this is al jazeera ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour, i'm live in doha and the top stories on al jazeera, the u.s. and russia needs to decide whether i ran will attend talks on how to end the syria conflict and live in paris and tehran and live in bank cock where the prime minister invited protesters who wander out to talk. and could a 15-minute home test

reveal early on set alzheimer's, we take a look. ♪ the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has been meeting his russian counterparts in paris and the friends of the group are there to discuss the talks in swirdz land and fighting continues and around 700 people have been killed in nine days of fighting in the city of aleppo and kerry's meet willing be iran's participation in the up coming international peace conference forcier yeah in geneva due to start in ten day's time and we are in tehran to tell us more but we will go to jackie and we expect a press conference with john kerry and how far apart are they in the participation in the peace

talks? >> well, there are a couple of points on which there are diverge and view of the russians and u.s. and the russians being close to the syrian regime and the western partners being close to the syrian opposition and the americans and russians are important in sponsoring these swiss talks due to take place later in the month. they argued that iran is a key player and very influential in syria and extremely close to hez -- hezbollah and they are looking for the first around of geneva talks and the whole process has an objective and transition of power within syria. the iranians don't like being told what they have to say or

what they shouldn't say before the next round of talks and would be willing to participate without preconditions but there is a feeling at the american that the americans are setting preconditions and that is one of the key points of disagreement at the moment. >> if it's resolved, jackie, of iran participating there is a question if the syrian opposition itself will take part. >> yes, the whole question of the format and the content of the talks are still very much in dispute. the question of whether the syrian opposition will take part, certainly at the end of talks here on sunday there was no clearance gaugement on the part of the opposition that they would take part. the russians are accusing them of setting preconditions. the opposition has said they want the focus of the talks to be on the removal, the departure of bashir al-assad and said it's a precondition and should come to the table without

preconceived ideas and the west is to ask for a hold on, are we sure the syrian regime will be signing up to the whole idea if they come to the talks because at the moment there is every indication while representatives of the current regime are willing to come to the talks in switzerland one thing they don't want to discuss is the idea of bashir al-assad leaving power. >> that is jackie live in paris and this is the view from iran and we will go to tehran and how key are they to receiving an invitation from switzerland? >> there are two answers for that and iran is a little nonchalant and says if it gets an invitation it does and if it doesn't it doesn't. why? they feel they have been disrespected throughout this whole process. some sort of official invitation of course, iran said it will attend and if it gets the official invitation and the

precondition but if it doesn't get an invitation iran will not be so bothered and it's because iran can talk straight to the syrian government and doesn't go through other powers to negotiate things. right now the foreign minister mohamed is in beirut talking about the syrian issue. on the agenda as well and we have this from multiple sources but not confirmed from the iranians but tomorrow the foreign prime minister will be there meeting with bashir al-assad and talking about iran attendance and the foreign minister going to talk to the president of syria to see what iran and syria can come up with. >> reporter: they are making overtures with saudi arabia because they are a key player in the crisis and what does this mean and is there a shift in

iranian policy here? >> well, that is right. since the president hassan rohani won't the election and took office six months ago this is on the agenda, better relations with arab countries in the region and particularly saudi arabia and they refers to the saudis as brothers and want to strengthen and improve the relationship and a key and major stumble block in syria iran supports the government of syria and saudi supporting the rebels and thousands trying to over throw the government and the process in paris as well and it's a stumbling block that both sides need to overcome but from iran and publically and officially anyway the iranians have shown some kind of determination to fix this relationship with the saudis because they believe only good can come from it including

regional stability of course. >> reporter: and iran will start making changes to the nuclear program after a deal was reached in geneva and will limit uranium enrichment in exchange for relief and patty has more from washington. >> this was taken in november, six countries and iran agreeing to a temporary deal to slow its nuclear program and now the next step. on january 20th iran's leaders say they will take action. on that day they promise to enrich uranium to 5% and dismantle the stockpile of 20% uranium and increased inspections and in return they get sanctions relief for oil and gold and let up of sanctions that kept out spare carts for cars and airplanes and some accounts will be unfrozen as well putting 6-$7 billion back in their economy. they try to workout a long-term

