this is saif abu anas, an activist in the town of saqba east of damascus. are inu anas: today we the seventh day of the assault. there are almost 260 martyrs, hundreds of injured people, most of whom are women and children. yesterday we saw the massacre at night and the mask of it happened three days ago where 20 people were killed, and also the destruction and death we saw where whole neighborhoods are being destroyed. violence comes amidst a series of clashes and externalnal problem -- powers including israel, iran, and the syrian government. we will have more on syria after deadlines. the white house is denying reports that the trump administration has been openly discussing an israeli plan to formally annex palestinian lands in the occupied west bank. a spokesperson for the right-wing likud party quoted prime minister benjamin netanyahu as saying in a closed-door session, quote, "on the subject of applying sovereignty, i can say that i have been talking to the americans about it for some time," he said, unquote. israel's west bank settlements are illega

the united nations is warning of humanitarian catastrophe in syria describing a salt on the damascus s suburb of eastern ghouta as a monstrous campaign of annihilation. aid workers report at least 300 people have been killed over the past three days. many of the victims are women and children. targets have included hospitals and residential apartment buildings. ravina shamdasani is spokeswoman for the u.n. office of the high commissioner for humuman rights. >> the high commission for human rights is talking about this being a monstrous campaign of annihilation of eastern ghouta with no regard for civilian lives. how many more children dying to have to see? , the more hospitals bombed? , and more doctors killed before we see the international community come together with one voice and take resolute action on the situation to bring ththis violence to it and? and turned of iteris called for an immediate halt to fighting, calling the situation hell on her.houta ehl we will host a roundtable discussion about the crisis in syria. of theida, survivors marjory stoneman douglas high school ma

airstrikes and artillery fire against the rebel-held enclave of eastern ghouta, outside the capital damascus. aid workerers report at leasast0 people h have been killed over e past three days. many of the victims are women and children. targets have included hospitals and residential apartment buildings. ravina shamdasani is spokeswoman for the u.n. office of the high commissioner for human rights. >> what we're seeing in eastern ghouta is a repetitionon, if not worse, of what has happened in other parts of syria. the high commissioner for human rights is talking about this in a monstrous campaign of annihilation of eastern ghouta, wiwith no regard for civilian lives. how many more children dying do we have to see? , and more hospitals bombed and doctors killed to we have to see before the international community can come together with one voice and take resolute action on the situation in syria to bring the violence to an end? amy: medical workers in eastern ghouta accused government forces of targegeting hospitals and ambulances. >> even n an ambulance come if t is driving thehe street, th

to carry out airstrikes and artillery shelling in the rebel-held enclave of eastern ghouta, outside damascus, despite a daily five-hour pause in the fighting ordered by russia, the syrian government's main backer. meanwhile, the british foreign secretary boris johnson has expressed support for airstrikes targeting the syrian government, if there is incontrovertible evidence that the regime hass carried out chemicical attacks. the united nations and syrian and international human rights -- syrian human rights organizations have repeatedly accused the syrian regime of using chemical weapons, a charge the syrian g government denies. china announced unexpectedly send it is dropping presesidentl term limits, cleararing the way for president xi jinping to serve indefinitely. the announcement overturns decades-old term limits in china. meanwhile, the prominent chinese human rights lawyer li baiguang has died in a state-run hospital in nanjing. chinese human rights groups are calling for an independent investigation into his death. in the democratic republic of congo, government soldiers shot and ki

in syria, bombing continues against the rebel-held district of eastern ghouta, outside the capital l damascus, and d againt the rerel-held nororthern provie of idlib. war monitors say air strikes carried out by the syrian and russian governments have killed nearly two dozen people in eastern ghouta and another 18 civilians in idlib, where local journalists say a hospital and residential areas have been targeted. activists also say nine people were injured in a suspected chlorine gas attack on the town of saraqeb on sunday night -- the second alleged chemical weapons attack in the last two weeks. in london, a judge i is slated o rule today on whether toto drop the e british arrest warrant for wikileaks ununder julianan assange, who has been hoholed up in the ecuadororian embassy inin london for more than five years. the e british h arrest warrant r jumping bail is related to a swedish sexual assault inveveigation against assangnge, which hahas since been dropped. but even if the judge drops the british arrest warrant, assange could face life in prison in the united states on charges of espiona

violating a daily, five-hour ceasefire in the rebel-held enclave of eastern ghouta outside the capital damascus. residents report airstrikes and shelling against several areas today. the syrian government also violated the ceasefire yesterday, launching airstrikes and shelling that killed at least four people. the daily five-hour humanitarian pause was called for by russia, the syrian government's main backer. it's aimed at allowing time for humanitarian aid to reach the besieged area and for wounded and sick people to be evacuated. one resident told al jazeera -- "there has been no evacuations whatsoever -- not medical, not humanitarian, nothing. the regime has launched a psychological game -- that's all." in more news from syria, the bbc -- a recent report by the united populations fund warns of sexual exploitation by aid workers, including meals being traded in exchange for sex. and an unreleased united nations report is claiming that north korea has shipped materials to the syrian government in recent years, which could have been used to produce chemical weapons. the report does not claim n

