>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ >> hello welcome to the news hour, i'm in doha with these our top global news stories. a powerful explosion strikes southern beirut, at least four people are dead. iraq's bloody 2013 records the largest civilian death toll in five years. fighting continues in south sudan as both the government and

rebels prepare to begin peace talks in ethiopia. i have the latest news from europe including security issues dominate as russia presses ahead for the winter olympics. and saved from the sea, an italian coast guard rescue more than 200 migrants off of the coast of lampedusa. welcome to the program. we begin in lebanon where there has been another major explosion in the capitol, the blast happened in southern beirut. the area is the strong hold of the shiite group hezbollah. initial reports suggest that at least four are dead and 12 others are wounded. let's join our correspondent on

the phone. tell us what you know at the moment. we're seeing pictures of the aftermath of the explosion. >> reporter: yes, as you have said, this is in the heart of hezbollah strong hold. it's a very secure -- tight security for hezbollah officials offices, and this is where many of the leaders live and have their families. the explosion happened less than an hour ago. it seems like this bomb is not very big, but the area is very crowded. it''s a commercial business area, and there are lots of people on the street at that time of day, and again, this is in the heart of hezbollah strong hold. >> it does seem the emergency services have been able to get to the location very quickly, as

you say, of course, so many people in that area, as they are finishing work and on their way home. >> reporter: yes, and as you can see, there are a huge number of people trying to get to the explosion site trying to see if their relatives are there, and the security forces are urging people who don't have business there, to go home because they are worried there will be another explosion after the explosion that resulted in the assassination of the former finance minister [ inaudible ] security in that area specifically is [ inaudible ] have to get very specific permit from hezbollah's own security in order to go to that area and film, so to be able to put that

car bomb there is a major penetration in the security measures. they have dogs that have been sniffing dogs around, and yet they couldn't stop this attack, and this is the second time there is a car bomb in that area. >> it does come as you say less than a week after a prominent politician was also killed in a car explosion as well in the north of the city, and of course we had an explosion outside of the iranian embassy late last year, it seems to be an ongoing spiral of violence and a tit for tat kills perhaps? >> yes. the last one was against the iranian embassy not far away from the southern suburbs of beirut. these attacks are targeted

shiite area as well as sunni area. hear from hezbollah areas accusing even saudi arabia of being behind these groups, you hear about [ inaudible ] camps lead by the former prime minister, the future movement accusing hezbollah of attacking the former finance minister. it is definitely escalating. the timing is -- the shortened period, and people are expecting even worse events. this comes at a time when the count industry going through very [ inaudible ] times. there is a caretaker government, a prime minister who has been designated to form a new government, has not been able to do so for more than eight months, and now there are threats that there might be a government [ inaudible ] next week, and hezbollah has

threatened they have their own response if that takes place. so the political situation is tense, the security situation is deteriorating, and everyone agrees this is part of the fallout of the syrian crisis nearby. >> and it comes days as well, perhaps just a knew weeks before a un hearing on the death of the former prime minister of the country begins with all sides wanting to participate, others not. and this focuses that, and how much disagreement there will be about that hearing even starting in lebanon. >> yes, the procedure at that court is on january 16th. and that is a further reason for more polarization in the country. we have been heading the march for peace coalition, especially the [ inaudible ] movement lead by the son of the former prime

minister has been very excited about this move. they want this to start. they have always said this is an important step for the international community to hold the perpetrators responsible. this has not happened so far, but everyone here feels that these -- all of this security deterioration, all of these attacks and in to the different places in addition to the car bomb are linked to the start of the tribunal. >> you travel around the capitol and across the country to report at length for us on al jazeera, and you talk about the security around areas that are strong holds of hezbollah, but what is security like when you travel as -- as a normal person around the capitol, around the country? are you experiencing roadblocks and checks all the time? >> reporter: there are check

points. it's not like you have to be stopped at every juncture, but security has become more alert and they have been putting check points, checking cars, checking for [ inaudible ] people all over town, not only in hezbollah southern suburbs. hezbollah's own security forces also have their own measures that they have put in place for months now, trying to stop such attacks. there have been very explicit threats against hezbollah and its support base that there will be such attacks, and the reason that were laid out was hezbollah's participation in the battle inside syria. hezbollah is not denying that some of its forces are fighting against the rebels, and they have played a very crucial role in giving president assad an edge, and for his successeses in this gaining control in many

areas that used to be under the rebel's control. >> how do you expect them to be able to take control of what is going on? because it does seem that there is no control, certainly in the security of ordinary streets around the capitol. >> yes, that's very true, because many people acknowledge that the government alone cannot carry out this mission or this job. they know only when the different political parties agree to a settlement on differences can it stop. more political vacuum will only bring about more vacuum on the ground for more attacks t.