deal but from the powerful to the people in the streets of tehran skepticism about the future. >> translator: it is not easy to be optimistic about this. we should wait and see what happens. only time will tell whether the talks will finally result in conclusion. >> we are very clear eyed about the even greater challenges that we face in negotiating a comprehensive agreement. we understand, it's going to be a tough negotiation and we are very clear about what will be required in order to be able to guaranty to the international community that this is a peaceful program. >> reporter: under the agreement the u.s. promised no new sanctions while they talk, majority of senators say they don't agree with that. threatening to pass a bill to add new sanctions on iran, which would be implemented if they feel iran isn't living up to their side of the agreement. the white house said it will end the talks and threatening a veto

and opponent's are working to make sure they can override it. the first and second steps taken in the next few weeks that congress could take a third but it's one the white house fears would be the last in this long diplomatic process. patty with al jazeera washington. >> reporter: and let's go to thailand where the prime minister invited protesters trying to shut down the capitol for talks and they have bar kated major intersections and plan to march no home to ministers and wants to discuss a timing of controversial february polls with the protest leaders. the latest wave of demonstrations have been gathering since november. that is when the government led tried to force through an amnesty wish could have avoided her broth prison and she was sentenced to jail in 2008 for abuse of power and the former prime minister leaves in self imposed exile in dubi and we

have more from bangkok. >> reporter: it's quite normal in intersection is jammed on a monday morning. what's not normal is that the cause this time is pedestrian traffic, not taxis and buses. thousands of antigovernment protesters are masked at 7 intersections in bangkok and they set up stages and settled in. it kicks off their self proclaimed shut down of the ty capitol and they were there sunday and numbers grew by monday and some were from far away who flew in from germany. >> translator: any generation is fed up with corruption in the country and want a future as long as they are not corrupt. >> reporter: leaders say it will last 15 days about the time that elections are due to take place.

there is no doubt these antigovernment protesters have achieved an immediate goal causing problems in bangkok and this is unseeding the prime minister. the government is keeping a close watch on the mass gathering and caretaker prime minister spent most of the morning in the defense ministry meeting with her top advisors and has concerns that violence can breakout, 15,000 police and army soldiers have been deployed. to some people the peaceful approach means they have already won. >> translator: we are winning showing the number of antigovernment protestors is growing and they want to come out and demonstrate without violence, without harm to win this peaceful battle. >> reporter: the protest leader has called in the final battle but how he can convert a popular movement on the streets to a change of government is far from

clear and scott from bangkok. >> reporter: and live to veronica for the latest in bank cock. veronica tell us about what has been happening today and how disruptive the protests have been. >> well, i have been here all day in a major intersection in bangkok and you can hear the thousands of whistles that are part of the rally, part of the kind of revving up and energizing and going to royal police headquarters and government ministries in order to drive the government workers and police to stop working for this administration of the prime minister ying-la. it's very much like this is a movement that has traction and that is forcing another turning point in a long running

political struggle here in thailand. >> reporter: and the prime minister has extended a hand to the protesters offering them talks. will they accept and agree to sit down and talk? >> i think it's very unlikely actually. a few minutes ago i was speaking to the opposition leader of the democrat party and who is a former prime minister and he was saying that the government has been asked many, many times to participate in a dialog with the stakeholders but it was too little, too late and that may or may not be true is the narrative going on and it's very difficult for these two to reach across the divide to each other and one accuses the other of corruption and the other accuses one of being against democracy. it's very kind of painful, dramatic moment for thailand and there are fears that there might

be another military problem on the 18th. >> reporter: and you wonder, veronica, if, elections can be held under the current circumstances. >> they are scheduled february 2nd and this is another kind of branch as it were that is offered by the prime minister of the administration. however, the opposition, which has not historically been successful at the polls is saying that they don't get to have elections because it's inevitable there will be cheating at the elections and want unelected government. >> reporter: thank you very much veronica for the update and that is al jazeera veronica reporting live from bangkok. and still ahead on the news hour we meet the nigerias who say the deaths of loved ones are being ignored. and one town reduced to this in south sudan and fighting in that

part of the country unrecognizing, the youngest woman at the australian open faces the oldest and day one results coming up, later. do stay with us. ♪ but first italy on monday is the second anniversary of the sinking of the costa concordia cruise liner and mask comemorization is on the island and one body is never recovered and the captain is charged with manslaughter when he was too close to the island and hit a reef. tell us about this two years on and what has been happening as far as commomeration. >> it's somber for the second

