A fight. And florida students mobilize against guns last week when gunmen massacred seventeen people at their school and now the students are taking their demands for tighter gun control to the state capital. Plus there were more medals up for grabs of the Winter Olympics and france is not tom felt hot takes his third gold in the thrilling finish to the mix by off a long relay we will bring you that and a lot more from day eleven n. P. R. Im sara kelley welcome to the Program Thanks for joining us we begin in syria where government backed troops have entered a kurdish enclave in the north of the country raising the specter of deadly confrontation with turkey called. Thems of fighters were seen moving into freeing as turkey prepared to lay siege to the city in the coming days turkey has now confirmed for a port that its military shelled the area immediately in response the turkish president said that those fighters have now been pushed back the region is controlled by Kurdish Forces turkey considers them to be terrorists. And lets get the latest on these developments the syrian progovernment fighters and touring kurdish held a free and possibly having retreated again as you can see our correspondent dorian jones is standing by now with the latest from istanbul and dorian what are you hearing well yes youre right the turkish president. Says the should to very successfully repel these column of Syrian Government fighters from entering for in to support the Syrian Kurdish militia the president said in his mind the matter is closed saying that these these militias were only acting on their own initiative rather than move orders from damascus but despite these claims from our own current images on social media appear to show that some if not all of these fighters have successfully arrived in the main city of for and. Joined by Syrian Kurdish fighters weaver recordings of them shouting we will defeat the turkish autumn and invaders so it does appear at least some of these forces have successfully end to the syrian city of are for and joined up with Syrian Kurdish fighters and we know the motivation behind the turks they do not want this autonomous kurdish region forming along their border there but what is the strategy behind damascus sending these militia into the area. Well i think thats the mask is concerned by this Turkish Military operation there have been initial hopes from their part that this would be a very small scale operation clearing out the border zone in syria and then possibly creating a border zone there and that would be the end of it but the message from monk or is that this operation is getting increasingly expanding operation with a message to after they claim that theyve taken over this syrian enclave of our friend they will expand it to parts of Northern Syria so there is a law in damascus but this operation could be far greater than what they expected and also there is awareness that they feel that when turkey does militarily intervene in its neighbors affairs it very seldom leaves certainly not in the short term so this is fear that turkey would have a long term presence in syria which would be a further destabilizing factor and a possible threat to the Syrian Regime so i think that they do want to stop this operation and push it back if possible. And turkish president rector typepad one we mentioned hitting the airwaves there basically saying that the progovernment convoy has turned back after turkish shelling has the file been closed as he says or was he simply saving face here. Well i think that this is an embarrassment for president heard one because hes been delivering a speech to his parliament ariens earlier on shoes the way he was saying that hes for successful diplomacy in speaking with these russian and iranian counterparts the threat of some damascus back forces entering africa have been removed now hes facing a humiliating prospect that that is not the case and i think other will be very keen to downplay this because it will lead to growing fears that this operation of turkey is involved and is running the risk of expanding to a possible confrontation with damascus weve already seen some heavy falls on the Financial Markets and there will be concerns within the country that is operation could be getting out of control and he will be aware that it will be facing pressure from moscow in particular because most who is not only supporting the assad regime but also looking to uncross in its efforts in the Syrian Civil War the prospect of our own crowd and damascus facing off is a nightmare scenario for moscow and they will be doing all they can to diffuse these rising tensions its a web of alliances and it has the potential to become very complicated very quickly and dorian jones there in istanbul thank you so much for putting it all into perspective for us. So lets get the view now from moscow which we just heard dorian mentioned our correspondent emily share when is standing by with more on the view from there and emily you know russia we know has backed the Syrian Regime just generally speaking in the Syrian Civil War but with a friend in particular theyre really treading a difficult line here because they also have close ties with turkey on the other side have they weighed in on the situation yet. Yes they absolutely they have and they are really treading a difficult line as you say sara and that was very clear from the statement that the foreign minister Sergey Lavrov made today he said it was very much a balancing act there in his words he said that russia understands the kurdish expectations but it also