>> hezbollah supporters claiming this is done by them and hezbollah and iran in syria saying this is all being done by their enemies and the saudi and

march 14 people. it coincides with the actual bombings that are actually extreme. there is just no way to stop these bombings. there is no absolute security of any part of the city, even in this area, it is extremely well monitored by hezbollah security people with cameras and sniffing dogs and road blocks and inspections, but there's no actual security. these are very highly populated areas. in mean, the way it raises the vulnerabilities of hezbollah, one formula for hezbollah's success is that it is deeply anchored in the shiite hop thatlation. this is very much the lebanese people's army, so these are

fighters and political activists and media people living right in the center and heart of the population, and therefore, this makes reegeens vulnerable, because they are not isolated military areas or political areas. this is not a green zone like you had or isolated security belt in some other city, this is the heartland, the commercial area with shops and bakeries and schools, and very vulnerable to this kind of attack. this scares the lebanese people quite a lot, partially because they can't do anything about it. >> of course while the ordinary person on the streets in lebanon is concerned about safety, you touched about it, so has our coach about the issue of proxy war being fought on lebanese soil and part of it the fallout of what's going on in neighboring syria. >> it's been exacerbate bid syria, but lebanon has been a

proxy battleground sings the 1960's, first the cold war, the arab-israeli crisis, interarab fuels, russian-american cold war, and more recently, iranian, so all these feuds and now the syrian war with its various people on both sides, so lebanon is a serial proxy battleground for several generations of fighting and protagonistles killing each other and these different groups keep revolving and changing over time, and now the latest one is linked to the syrian fighting with the iranians and the saudi very much behind the two main protagonists, but it keeps changing all the time. the tragic fatal of lebanon, because it's an open society, because it's not a police state, because people are free to think and to write and speak and

research and sick and dance and publish, it's an open society that brings out the best in human beings, which is why lebanon is such a dynamic place, but it's completely open, anybody can drive a car or put a bomb in the belt and go into the place and bomb something, and then it's very hard to stop these proxy wars from manifesting themselves in lebanon, even with the strength of hezbollah, which is very strong, very well anchored in the community, very strong in terms of security and very secretive, very effective, even hezbollah with all of its strengths and assets and capabilities is unable to protect not only its neighborhood, but some of its senior commanders, one recently killed. this just reinforces for everybody that you know, proxy war, local war, old war, new war, whatever it is, the solution is not military

bombings, the solution has to be political and the lebanese are present for the moment totally unfunctional. the hope is that this will shock everybody -- >> let me come in there, because that's the next question really is how disappointing has it been and frustrating for the lebanese electorate that they can vote but can't get their political leaders to sit down at political table and try to form a government that can try to administer some sort of law and order across the whole country. >> it's very frustrating for the lebanese. even when they have a government, it's frustrating, because even when they have a government, they can't agree off and on on bigger items. the government, they've had for years and years. before that, governments head march 14, march 8, doesn't matter who heads the government,

who has the parliamentary majority, even in those circumstances where they do have a legitimate government, they often cannot agree on the really, really big issues, such as for instance, hezbollah's armments, relations with israeli, relations with syria, relations with iran. these big sticker items and of course political reform, fighting corruption, nub of these big issues have been addressed seriously in lebanon, and this is what is incredibly frustrating for the lebanese, that the system of government gives all of the different groups a share of the pie with parliamentary seats and bureaucratic conditions, et cetera, everybody has a share of the pie by the system that's here, but the decisions made by a small group of elite liters and these leaders are acting in the way that most lebanese find disappointing, and therefore, we end up with situations like