anniversary of the cap sizing of the costa concordia and they are at the church are hundreds of passengers had refuge two years ago from now. and while that is in memory of the 32 people who died in that tragic accident and after that the mayor will go in the boat next to the costa concordia behind me and throw a wreath again in memory of those who died. the highlight of the day as it was last year on the first anniversary is the torch-lit procession which will be at 9:45, the time of the crash, and that will be apart from the torch-lit procession with church bells ringing and fog horns resounding across the bay. what is important to notice is this probably will be the last anniversary of the crash with

the costa concordia still in plain view. >> reporter: and when does the movement of it begin, what is the timetable of the salvage operation? >> well, last week the italian authorization protection authority said that the concordia will be towed away in june. of course we will remember last september, it was the most difficult and spectacular moment or phase of the removal when they uprighted the concordia. as you can see behind me the concordia is still upright and stable but what is happening now is, again, very difficult because the starboard side of the concordia as you can see is really damaged, that is the side where it was rested only the spurs of rocks and what they need to do is attach a big 15 giant tanks just to mirror the other tanks on the other side. what those tanks will do is they

will fill it with water first and then when they empty it with water, that should give boyancy to the costa concordia so it can float and be towed away and if it doesn't work with that side damage it would be difficult to attach the giant tanks and there is a plan in place using a vanguard, the world's biggest semi sub mergeable ship which is usually used to take or sale enormous ships to sea and we don't know which port yet. there are about 12 ports for the job in a short list of day, there are 12 of them and 4 of them are in italy but the others running for the job, they are in

france and as far as china. we will know which part in march. >> reporter: sounds like a very difficult operation and thank you very much for giving us the latest there from the island. and in essential african republic joy of the departure of the president has given way to violence in the capitol with widespread looting in bongi and 13 people have been killed in the city in the past few days. >> reporter: in the back streets of bongi fires are still smoldering, an armed mob came into the mosque in plain daylight and smashed it up, wounded several people and took what they wanted and promised to come back to ransack it a second time. to the people who live here say they won't run away. >> translator: where would we go? we are staying here because we have no where else. this house is everything to us. we can't afford to go for another one. we are from here. we are from the central african

republic. >> reporter: around the corner christian youth destroy a car and driven by a general from the selica malitia and says it's not over yet. the people who were inside the car imagined to get away safely but you can see for yourself how the central african republic is caught in a vicious cycle of revenge and sectarian violence. the christian antibalica malitia and some well armed, some relying on charms which they say can deflect bullets. but even in this bleak situation there are voices of sanity like a muslim who runs a hospital in a christian neighborhood. last month the celica came in the hospital and murdered at least ten people.

and he is afraid to come to work. >> translator: being human is natural as i'm afraid. being a muslim could cause problems here. but i'm a health worker by profession, that is the job i chose. i help people in distress. >> reporter: the government hasn't paid zacara or his staff for months and functions from the aid group save the children. it's guarded around the clock by african peace keepers, pity the people of this country where even the sick lie in fear of attack, baranibie phillips, al jazeera. >> it's in full control of unity states after control of the capitol and fighting between troops and people who are there and a warning that you may find some images disturbing.

>> reporter: there is signs a battle was fought here and the human cost of the violence is high. last month the division commander defected and joined forces loyal to the former vice president, the man accused of planning a coup in south sudan. government troops recaptured the capitol of the state from the following. >> translator: there are south of bentu. and they cross to italy. we have kids. >> reporter: bentu is usually busy and sudan in the north and south sudan is quiet and some unrecognizable. this is a market and has been

destroyed, when the fighting started people ran to the u.n. base and the government is not in control of this, people are still too afraid to come back into the town. many shops and homes have been looted. even property belonging to aid agencies wasn't spared and many organizations relocated for safety reasons. there is still fighting in some parts of neighboring state but the army says it's in control of the capitol malicow. however a rumor the rebels could have a counter attack makes people nervous. >> translator: we wake up this morning and we had the rebels were coming. i will stay in the house with all my children. if we die there is nothing i can do. >> reporter: government officials are telling people not to listen to what they call propaganda. >> translator: run away and go to u.n. and they are your

houses. and you have not heard any sounds of guns. why are you running away? >> reporter: taking a break from the fighting, troops celebrate winning back territory they had lost but the capitol of the state is still under rebel control and the deteriorating security situation is difficult to access the town and how bad things are over there. i'm with al jazeera bentu, south sudan. >> reporter: let's get an update on the world weather with richard and it's very hot in australia right now. >> that is right, blistering heat across parts of west australia. these shots come from the hills where up to 40 homes have been destroyed by flames which are the result of temperatures about 43 degrees over the course of the weekend and it has cooled off slightly and the temperatures were 28 on monday and the trend continues and cooler weather into parts of australia over the next couple of days but the heat migrating

