as miserable as these refugees are theyre more anguished about their loved ones back to live at least in turkey they have found a refuge from the 9 year war in syria the talks are getting old jazeera and dirname turkey. Well i just spoken to the president of the International Federation of red cross and red crescent societies hes been visiting the border between greece and turkey and hes condemned all sides for using refugees as political weapons i had the opportunity to warm to go. To sea to see it way should not just here on the border and that you talk with some of damage for of course you mean its just. About that desperate stories in this very moment according to the new iraq struck in the media a lot we know up on it we saw a solution that. Is something that shouldnt top in now and i would like to add these 2 that we dont tend to in politics but when politics threats the dignity of the human beings what u. G. Also to remind to get on so that we shared one humanity and when i listen to that today head of you will be on commission talking about the shield meaning that on the other side that i went on so this is. Something that there is. On the city could be avoided because yeah human beings ive seen children ive seen women not and theyre not theyre not whip on so. Lots also to come on the news hour including. It was very hard when i 1st entered after the demolished because i can hear voices in the can in the walls calling for me from the father from the sister. The forces demolish the homes of 2 palestinians they accuse of attacking an israeli settlement. The International Criminal court makes a big decision about alleged war crimes committed during the war in afghanistan. And in support a lucky escape from serious injuries despite this collision in north america. New cases of the coronavirus have risen significantly in parts of europe more deaths were reported in italy the netherlands france and the u. K. On thursday several Public Events have been cancelled and all schools in italy a closed for at least 10 days the Economic Impact continues to worsen with the airline and Tourism Industry bearing the brunt is going to help. The economic costs of coronavirus are mounting everywhere with the squeeze on International Travel affecting airlines in particular the german carrier has grounded hundreds of planes and for u. K. Regional carrier fly b. It was all too much the already struggling airline succumbed to bankruptcy and it may not be the last cruise operators would also be suffering thousands of passengers are stranded aboard the grand princess off the coast of california as tests are carried out on board the vessel belongs to the same company that owned the virus stricken diamond princess held off the japanese coast last month with 700. 00 cases on board and 6 death as coronavirus increases its reach with south africa registering its 1st case and the u. K. And switzerland their 1st fatalities each day brings heightened levels of response but the World Health Organization says its concerned some countries arent taking the threat seriously enough this is not. Excuses this is a time for pulling out all the stops countries have been planning. This for decades now is that time to act on those plans the presence of Community Transmission means efforts to contain the disease are failing this is a man a vote money is being thrown at the problem in the United States with congress approving an 8000000000. 00 war chest the International Monetary fund says its making 50000000000. 00 available in aid to low income and emerging Market Countries to fight the epidemic. But economic gloom with the rising threat of recession has brought some glimmers of opportunity. One Ecommerce Firm in south korea said it was struggling to keep pace with demand as shoppers desert the street and move on line. In the past we used to go out with a truck half full but these days this so much to deliver there are packages left over after filling the truck completely elsewhere the retreat of whole communities into isolation continues in bethlehem palestinian officials have closed the church of the nativity weeks before the easter season that draws tens of thousands of visitors and worshippers to the traditional birthplace of christ italian schools didnt open on thursday and wont for some time to come similar scenes in india iran france and japan in all around 300000000 students in more than 20 countries face weeks of disruption Desperate Measures in what feel to many like desperate times. When this emergency is over we will look back and i am convinced that we will be proud of how an entire country has faced this with courage and determination for now though this emergency is just Getting Started jonah al jazeera well as i was saying there the u. S. Senate has approved 8300000000 dollars worth of funding to combat the spread of coronavirus 12 people have now died across the country a state of emergency is in place in california and washington where those deaths have occurred 3 and a half 1000 people are stranded on board a cruise ship off San Francisco after passengers have been onboard died from the virus thats going to have a chance he joins us live again from washington d. C. Congress now approving this 8000000000 dollar war chest talk us through how this will help alleviate the shortage of testing kits and medical resources in the u. S. To help fight the outbreak. Well its not entirely clear this is the same bill that passed through the house this time yesterday that we were discussing yesterday say 3000000000. 00 into research and development of vaccines and gnostics at 2200000000 and a slightly more than that for the various in the federal state local agencies dealing with the virus 1300000000. 00 in foreign aid to help fight the virus 2000000. 00 of the 20000000 dollars for Small Business loans and then this very interesting very interesting particularly american item here 300000000. 00 to make sure that if a vaccine is found that it will be affordable to americans and this is the interesting point and is is is is receiving quite a bit of attention i think in part because of the debate right now in the Democratic Party between a candidate who says health care is a is a human right and health an accountant who says no its its important but its just like any other business 3 trillion dollars in making sure that a vaccine is affordable is a very kind of republican and democrat compromise because its not really clear what that means i mean people might still have to pay for it it doesnt its not quite clear what whether that means what happens to the 30000000 people who are uninsured in this country whether theyll be able to get the vaccine and of course it also means that pharmaceutical companies you pay have to be to the republicans and democrats not only will get all these millions of dollars of subsidies to