this. it's not just that there isn't a government, it's that the government system in lebanon is totally stalemated partly because of local inadequacies and corruption and lack of capabilities, but very much also because of the regional interference and global interference by regional forces in the middle east or further afield by powers. this is incredibly frustrating and tens of thousands of the most able lebanese have left the country an immigrated permanently and it is quite frightening to the peel. of course now, it's so dopily linked to the syrian war and eye raines feud in the region. this bombing is another reminder of this. the hope is that this might scare people so much that they're seeing bombs in the middle of hezbollah territory,

maybe this will scare people to say look, we he can't let this spill over into a bigger war and therefore it might finally push the leadership and the political personalities an both sides maybe with their foreign backers that with we come to some kind of ceasefire agreement. this is a thin hope and i think not many people are expecting that to happen, unfortunately. >> thank you. let's go back to our correspondent who joins me now from beirut. the ongoing situation, we think is five dead, 20 injured at least. what's the latest that you're getting? >> we're getting different numbers, but varying between three and seven dead, but again, the rescue workers still at the scene, trying to verify these numbers, trying to help the wounded. it's a very, very crowded area

and that's why they are urging people to move away. the security forces are also urging people to move away from the scene of the explosion, because they fear that there might be another bombing. they also want to make some way for the rescue ambulances, the rescue workers, the security forces in order to gather as much evidence without people meddling with these issues. now, on the political level, of course condemnation for this attack, but also pointing fingers. again, and this is not the first car bombing that targets this area, it's second time. this area is under the pure control of hezbollah security forces, in the heart of a we see blah strong hold. t.v. station was right there, hezbollah, their families, headquarters is there, even groups close to hezbollah had their headquarters in that area. it's considered a safe zone but today proves there is no such

thing anymore not in lebanon or the southern suburbs. >> you say that this particular area is so heavily secure, it's the people's army that keeps the checks and balances in place, and that this perhaps attack and the attacks we've seen over the past few weeks in lebanon, it may scare not just the public, but the politicians to try you and talk to each other. you cover lebanon and have been for years, is that a vague possibility? >> if you talk to regular people, they are very frustrated at this situation, partly because they feel it's not even their battle, but at the same time, the country is very polarized. people are differing on all kinds of issues, even social. these kind of attacks entrench people more in their own positions and hardens their positions further. in 2005 when the former prime minister was killed, people had

the urge then to go to the street and start the some kind of what they consider for themselves a revolution. they took to the streets in thousands and thousands. now we don't have this reaction them. there's a lot of apathy among the population. many are considering even leaving the country, they feel it's not safe anymore, and they are wondering what could be done. there is a lot of blame on the politicians, because they feel thee fuel the polarization by the very strong rhetoric used, by the accusations to each other and that there is no movement on the political level in order to reach any kind of settlement, even to contain the deteriorating security situation. to the contrary, people have been embracing themselves for more dissension and next week, there are attempts by some political partners here, mainly the march 14 coalition to push for a government that does not the include hezbollah and are pushing the prime minister to form a government that does not

include hezbollah. for hezbollah, this is considered a provokation and say they will stand up and oppose such a move. there is only a caretaker government here, that the president of the country's term expires in may, and by march, there has to be the process of electing a new president has to start. that is an issue that's still up in the air. that if no president is elected and his term not extended, you have another political vacuum in the presidency, which leaves the country more vulnerable for any group or political parties or any regional powers to infiltrate the situation here and use it further. >> for the moment, we will come back to you as this situation develops. for most of you joining us here, these are are the latest pictures coming out of southern beirut, a large explosion occurring in the southern part

of the city, a strong hold of the shia newspaper hezbollah. you can see emergency services were very quickly on the scene. many members of the public trying to get those that are injured to hospital and helping emergency services. nobody has taken responsibility as yet. death toll in the region at the moment between three and seven with over a dozen injured. we'll be bringing you the latest on this story as we get it here on the aljazeera news hour. >> 2013 saw the largest civilian death toll in iraq for five years according to the united nations. there's been a surge in violence especially vince foreign troops pulled out of the country. the u.n. says 7,818 civilians were killed in attacks last year. that's more than double the

number killed in 2012. violence is still not at the level seen between 2004 and 2007. a bitter division is behind the violence. we have more. >> it's been a vicious year for iraqis. the new year isn't looking any better. the al-qaeda linked group islamic state of iraq are fighting government troops for control of the cities in umbar province. that's prompted the government to send an army group to the area. these are pictures of basis around i fallujah.