understand the turkish worries about its border region and of also defended syria he said that it was very important to retain syrias territorial integrity which of course is a veiled criticism at turkey because syria says that turkey had no right to invade its airspace and what hasnt been permitted by the country at all so now it seems russia is trying to balance all three sides in this conflict and in fact you know Sergei Lavrov one of the other things that he said there he said that situation can best be resolved by talking between ungar and damascus so very clearly not wanting to get in the middle here but ultimately. Russia controls the airspace dont they over a friend so can they really avoid this here well i think that you know the lover of call for a dialogue clearly kind of to me seems to indicate that russia will be taking an active role in that dialogue as well after all theyve been kind of keen to present themselves as the mediators in syria and on the International Stage they have a certain sway over both syria and turkey particularly over syria a long term ally and theyve also presented themselves you know with these peace talks that theyve been conducting last year as the mediator they really want to get out of this situation and as durian said an escalation in africa would be a nightmare scenario for moscow families share when with the view from moscow thank you emily. Elsewhere in syria the rebel held suburbs of damascus known as the eastern are also under siege Government Forces have been pounding the area since the weekend independent monitors now say that the shelling has killed more than two hundred fifty people in the last two days and the Syrian Civil Defense known as the White Helmets released this footage comporting to show survivors of shelling carried out earlier today the u. N. Is warning that eastern could become a second aleppo. Lets turn to some other news now around the world were going to head to germany where a parliamentary report has said that the Nations Armed forces are not good enough the bundeswehr lacks the personnel and equipment needed to meet their responsibilities says the report it follows a spate of media stories about shortfalls and everything from tanks to tents that have raised concerns about whether germany will be ready to take command of a nato Rapid Response force next year. A rare glimpse of the airbus a four hundred m. It was talented as the German Military strand sport plane of the future so far fourteen have been delivered but at times not a single one was cleared to actually fly. And its not an exception a new report by the Parliamentary Commission of for the bundeswehr describes dramatic deficiencies again germanys soldiers are frustrated. Like i said it is the much of the conditions of the equipment available to the troops has not gotten better in recent years but worse we welcome declarations that staffing equipment and funding are to be improved but declarations alone dont make anything better. Spezza. The report points to problems in practically every area more than twenty thousand personnel positions remain unfilled leaving many soldiers exhausted parts shortages put weapons out of commission for example not one german submarine can put to sea right know and above all theres not enough money a problem is turnaround but the plan budget increase is still not enough. Room and about the moment the rule is hope for the best for the Coalition Deal says if theres a Budget Surplus that will be taken advantage of so were hoping for a surplus. The state of the blondest vale may also worry nato partners the German Military lacks tanks and other armaments for Plan Missions in the coming year. Students from the Florida High School where a mass shooting claimed seventeen lives are traveling to the State Capitol to press lawmakers for gun control about one hundred students are on their way to tallahassee for a rally scheduled for wednesday as part of a new mobilization against gun violence that started since the shooting at the Marjory StonemanDouglas High School last week survivors of the shooting have started a movement called never again. Which wants more rigorous background checks for those buying guns and a ban on assault rifles. For and for more lets bring in our u. S. Correspondent carolina chinmoy and carolina. You know as we have seen there the survivors of the latest School Shooting are on their way to florida to ask politicians for gun control i mean we know the situation on the federal level but on the state level what are their chances. Well sarah this kind of debate always arises after a tragedy like the one we saw last week in florida the question is if this time the protests and the movements we are seeing on gun control are going to put pressure on politicians to make a major change on gun control laws we know the president on all trump spoke with a republican senator cornyn his name last friday about a billion trick used with senator murphy a democrat and this bill aims to strengthen how state and federal governments could probably be people from buying a gun based on their Mental Health so this bill targets of background checks as you mentioned but many students are protesting against of possession of guns. And carolina this is just one of many things that these students have planned and you know just we have to talk about these students generally speaking because they are active they are articulate and they are engaged what do they have planned and does this feel like it could be a turning point in american policy on guns because of these students. Well the organizers of