further to the south and the east. and temperatures have been hitting the 40 degree mark and people doing the best they can to cool off and not sure lying on the beach in that heat is clever idea but nevertheless the heat has a grip here and also we have some low pressure further towards the north and giving very heavy rain across the cape peninsula extending to the top end and potential of flooding and could see rain developing in the next couple days and also the heat with the australian tennis open taking place and temperatures will standard at the moment and exposure but i think in the confines of a tennis arena you can look at temperatures close to 50 degrees, those high temperatures persist in melbourne through friday but by the time we get to the weekend there will be a big drop in temperatures but not until then. >> reporter: thank you richard. scientists in the united states have developed a simple test they say can identify the early

signs of dementia in particular brain wasting alzheimer's disease. >> as we get older we can be forgetful or slow at tasks but for 44 million people worldwide this mental deterioration stops them from living normal lives and dementia and alzheimer's will rise to 75 million by 2030, 135 million by 2050. that's why scientists are eager to develop a simple, cheap test for those of the age of 50 that can pick up early signs of mental decline and say this paper test called sage which looks at languaging, reason on agree, 3d and memory does just that. >> what we found was this sage self administered test collated very well with the very detailed cognitive testing. if we see this change we can

catch it really early and start treatments much earlier than we did without a test. >> reporter: the test takes about 15 minutes and can be downloaded free. it's meant to be carried out from time to time and researchers say any drop in mental ability is apparent in 80% of those doing the test and should provide an early warning. as things stand there is no cure for alzheimer's or dementia and symptoms generally worsen as it progresses but there are treatments including drugs which can help with the symptoms, these are more effective when started at an early stage so this test gives doctors and patients one easy, cheap way of doing this. >> reporter: life to paris where the secretary of stay john kerry is speaking along the foreign minister and discussing the syria crisis and let's take a listen to what they have to say. >> full agreement that the humanitarian crisis is not only effecting millions of syrian people but also those in

neighboring countries like turkey, lebanon and jordan and this dislocation, this disruption is absolutely unacceptable. we are in full agreement that the resolution to this conflict must be peaceful, that there isn't a military solution. and we are in full agreement that we need to make our best efforts from the moment that we announce this last spring in moscow through now, we must continue our best efforts in order to try to bring the parties to geneva and go forward. for all of the reasons i've just cited we are in full agreement that we have to do all we can in order to begin the process in geneva, a process that we all understand will be difficult and will take some time.

but we must begin and we must begin now. in the days leading up to the dialog that will begin in switzerland, the united states will continue to consult very closely with our international partners including ambassador brahimi and our russian counterparts and we will also keep in very close contact with the syrian coalition. i will be meeting later today with president jarva and with oth other ministers here in paris. while the united states believes that the only precondition for participating in geneva two conference should be support for the geneva one communicae it's hard to see how a regime that does not have within its hands

the ability to improve the situation on the ground and improve the climate could participate in a sense with the good faith that people are looking for in this situation. there should be no further delay in our judgment in ending the aerial bombardment of children, civilians and the use of starvation as a weapon of war. we believe that the basic disregard for human rights and human dignity that we are witnessing in the area needs to come to an end. i've discussed with minister labroth the ways we can work together to try to ensure and by the way, there are on both sides abuses and i want to be clear, this is not one sided, we are reading accounts of some of the extremists on the opposition

side, engaging against each other and engaging in atrositys against each other and it's the widespread violence that is motivating all of us here to believe in the urgency of trying to bring this to a close. there is no question but that the ultimate path in order to end the blood shed and suffering and brutality and instability is through the kind of settlement we are trying to reach through the implementment of the geneva communicae. bringing the two sides together in order to begin these conversations is absolutely critical. and i think minister lavroff and i both understand that the united states and russia need to use the good offices of our countries and our relationships in order to encourage the

parties, all of the parties, all of the interested players to come to the table in order to engage in this dialog and we have both agreed today that we will exercise our best efforts in order to do that. it's our hope that in the face-to-face meeting of the regime and the opposition would be the beginning, the beginning of the end to this unspeakable conflict. russia and united states also agree that it is the parties in the end who must come to a conclusion. we are not standing here proclaiming or suggesting some kind of russia, american outcome that will be imposed on anybody. this is something the parties will have to negotiate on. but we will use every effort at our disposal to use our offices, our good offices in an effort to