there is anger here over the arrests of a prominent sunni lawmaker and over the dismantlement of the sunni protest camp. iraq has become bitterly sectarian. that it feels interests have been neglected. they want to talk to sunni leaders in the province, but not those allied with al-qaeda. >> we welcome our brothers willing to step forward and speak he to us, cult and discuss. we need the real sons and not those who claim to represent umb a. r. >> it wasn't like this before the iraq war. it's a huge challenge for the government to try to reconcile. >> it needs political instruments to deal with the unhappy sunni population, and it

needs military instrument to deal with al-qaeda. as long as these two things are conflated, there's no hope of successful resolution. >> extra aid has been given to the province, including oil, food and medicine, but it all seemed too late. fighters are taking advantage of the chaos to make iraq even more unstable before the elections in april. he doesn't have much time to get talks underway to calm things down. aljazeera. >> the former head of the u.n. team joins me live from new york. sir, what dual died really want to achieve in this part of iraq? >> i think they've been very much encouraged by what's going on not just in iraq, but syria and now lebanon, was. i think the ultimate affect is probably to carve out an amount of territory in winner iraq and

eastern syria that might be contiguous and provide them with some sort of physical territorial sort of base, much larger than what testify at the moment. i think that's probably what they're after at the moment. >> if that's the case then, who is actually supporting them locally? are we looking at foreign fighters who have dictated what they want to do in that area to the locals? >> there were a lot of foreign factors involved, now isil. i think when the fighting really heated up, most of them left for syria, and that's why isil have been able to establish themselves so firmly in syria. i think most of the people in iraq are now iraqis. i think the problem is that because of the treatment of anbar, now the divisions between the sort of tribal sunni groups

in anbar and the more extreme al-qaeda people perhaps becoming less clear, so there is a problem there, but there is more local support than in the past. >> i think you toughed on the next question, really is about how the incumbent government in baghdad actually deals with this, because in recent weeks, we've seen the sunni political establishment certainly alien 80ed from baghdad's policy. without getting into the politics, how does malaki deal with sunni leaderships that he needs onboard to fight al-qaeda? >> well, i think you've seen just this week the difficulties that he faces, because on the one has been, he has to break up the city, because he can't allow that to go on as an obvious and very public challenge to the authority of the government, but in doing so, of course, he upsets local people, particularly with the arrest of

alwani, a very popular guy there and now of course his brother is dead and sons dead as a result that have raid. on the one hand, he's got to sort of court the sunni politicians, but on the other hand, he doesn't want to be seen to be giving in to threats and violence, so it's a very difficult road to steer and i think unfortunately for him, the breakup of the camp outside has not worked to his advantage. >> it more than likely hasn't, but we'll have to see what does happen in the coming days. thanks so much for joining us from new york. >> the u.n. has called for an immediate ceasefire in south sudan to top weeks of violence. more than a thousand people have been killed. delegations from both sides of the conflict are in ethiopia for talks. a member of the negotiating team spoke to aljazeera.

ukraine has rich soil. many believe with better

>> official here have spoken and say that it is forces about to take the town of bor say they are forced to take bor by whatever means because the rebels there have declared an interest to continue against government forces and threatening to take the city. >> that's as the state of emergency comes into force and those flash points. while that happens, there is talking going on in an attempt to try to find a peace deal

elsewhere in the area, namely in ethiopia. >> yes, indeed. the talks are supposed to open either tonight or tomorrow in ethiopia. the government delegation left about three hours ago, on their way to ethiopia. they should have reached by now, and these talks are going to start with discussions on a ceasefire. the government has agreed to assist, however, former vice president saying that they have some conditions before they can sign a ceasefire with the government, including establishment -- however beyond those discussions and whether the government is going to accept the conditions that are being put on the table remain to be seen. >> indeed, and you'll be

following events for us there. thank you for joining us. >> the head of external intelligence was found strangled in a hotel. the oppositionry you wanda national congress said he was murdered by rwandan authorities. >> seven people have been arrested in egypt, accused of being involved in a suicide bombing at a cairo police station. the attack last month left 16 dead. in a statement, the interior ministry said the son of a muslim brotherhood leader was among those arrested, saying he was admit to being a member or has admitted to being a member of the group. the group claimed responsibility for that police station's bombing. >> two people have been killed in egypt's northern city offal