wednesday, video circulated on social media showed an aid convoy arriving in the besieged rebel-held damascus suburb of eastern ghouta. the nine trucks were the first to arrive in the area since late november of last year. they held food and supplies for an estimated 7000 people in an area where 400,000 civilians remain trapped by fighting. the latest violence in syria came as the british charity save the children warned in a new report at least 357 million children -- or one in six worldwide -- are living in conflict zones. campaigner kitty arie says that number is up by 75% from the early 1990's. >> what we're dealing with our -- on amy: in libya, at least 23 people were killed wednesday after a truck carrying an estimated 300 migrants overturned and crashed to the capital tripoli. the crash left another 124 people injured. the crash came less than two weeks after 90 refugees were found drowned off the coast of libya after their ship sank during an attempt to cross the mediterranean to europe. south african president jacob zuma resigned from office wednesday effective immediately after his

airstrikes and artillery fire against the rebel-held enclave of eastern ghouta, outside the capital damascus, with aid workers reporting at least 200 people have been killed over the last 48 hohours. many of the victims are women and children. on tuesday, the charity unicef released a nearly blank statement on the killings, writing "no words will do justice to the children killed, their mothers, their fathers and their loved ones," followed by quote marks and 10 blank lines. ststate department spokesperson heather nauert called tuesday for an immediate ceasefire. on all parties to come in to the unconditional de-escalation of violence. russia must end its support of assad regime and its allies. they're responsible for the dire humanitarian situation and used ghou and the her rent ista death toll. to allow for the unfettered delivery of humanitarian supplies and the urgent medical evacuation of civilians east guida. the cessation of violence must begin now in those dating emergency assistance should be allowed to evacuate immediately. amy: in florida, 100 students who survived the deadly shoo

in syria, warplanes bombarded the besieged rebel-held enclave of eastern ghouta near damascus for the fifth straight day, as human rights groups warned the civilian death toll has topped 400 for the week, with doctors unable to tend to the wounded in bombed-out hospitals. the violence came as russia tabled a debate at the un securityty council thursday on a measure calling for a 30 days he's fire to allow for evacuations -- cease-fire to allow for the vaccinations of the sick and wounded and convoys of humanitarian aid to reach needy residents. a vote of the year and they said was likely to occucur later tod. for discussion of syria, you can go to democracynow.org for yesterday's discussion on the broadcast as well as our part to discussion in web exclusives. a top official at the united nations children's fund or unicef, resigned thursday amidst reports he sexually harassed women at his previous workplace, the british charity save the children. justin forsyth's resignation from unicef came after bbc radio reported he faced three complaints of inappropriate behavior, including sendini

meanwhile, the death toll in a syrian government offensive targeting rebels in the damascus suburb of eastern ghouta, and in idlib province, has risen to 180, with human rights groups saying 34 civilians, including 12 children, were killed in attacks on wednesday. in mosul, iraq, the united natitions children's fundnd unif is appealing for $17 million to rerebuild the city's healththcae system, which was left devastated last year after the u.s.-led coalition battled for over nine months to captuture te city from the self-p-proclaimed islamic state.e. this is ununicef's iriraq representative peter hawkins. >> this isis part of the hospitl as we see it t today. it wasas completely flattened. part of the hospital that remain, more or less intact, but guguided will step nothing. no health services for the children off mozilla, publisherr note probably about 1.6 million. amy: an ap investigation found as many as 11,000 civilians were killed in the u.s.-led coalition's assault on mosul. in taiwan, rescuers are continuing to search through the rubble of buildings that collapsed late tuesday

airstrikes and artillery shelling against the rebel-held enclave of eastern ghouta outside the capital damascus monday. the syrian observatory for human rights is calling monday the deadliest day in three years for the area. among the victims were dozens of civilians, including children, whose bodies filled a makeshift morgue on tuesday. at least four hospitals were reportedly bombed on monday. there are reports the syrian government is planning an impending ground invasion of eastern ghouta, which is home to 400,000 people and is the last rebel-held area near the capital. one doctor i in eastern ghouta said -- "we are standing before the massacre of the 21st century. it's not a war. it's called a massacre." in florida, 100 students from marjory stoneman douglas high school are beginning a two-day, 400-mile bus trip to the capital tallahassee today to demand action from lawmakers on gun control, after 17 people were killed in a shooting massacre at their high school last week. this is a student s speaking outside the high school. >> it is not our job to tell you, senator rubio, how to protect u

bombing and artillery strikes against two rebel-held enclaves -- eastern ghouta, a suburb of the capital damascus, and the northern province of idlib. tuesday's was the deadliest day so far in a weeks-long escalation by the russian-backed syrian government against the two rebel-held areas. this is united nations spokesman . >> we're talking about where we have about 2 million people of concern. it was called the other day like a huge refugee camp. that is essentially what it is. there are hundreds of thousands of people who are internally displaced there, on the run, extremely vulnerable. attack andme under under bombardment. that is completely unacceptable. amy: with the 2018 winter olympics slated to begin on friday, north and south korea continue to use the games as an opportunity to deescalate tensions on the korean peninsula. north korea has sent a 500-person delegation of athletes, musicians, and performers to pyeongchang, south korea, where the games are being held. north korean leader kim jong-un's sister will also attend friday's opening ceremony. but as the peninsula tries to deescalate