aljazerra.com/ajstream. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> protesters back on the streets of bangkok. >> live from doha. also - ukraine's parliament offers amnesty to protest scores, it's not enough to apiece the opposition. how saddam's senior figures accused of negotiating a coup.

>> and an industry struggling to survive. >> thailand is gearing up for a massive security operation ahead of sunday's controversial lec election. tens of thousands will be deployed. protesters are mobilising, calling for a boycott of the vote, saying they will not stop the demonstrations until the prime minister yingluck shinawatra resigns. they want an interim government appointed to implement anticorruption reforms. yingluck shinawatra is determined to push ahead with the poll. >> the leaders of the protest movement issued a familiar call for the supporters to stage their biggest rally yet. their supporters will fill the

street of bangkok to bring it to a stand still. that will start today and run through the election on sunday. the focus not just in bangkok, they want the supporters to gator in other centres to set up stages outside government facilities such as the city halls. the aim to disrupt the election. the leaders of the movement are saying they will not stop people voting on sunday, but people are free to vote, but by doing so they'll be supporting the regime, as they call it, referring to the government-led by the prime minister yingluck shinawatra. a government they want gone from office. security remains concerned for the election on sunday. the police saying that they'll deploy some 200,000 officers around the country. the military saying they'll step up security. >> away from the opposition protest, in the capital bangkok.

it's a strong hold of the ruling party supporters known as the red shirts. there's concern the prime minister could lose score. scott heidler reports from northern thailand. >> it was a revered former king who established the roots of the thai silk industry. it was the wealth of one family's silk company started 85 years looking that weaved together a thai political dynasty in the north. >> this town was pout on the map by the shinawatra family. they put it on the map. some feel as though that might start to arode if thailand's political crisis drags on. they are watching how prime minister yingluck shinawatra handles the mass protest culling for her resignation. the protest leader accused her of being a proxy for her older brother.

a lot of the hard-grape supporters of yingluck shinawatra want her to take more action against the radicals in bangkok. yingluck shinawatra's party was democratically elected. she should be allowed to do the thing she was elected for. >> the northern part of the country enjoyed expansion and investment thanks to tourism and government programs. >> the red shirts, as they call it, want that to continue and the home town family to continue ruing in bangkok. keeping with the family's tradition, they running for a seat in perimeter. the campaign is for everybody who loves democracy. we fight for democracy. >> many thats in the north are eager to enter the job market. but they are concerned about

growing divisions. >> i believe that both sides love the country the same. but they are going in sop sit directions. >> no matter if led by the thaksin shinawatra family. bringing the two sides closer together is a main challenge for the thailand government. >> a court in bangladesh sentenc sentenced a member of an opposition party. they were found responsible for smuggling weapons to a rebel group in neighbouring india in 2004. in a separate trial they face charms of war crimes allegedly committed during bangladesh's 1971 independence war. >> ukraine's parliament passed a bill offering amnesty to protesters if they stop

occupying government buildings, it's the third major concession. if may not be enough. many want the president to resign. nick spicer has the latest. >> they voted through an amnesty bill with an ultimate um. it gave protesters 15 days to unoccupy government buildings. >> if they press on peaceful protesters, this will trigger another spiral of violence. >> there were four different draft bills of the amnesty law and delay and argument. pro-government toll tirns have their way. >> this is ukraine house, one of several buildings occupied by protesters. they have been hoping for an amnesty law. the people here are not ready to

give up their occupation for exchange. >> some want the president to resign, others want talks to resume. >> are you kidding. the people that have been there go first before everybody is left out. the amnesty happen before. not only the amnesty. we have other demands. if we go because people have amnesty, it's zero results. we demand more, of course. >> there were clashes. with one opposition group wanting to continue its occupation of the building. another trying to get it to vacate the premises, suggesting a split in the opposition, managing to force the government to begin making concessions. >> there's been no breakthrough in the syrian talks taking place in geneva. but lakhdar brahimi says he hopes the next round will produce results. syria's