exandrea. attacks began as protestors blocked major roads in the city. >> executives summoned by the state security for alleged links to the muslim brotherhood. the phone company is accused of propagating hidden messages which shows a puppet. it set up a twitter account in the public's name calling for her freedom. most could face up to five years in prison if it's proved they do have links to the muslim brotherhood. it was mashed as a terrorist group last month. >> in a statement, egypt says the commercial is only a marketing tool to advertise a new offer, does not carry any hidden messages and the company isn't liable for interpretations that are far from reality. both say they will take legal action against whoever tries to distort the companies reputation. >> aljazeera is demanding the

release of three staff members held in custody in egypt since last sunday. the company is condemning the arbitrary arrests of its journalists. the producer on the left of the screen, an award winning correspondent on the right face further questions sunday. they were arrested on december 29, along with another producer seen here in the middle photograph. that egypt's prosecutor says they are held on suspicion of joining a terrorist group and spreading lies that are harmful to the state. aljazeera says it is fabricated nonsense. >> netanyahu has told u.s. secretary of state john kerry there is growing doubt they are committed to peace. it's the 10th visit to israel on the occupied west bank in the last 12 months. he hopes to make this the year

israel and palestinians seal a long he will loose as i have deal. >> the time is soon arriving where leaders are going to have to make difficult decisions. we are close to that time, if not at it. i think we understand the circumstances within which we are working. >> our correspondent live in jerusalem, nick, we have to ask however along these two sides have been able to my or to talk and agree on anything. >> these sides have met 20 times in the last six months. you'd think after that they would be farther along. as you heard secretary of state john kerry say there, look, it's about time now that people are making decisions and right after he said that, he used this phrase, he he says we're trying to narrow differences on a

framework that will provide agreed guidelines for core issues, so a framework on guidelines, we're not even there yet, so u.s. officials are telling me look, these are baby steps, we are really trying to tamp down he can speciations. we do not expect any kind of announcement in the next few days but are hoping by the end of the month you that maybe both sides might be ail to look at a piece of paper with a sufficient sponsored roadmap, blueprint, whatever you want to call it and then say let's see if we can go forward. u.s. officials really trying to tamp down expectations for this trip. >> let's talk about sticking points. what are they? >> well, as you know, therear lot around here, but two new ones everybody here seems to be focused on right how to, the first is a new demand from netanyahu, now saying take the pal stippens need to recognize israel as a jewish state. that is not a demand made on

egypt for jordan when they signed peace deals. he says in order to make sure they are true partners for peace, they have to recognize us as a jewish state. the palestinians say wait, we recognize your right to exist and if we recognize you as a jewish state, we're recognizing your narrative, that palestinians that lived here won't have the right to return and we're recognizing that if palestinians recognize the jewish state in israel, they say that we would also recognize that 20% of israel is arab, so how can we recognize it only as a jewish state. the other big hot spot is the jordan valley between israel and jordan, would be the eastern border of a palestinian state. the israelis say there has to abmilitary presence. the palestinians say there cannot be a military presence.

>> pakistan's former president musharraf has been taken to hospital the with suspected heart problems. the 74 former military ruler was in court on treason charges, but refused to attend citing threats to his life and now health. >> a woman thought to have committed suicide after gang raped is now said to have been murdered. >> she was the latest victim of a horrific crime, the 16-year-old was allegedly gang raped twice over two days in october, but the family says the torment didn't end there. they allege that family and friends of the accused continuously harassed and threatened them to withdraw the case. >> they said they would kill us. policemen watched this silently. what is the use of policemen who

cannot protect us. >> she was set on fire, dying in hospital weeks later. until tuesday, the death was treated as a suicide but now they say they are treating it as a murder after disclosing they recorded a death bed statement by the victim. this crime is the late have the since the gaining rape case in new delhi that led to tougher laws for crimes against women. activists say while the laws have strengthened, police are still weak in enforcing them. >> maybe all behind bars, this family was regularly threatened, threatened for over one month and then again, she was put on trial. how could they manage it? there must have been some kind of huge network and political and social support for that. >> the victim's parents have met the governor of the state, asking for protection, because they feel their pursuit justice