try to encourage the parties to come to that kind of conclusion. ultimately it's up to the syrian people themselves to decide the future and the political path forward. the international community has an all-important role to play in pressing for that agreement and the leadership of the united nations and russia together with our good efforts are going to be critical to that effort. let me just say a couple quick things. today we discussed a number of things we think could help set the stage for success in geneva and that is defined by a good beginning and not defined in the beginning by a final outcome and that will take some time and we acknowledge that. but we talked today about the possibility of trying to encourage a cease fire. maybe a localized cease fire beginning with aleppo and both of us have agreed to try to work to see if that could be

achieved. the opposition has already agreed that if the assad regime were willing to declare that, they would live up to it and they are prepared to do that. we also discussed the possibility of prisoner exchanges and we have discussed that with the opposition. the opposition has declared that they are prepared to put together lists, they are prepared to entertain such an exchange. and finally we discussed the all-important issue of humanitarian access. i'm pleased to say that foreign minister lavroff said he had conversations with the regime and the regime may be prepared to open up a number, and specifically east gouta which we have been pushing for for some period of time and it may be possible for convoys to be able to access and the proof is in the pudding as we say. the proof will be in the actions that may or may not be taken in

the days ahead. but this news of a possibility is welcome and we look forward to working with our russian counterparts in an effort to try to follow through on it. the anguish of the syrian people demands action. our global responsibilities which we accept demand action. our conscious collectively demands action. so it is imperative for all of us that we try to push towards the peace and stability that the people of syria long for and deserve and the stability that the region, all of those countries effected most adversely, jordan, lebanon, turkey and others they also need to find stability and peace in this process. it's time for the syrian people to be able to chart a future for

themselves where all syrians have a say and a stake in their nation's success. and we believe that we can help them start to walk down that path with our actions today, but most importantly with what can begin and move to geneva. and for mr. lovroff. >> translator: thank you, ladies and gentlemen. we had negotiations with the state secretary. and we have participation of the envoy and the discussion to prepare geneva two. and general secretary sent out

the invitations. >> we seem to have lost the translation there with the russian foreign minister segae who was speaking after the u.s. secretary of state john kerry. do we have the translation back?

no, not yet. we don't have translation. let me sum up quickly what we heard from john kerry before we bring in the next guest and john kerry said the process in switzerland to end the process in syria had to start right away and would be a difficult process but should begin right away. he also said during his discussions with the foreign minister to discuss the possibility of trying to encourage a cease fire between the syria opposition and the syrian government notably in aleppo where there has been intense fighting in the last couple weeks and kerry agrees to a cease fire if the government also accepted it and also they discussed the possibility of exchanging prisoners. so both leaders and both lavroff at the beginning and john kerry said this was a positive meeting, a constructive meeting in paris. what we have not heard so far is

whether iran would be invited to participate in the switzerland talks which are due to begin at the end of this month. let's go back briefly to the russian foreign minister before we bring in our guest. let's take a listen. >> translator: the need to at least, local agreements of cease fire on the need to consider the less which the parties exchanged concerning first of all civilians and we work so that to expand the humanitarian access to the areas which are blocked now and they are blocked both by the government and the opposition. and here with american colleagues we have some consensus so that to act in parallel the government had announced its readiness to supply human convoy even today

and declare their readiness to coordinate jointly with the opposition groups and with the support of russia, usa and international red cross, the supply of a humanitarian aid to the areas of eastern guta and other suburbs of damascus where we expect similar gestures on the part of the opposition concerning those part of syria which is so far blocked. but the resisting groups will be working on it. i want to stress, they are not preliminary conditions out of consensus and it's not the conditions that are with the conference, it's the steps to alleviate the suffering of civilians a want to contribute to it and to work in coordination with the opposition and with the government. today we remembered and it's

hard to forget that what was decided by the leaders in june of this year in the g 8 summit, there is an appeal to the government to the opposition so that the conference in geneva, the government and the opponents agree on the joining of efforts to tackle terrorists who invaded syria, i'm sure with all the talk the geneva conference will hardly wage results and it's a joy that opposition and the government that they understand it quite well and the opposition is also concerned about the flooding of terrorists in some areas of the syrian state. and finally apart from a task to ensure as soon as possible the positive reply to take part in geneva two and talk about the

opposition delegation and support the task to ensure big participants also properly represent those states where they are invited to the conference and that is obvious for us, they need to take part in such countries like iran and saudi arabia. ♪