opposition is threatening to pull out of the protest. the government has been holding face to face talks for five days. >> we are committed to the process to finding political solution to end the suffering in syria. but there would be an end point, absolutely. you know, month after month, just talking without progress. progress must be made. must be substantial. >> meanwhile, inside syria government forces and rebels continued to battle across the country. in the video you can see bombs dropped on the southern city. government jets are apparently using so-called barrel bombs here. they have been air strikes against rebel bases in damascus, and in the district of almandi. >> an african union summit is

about to get underway. the focus was meant to be an agriculture and food security. the conflicts of the central african republic are likely to dominate. we may see south sudan sign a ceasefire deal with one of the rebel groups. staying with south sudan, seven men accused of involvement in a coup attempt have been released from prison and flown to kenya. their deattention has been a sticking point in peace talks. we have this report from juba. >> the freed men were all smiles as they greeted kenya's president. he had been flown to the kenyan capital. >> i'm pleased to announce that the president of south sudan, his excellency, president salva

kiir released to my custody seven of the 11 detainees held in his country. they are behind me. >> the release was pard of a broader agreement between riek machar, and rebels held by president salva kiir. one was a the former justice minister. >> the president is our enemy - not at all. we are his people, his friends, his colleagues, his comrades. >> while this is seen as a breakthrough on the political front, on the ground nothing much has changed the fighting in south sudan forced half a million people from their homes and several thousands have been killed. >> despite the tone struck by south side, fighting in both

areas continues. it appears that the four remaining detainees in prison in south sudan face the prospect of trial and charges of treason. some of south sudan's politicians will hail this was a breakthrough, until the issues are settled, many people fear that they'll continue to suffer. >> still ahead - how safe is sochi. u.s. senators debate security over window olympics and a russian resort. the philippines have been called a rising tiger economy, but not everyone is benefitting. find out why.

>> good to have you with us. these are the top stories on al jazeera. protesters are back on the veets streets of bangkok. >> tens of thousands of police will be deployed across the country for the vote. >> ukraine's parliament passed a measure offering amnesty to protesters, on condition that demonstrators vacate government building. part of the opposition refused to leave. seven men accused of enrolment in south sudan have been released from in prison and flown to kenya. their detention has been a sticking point between president

salva kiir, and rebels led by riek machar. >> according to egyptian state arab gulf states will give them $4 million. it has been helping to keep the economy afloat during the political turmoil. >> al jazeera calls on the egyptian government to release five journalists. the government says the cases have been referred to the clt court by the prosecutor general. al jazeera has not been notified of formal charges. >> the three staff of al jazeera english form , baher mohamed and peter greste have been held for a month. from arabic lang bij channels abdullah al-shami has been held six months and mohammed badr 200 days. wednesday was the latest attempt to get them released. speakers from the bbc, sky news

and british "daily telegraph" expressing concerns about what is said about the interim government in egypt. >> for a great nation like egypt to treat people doing the job as journalists, which is an ethical decent job which all decent societies need, for egypt, of all countries to treat journalists this way. >> while this happened the prosecutor general considered peter greste's future in cairo, he, like his colleagues had detention renewed, while held in prison conditions described as harsh. >> the picture is so polarized. people are seeing what they want to see. having independent journalists on the ground it is essential for the egyptian people and the

world to make informed positionses. egypt's rules allow people bike mohamed fadel fahmy to be held for long periods. it's more drak ownic than the hosni mubarak government. >> human rights organizations are worried as to what is happening in egypt. it's an open question as the extent to which it is all shared by politicians, particularly in the west. the british foreign office issued a statement saying it was concerned at attacks on human rights around cairo. in diplomat k terms that language is mile. >> particularly western countries in alliance with egypt. they are in a bind. they are in a moral bind. then have been equivocal in their response to a military coup, and a violent crackdown against the muslim brotherhood and their supporters that

followed. they have been less quick to condemn that than they have been lesser abuses by other regimes elsewhere in the middle east. >> there's an obvious point that egypt's detention of al jazeera's staff may be seen as a political revenge on the government of qatar, which bank rolls the channel. it does not explain why others are not similarly subject to other. al jazeera says interviewing the muslim brotherhood does not imply sympathy to people seen by rulers of egypt as a terrorist organization. >> canadian film maker john grayson was held ot tory prison in egypt. he said the conditions are appalling and those captive were subject to abuse. >> first we were held in a paddy wagon for three hours in the sun. it's hot boxing.