for their daughter is putting their lives in danger. >> we're highly disappointed by the law and order situation, and i don't trust anyone. >> the december 2012 gang rape in new delhi led to huge public outcry that forced the government to pass stronger laws against rape and other crimes against women. since then, there's been a sharp increase in the reporting of ape cases by police. >> sov, there's no indication where that has translated to a decrease in the number of crimes against women. aljazeera, new delhi. >> two suicide bombs in russia are dominating the scene before the olympics. >> the attacks were called an bottom nation by vladimir putin and that pledged the total destruction of those responsible. he says he will beef up security, despite some world

leaders saying they will not attended the event. prosecutions for the games continue with the russian squad unveiling their olympic kit. we report now from moscow. >> there is a fierce streak of patriotism. all this excitement is not shared by word leaders. many won't be making an appearance at president putins winter gales, but that doesn't matter says russia's olympic chief. >> the olympic games is a sporting event, for athletes. it's not a summit to the heads of states. >> there's much rest i can on the russian tome to perform well. they'll be on home ground, there will be no excuses.

>> this is where russia's winter olympic hopes lie, out on the ice. the national hockey squad and ice skaters look at bright lights in these winter olympics, going for gold in sochi. >> also salvaging russia's olympic reputation. it's the night of february 25, 2010, russia hotly tipped facing canada for a place in the quarter finals and the vancouver winter nightmare was had about to begin, russia was thrashed by canada. they talked about erecting scaffolds in red square upon the team's return. it was a national humiliation. the figure skaters fared little better, failing to win gold. the cold war years when the soviet athlete backed by the soviet state ruled all are long gone. president putin has taken ownership of the games to make

it a showcase for russia, installing brand new facilities at sochi. the events over the weekend in the southern russian city of volgograd have taken attention from the games. >> i ask to do the best to stop the satan from the bones of our an that as he is tories. >> it's security and not sport that now objectionses the kremlin. putin promises to make the games the safest ever. this is much as stake in the following four weeks. >> an expert in security threats joins us in the studio now. welcome to aljazeera. we heard president putin promise to make this year's olympic games in sochi the safest ever. is that a problem he can really make and what is he doing now.

>> he is making the promise on the basis that they understand the threats. they would have been preparing for many years for it and it's quite predictable that these types of attacks will happen. they'll be annoyed that their intelligence hasn't identified them ahead of time. universal donors to terrorism all around the world, so at any point, can come as russia now. >> they always knew there would abthreat to the gales. anything additional they are doing now? >> we are seeing a very good response, exactly as brutten ran before the 2012 olympics, we see high visibility soldiers in the streets of volgograd, although that might not be the next city that has a problem. there may be other cell ins other cities and potentially moscow will be very concerned. >> you think it may be that rather than sochi itself would

be other softer target cities that they'll be focused on no. >> the russians are very good, will expect everything. sochi although being a ring of steel, they might widen it out, do much further attention farther out than in the past. >> these kind of attacks targeting as i havens i also all about sewing fear from people who would go either as the competitors or spectators. how do you think that putin is handling this? >> extremely well. this attack is a psychological situation. it happened four weeks out to convince people not to travel and to show power and to destroy the him picks. it isn't an attack on the sport as well as on the russian state. it's an international attack amounted that's why president putin at this point in time made

it, remembering that terrorists can start anywhere in the world to go into russia as well as emerging from russia. >> expert in security threats, thank you so much for joining us. >> let's go to italy now where more than 230 migrants have been rescued by the coast guard off the coast of lampadoosa. 25,000 migrants arrived by boat in 2013. 10,000 were fleeing the conflict in syria. a further 13,000 came from africa, somalia and maui. just under a thousand were from afghanistan. we have more details. >> barely into the new year and the first migrant boat has arrived from north africa, a treacherous voyage that mostly takes place in milder months when the weather is better. the threat of rough seas did not deter the latest arrivals,