♪ from john kerry and lavoff and are keen to get the peace process in syria to start in switzerland. they have discussed the possibility of trying to encourage a serious fire and even a localized cease fire in aleppo which john kerry says the opposition has agreed to. and they have also discussed exchanging prisoners.

towards the end of lavroff's statement he mentioned a list of countries would be sent to the u.n. invited to the switzerland conference in syria but did not hear whether or not iran would attend. let's bring in our guest now, a political analyst who joins us live from lebanon and in beirut and good to have you with us and thank you for your patience listening to the press conference and both leaders said they had constructive discussions and a positive meeting, did you hear anything positive at all in what they have to say? >> well, i think there is a lot of positive things finally that the international community especially the american and the russian, they are on one page. they want to put an end to this major war in the middle east and hopefully this will become the end of the war that has been involving syria and the region. you have to remember we have a cold war here in the middle east

and obviously i understand the russians are coming and the united states, but that is not enough. i think people who are invited and the iranian still don't know where they are at. but without the iranian on board. >> reporter: i was going to ask you how important is it that iran participate in these talks? >> i think it's very crucial for them to be on the same table because the real conflict is between the iranian at this point and the cold war between saudi arabia and iran and reminds me of theled cowar between the soviets and the united states and if we do not find gorbechef and have a deal between the two countries i'm afraid we cannot continue the violence not in syria and there is a war, a proxy war going on in lebanon and syria and iraq and yemen and bahrain and it's destabilizing and i think those

two forces they go to peace or go to war. i think the region had enough of war and i think it's time to put the issue to those to a major and flew ennel political power in the region. >> and if iran was to participate in saudi arabia in switzerland talks there is a fragme fragmentation and in-fighting with the rebels and if the talks take place will they be positive when all the divisions exist within the opposition? >> and when they call for a cease fire in aleppo, among whom? because there are so many mini war going on besides the war that goes between the opposition and the syria. but when the decision is taken to actually permit it as the country to come together, so we

can actually, we can actually find a solution for this crisis, once we cut the funding and say we don't want any more war, i think you can drive the funding and probably you can bring the country into a gradual piece but it's not going to happen overnight. i know the division and friction and the hatred is so much dividing even the opposition. and now you have suicidal attack against each other but it's all about the main players. i think the main players are the saudis and iranians and have to come together at that table. i'm afraid that the iranians are not invited up to this point. >> reporter: thank you for the analysis and the views with us and we are live from beirut. in other news india could be certified with the crippling virus polio and a 18-month-old

girl in a slum seen here and it was last registered and the last registered polio patient and attending school and leading a normal life but pakistan is a different story and the disease is indemic and the health workers are in a campaign and three weeks ago a man was shot dead administering drops to children in the town. joining us is a former advisor to the prime minister of pakistan of polio irratification and why has this been so difficult in your country? >> there are several reasons and i think the prime reason is that we have had a band that the taliban has placed on the administration of the polio drops to children and that has created several challenges for

the polio teams. part of the polio irratification work is communication and persuasion and setting aside religious observations or any other reservations that people might have. when an out cry ban is placed and more than 260,000 children have been deprived of polio drops for the last 18 months there is of course a likelihood of the polio virus circulation and others contracting polio. >> reporter: and there is something among the muslims and how do you persuade the muslims to accept the vaccines and this is not a western conspiracy against them? >> i'd like to set some of these facts straight. across pakistan, by and large, the majority of the overwhelming majority of people do not have reservations about polio and you

see by the number of cases and the results of the polio campaigns, we were hitting numbers like 198 and 144 cases per year about three years ago. and in 2012 we brought them down to 58. so it shows that when, in fact, the campaign proceeds effectively and we get part of coverage we can reduce the number of cases. unfortunately the big setback has been the taliban ban and also that has led to once again the resurgence in certain areas of conservatism around polio and also i think the fact that unfortunately the shakila case connected with polio and had absolutely nothing to do with polio and recreated by the cia as an agent to trace bin-laden

and you have to draw from the person concerned. i think if we can persuade and this is always the great effort, that religious leaders join us and which they have in large numbers and society leaders and community leaders have also joined and across pakistan the coverage has been reasonably high but there is a lot of traffic movement and by traffic movement i mean traveling north of the country to karachi and they are carrying the polio virus. >> reporter: we hope they will be about to eradicate it and thanks for joining us and live from pakistan and time to catch up on the sports now and here is joe. the year's first tennis grand slam in the open is underway and a good start in melbourne for the defending champion, the world two had no problems accounting at the arena and he is advancing to the