this Speak Movement also called the march for our lives are planning a nationwide march for the twenty fourth of march also on the fourteenth of march that means exactly one month after the School Shooting in florida theyre calling for students teacher mr raders and parents to participate in a nationwide School Walkout basically what the organizers are asking for is for participants to walk out for seventeen minutes extend i am on this age of protest congress in action to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers and response to the gun violence in schools and tomorrow President Trump is planning to hold a meeting with high School Students in the white house we dont know much more yet about this meeting but we are expecting a small protest in front of the white house and weve got to be there of course and well regarding your last question this is going to change something in america. Gun laws well its the first time that a Student Movement has been organized insects and i mentioned so this really seems to have struck a chord but the question is how effective its going to be we all know that the gun and the weapon lobby here in washington is quite strong and that therefore many politicians are not really interested in a major change in gun laws ok so at the very least they have been pretty effective in getting their message out lets see if it trickles down into policy carolina chinmoy standing by with leaders from washington d. C. Thank you carolina. Down of the Berlin InternationalFilm Festival d w is my is fater and david levitz are standing by to tell us a little bit more about todays big film and the red carpet action i do you guys. So we are here at the screening of the new york in phoenix film dont worry he wont get far on flights which is about an american cartoonist and not only a cartoonist a quadriplegic cartoonist its about his battles with paralysis and with alcoholism some pretty brilliant performances both from Joaquin Phoenix and from the supporting cast a little bit earlier we saw Joaquin Phoenix roll up on the red carpet he was in a slightly better mood than he was at the press conference where he actually turned away from journalists and his new torricelli media shy so we were we were good after that showing that he parked up a little bit for his red carpet appearance. And of course walking feel like a big Hollywood Star and he wasnt the only one showing his face in berlin today right thats right willem defoe is also here to collect his honorary Lifetime Achievement award what a career you may know him from such films as the spiderman films in the early two thousand to the last temptation of christ but his career has actually span many different films and many different types of roles and hes actually up for an oscar this year so now lets take a look at his storied career. I got a videotape of the kids illegally entering the utility room through the atmosphere and youre right here in his most recent movie the florida project wonderful place Motel Manager bobby. The money is the rear of the performance could win him an oscar this year its a third oscar nomination after the war movie platoon and the nosferatu amash shadow of the vampire. Terror in fact my dear friend plays the character max shrek an actor who takes his role as vampire a bit too seriously. Gives us time and love you look at it down to what is about what i would see any great expense he will not damage this production. Or what im to feel its biggest blockbuster success came in two thousand to a scientist turned villain green goblin and the marvel movies spiderman. Why are you saying that im down to. Be in that camp fire man i do too were in this together its just so has proved more than once that hes a master of many roles. What a career he has had and you know hes assured to get a bear but what else might have when or who else might when. Well thats what weve all been trying to figure out and weve been going to one screening after another i have to say one of the strongest movies ive seen so far it was the World Premiere of Wes Andersons new movie aisle of dogs the first animated feature ever to open the ballina inspired by japanese animation great voices from Jeff Goldblum all the way to Tilda Swinton beautiful film and a great story very hard folds and now if i were a betting man i would put my bet on the field. This is a movie featuring three Strong Female characters its directed by a female director and this is of course the first probably not a since me too so i think it might be a womans or what do you think i love feel the emea and i think that it was a wonderful family should not rule out transit which is a wonderful story also dealing with refugees always a very important political topic here in europe. Miles fader David Leavitts thank you so much. Fall from the worlds of film to the world of business now fanny charice standing by for us thank you sara authorities in the you are getting ready to slap high tariffs on American Products like whiskey orange juice and motorcycles if donald trump carries out his threats to hit imported steel it punitive measures the u. S. Secretary of commerce with ross has suggested the likelihood of putting a twenty four percent tariff on all steel imports or introducing a quote here is more. Emotions are running hot in the steel sector it could be the next flashpoint for trade between the e. U. And the us washington is considering imposing tariffs on foreign made metals imported into the country the u. S. Made it clear it will take that kind of move lying down. We stand ready to react swiftly and appropri