coming from africa and pakistan. the small island, a dot in the mid terrainian sea is closer to north africa than the italian mainland, the sight of three migrant boat landings, sometimes with tragic consequences. hundreds of people died attempting to reach the island. the worst situation occurred in october when 360 drowned when the boat caught fire and capsized. another 34 people died in a separate ship wreck. there was condemnation at the way the migrants were being treated at the reception center. shocking footage emerged of migrant shot with disin effectant in freezing conditions. the i want's prompted i am passed debate about europe bound migration, but has led to criticism of the european's way of dealing with the issue. many hoped the strategy would be

improved and prevent further incidents. it seems likely the boats will keep coming, the per i willous journey to start a new life is a risk worth taking to some. >> now lits go back to doha. >> breaking news coming out of lebanon. there's been a major ecchymosis in the capitol country beirut. at least five people have been killed and 30 injured. the blast happened in the haroq naked in southern beirut about an hour and a half ago. the area is a strong hold of the shia group hezbollah and comes after a former minister was killed in a car bombing in the capitol.

>> from our headquarters in new york, here are the headlines this hour. >> al jazeera america is the only news channel that brings you live news at the top of every hour. >> a deal in the senate may be at hand and just in the nick of time. >> thousands of new yorkers are marching in solidarity. >> we're following multiple developments on syria at this hour. >> every hour from reporters stationed around the world and across the country.

>> only on al jazeera america. >> this is important, we want to continue to run with the momentum we have at the moment and continue playing good cricket and getting the results we've been getting. >> a big game going on right now, taking on nine time european cup winners around madrid. the crowd has seen real madrid take the lead 1-0 just into the second half, so leading 1-0. sir with my's preparation with the australian open going well, at the finals. the world number one won in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. serena the reigning champion here. she'll have to get past an old rifle, sharapova.

she will be looking to end a 13 match losing streak against williams when the two meet in the semifinals. >> yankovich through to the last sport, 6-7, 6-3, 6-1. the australiaen open champion, a place in that final. >> the nhl's annual winter classic in michigan has attracted a record crowd over 105,000 fans turned up for the game between the toronto maple leafs and detroit redwings at the university of michigan. it broke the previous record set in the same stadium in 2010 of just over 104,000. the crowd braved the minus 10 celsius temperatures, opening the scoring in the second period. just before the second intermission, leveled the game. the game carried on.

bozak got the 3-2 lead. that's it in sport. more later. >> thank you very much. of course, we'll have this now. police in mexico are hunt i can down some of the countries most respected graffiti artists, but they don't want to stop them from painting. instead, a special squad is have iting artist to say work on public spaces. from mexico he city, we have more. >> graffiti artists at work in mex cove city, but this time, it's legal. monumental murals are becoming increasingly common in the capitol, and its creators are following in the footsteps of the mexican mural giants. ♪ ♪ >> not only is this wall painting a local intercity market sanction, it's the local government that's behind it. a dedicated unit from the local police is creating free spaces

for them to do their thing. in 20008, our anti graffiti unit became the graffiti unit to give young people space to paint freely instead of chasing after them to stop them from painting. >> the aim of the police project is to get rid of graffiti like this, which is common throughout mexico city and the idea is that by opening up spaces, it will encourage artists to paint more pleasing images. >> like many works by the great muralists, such as rivera or arrosco, they carry images and messages backed by the state. here at the museum, this specialist says there's a no generation of artists who are more rebellious and independent than their forefathers. >> while they go over the past, the new artists do that, too, but using more recent history such as drug violence and social

problems, there's much more create you have freedom, because they are free spaces, the street. >> not all of the muralists are government-backed. artists cuba the adrenaline of a legal painting with his own independent designs that adorn the streets, as well as gallery walls. >> yor i don't work on political campaigns because i don't want my work tied to political parts. i prefer to express my own offense. >> whether official government messages or social protest, mexicos muralist tradition is alive and well. aljazeera, mexico city. >> we'll be staying with our top stories from beirut in the next full half hour of news, coming up in a pew minutes. you've been watching the aljazeera news hour. thanks very much for your time. i'll see you in a few moments.

>> welcome to aljazeera america, i'm del walters. secretary of state, john kerry is trying to start peace talks this. and this explosion in beirut. and four people are now dead. and the rescue team trying to free people trapped in the arctic since christmas eve. topping our news at this hour, secretary of state, john kerry,'s visit to the middle east. kerry is in the region, setting the frark