second round with 6-3-7-6-6-1 victory and he opened with 6-3-6-4-6-4 win. in the women's draw williams is on court and facing bartly and leads 4 games to 2 in the first set. but her sister venus was beaten by the 22 seed and 6-2 the russians came from behind to win in three sets. also a couple of upsets and wimbledon champion was knocked out and 7th seeded who tumbled out to germany in straight sets. and the youngest player in the women's draw knocked out the oldest and they beat 43-year-old

crum and junior number one and making her grand rapids slam debut and her mother is younger than her and check out al jazee jazeera/sport. the 49ers is just one game away from their second successful superbowl appearance and beat the panthers to reach the nfc champion game and it sent them on their way and colin and kapernick in the 4th corner and 49ers win 23-10 and seattle in the right to play in the superbowl 48. broncos have the asc title game for the first in 8 seasons and thomas and walker build up 17-0 lead over san diego, the chargers fought back in the fourth quarter but broncos held

on to win 24-17. and the broncos will play the new england patriots next sunday for a place at the superbowl and it's the battle of the quarterbacks and peyton manning and tom brady and the last time they met in november they scraped past the broncos 34-31 in overtime. that is the two conference championships to be played on sunday. the other will be san francisco at seattle. the world's best football will be crowned at the awards later on thursday. there are three men short listed for the top prize and french who helped win the five trophys in the past year and scored 22 goals in that period and barcelona is the 5th straight award and the 26-year-old scored 42 goals and 45 appearances in 2014 but the favorite is madrid

and he included 66 goals and just 56 games. renaldo and madrid on the spanish league on sunday as they took on spaniards and it was left to pepe to break it with a header and it was 1-0 but enough to cut barcelona and madrid to just three points. and the coach italian was going to leave at the end of the season which would have been the fourth at the club but departure was hastened by a poor runner form and embarrassing defeat in syria on sunday. 2011 champions lost 4-3. what made it all the more surprising was all four goals came from 19-year-old barardi and it was the first time in club history they had beaten

milan and they are 11th place at the table and put them in an untenable position. and retake the top spot in the league later this monday, two points off the pacers they prepare to face and if they win it's the fourth time it changed hands in the last three days and they climb the top of the standings on 2-0 and edging the scoring and 7 minutes in and seeing the win this injury time. 3 points steal the top spot from chelsea who also won on saturday. jimmy walker went 7 years and 187 tournaments before the first pga victory and now the golfer has the second win this six starts and pulled away from the leaders in the final round of the open on hawaii on sunday, there were five players tied for the lead at one stage but walker had three strayed birdies and 7 under of 63 giving him a

1-stroke victory! easy to say and hard to do but today was awesome and felt in control all day and emotions, mentally, physically,all that, it was really cool today. >> reporter: and he won the latest stage of the rally, one of the most grueling motor races in the world and 2010 was stage 7 of 401 kilometer root in argentina and bolivia and the over all leader manning was fourth and had a 30-minute lead. and that is all the sport for now. >> thank you very much and we will see you later and stay with us on al jazeera, we will have plenty more with diplomatic efforts to end the war in syria and we will have jackie live from paris and all the latest reaction and do stay with us here on al jazeera. ♪

>> next we consider sacrifice and whether saving some members of endangered species is worth others. africa's black rhino population, less than 5,000 in the world today. the largest number remain in any mi ni nimibia, a very unlikely source a group of hinters in texas who say they want to help the black rhino by killing one. >> this weekend, the dallas safari club, allows the hunt of an aging

male african black rhino, unable to consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the government shutdown. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> antonio mora, award winning and hard hitting. >> we've heard you talk about the history of suicide in your family. >> there's no status quo, just the bottom line. >> but, what about buying shares in a professional athlete? real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the

world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. ♪ former israeli prime minister ariel sharon is being laid to rest and a monster by some and loved by others will have a full funeral. they are putting finishing touches on a historic agreement with iran and agreed to freeze much of the program in exchange for limited relief from economic sanctions. bringing bangkok to a stand still, thousands of protesters taking to the streets of thailand, protesting upcoming elections and calling for the prime minister to resign and a-rod swinging back at the