basically you beg and a number of the prisoners suffered severe heat stroke. then we were let out into the prison, welcomed into the prison by a gang of about 10 guards who beat us systematically. we learnt that this is the standard welcoming party to torra, and it's, of course, practical. it means that we are going to be fairly subdued for the days that follow. >> human rights groups are accusing 17 police officers of using a torture wheel at a detention center near manila. the officers spun the wheel to detect how detainees were abused. punishments were a bat position where people were hung upside down or continuously punched for 20 seconds. philippine police say a number

of officers are in custody. >> a director with amnesty international philippines believes that the police don't just torture for information, but do it for fun. >> it is despicable that until now, torture for punishment or extract information is continued here in the country. in fact, the recent cases discovered in laguna province even include entertainment for the police. they do it for fun, not just to instigate pain and injury. since 2001 to 2013, torture continues, and they have more than 600 victims of torture. we have an anti-torture law

passed in 2009. and more than 300 people have been tortured since then, according to the commission on human rights. yet no one has been punished for torture in our country yet. >> the philippine government announced an economic growth rate of 6.8% for 2014. foreign direct investments doubled since prime minister acheano came to power. millions of filipinos say they are not benefitting from the economy's success. >> this woman lost her job, working as a medical assistant in manila. now she is hoping to find work abroad. at this point she is willing to go anywhere, if it means she can provide a decent living for her family. >> it's hard to be in the philippines. the country is corrupt.

they are unable to solve problems. >> life is becoming desperate, despite government reports that the economy is improving. >> i think this is publicity. there is so many people like us with no place to live, and no place to eat. that's why so many of us left. if the economy is good, why are we all leaving? >> millions of filipinos lose the country. they make about 10% of the population. overseas filipino workers break-ins after everything of 21 million. s dollars. the country will have a 6.8 growth. the philippines has been dug as a rising tuger economy. many here are skeptical.

>> most of the growth is coming from consumption in invest.. it's a consumption driven growth. mainly the overseas workers is powering the academy. that is why, despite, you know, all this high growth statistics trickling down to the masses. >> unemployment rate in the country is around 7%. local surveys show half of the country's population believes the quality of life worsened. freeing up the economy to allow foreign investment means amending the constitution. many filipinos can't afford to wait for real reform. the need to provide for their family is urgent. they are willing to make

sacrifices, even if it means living far from home. >> less than two weeks until the start of the winter olympics in russia, there are concerns about how safe the socchi games will be. u.s. senators will be debating the safeness of the olympic teams. >> the u.s. olympic team uniform has been much commented on since its unveiling on. being covered in the symbols of america concerns the u.s. state department. that athletes wearing the uniform outside the stadium could be tart of an attack. >> vladimir putin, russia's president, promised 40,000 police would secure games. lawmakers in washington are demands assurances. u.s. intelligence is working

with its counterparts. >> cooperation has been improving. it can improve, we are looking for ways to improve it. >> in recent weeks threats to the games have been rising. they are reportedly searching for one or more black widows intent on revening the deaths of their huhs backhands. a group known as vilayat dagestan has also threatened attacks. >> the greater threat is to softer targets in the greater sochi area and outskirts. >> security was stepped up last month after suicide bombings targeted public transportation killed more than 30 people in volgograd, 700km from sochi. the attacks from 400km from

dagestan. where armed struggles between separatists and the russian army have been ongoing since the collapse of the soounon. that's why some believe raxed up warnings may be overstated in the media. >> i don't think the threat to these games is qualitatively different now than what one might have anticipated when the decision to hold the games was made. with proper security measures, the threat to events such as this can be contained. >> the u.s. state department issued warnings for those intent on travelling to the winter olympics. the u.s. will station two navy ship in the black sea to guard against potential threats, whether needed or not. >> now 300-year-old violin has been stolen from the lead

violinist of an orchestra. frank, rehearsing, was attacked in a parking lot on monday night. the robber used a stun gun. he was borrowing the stradavaius. >> we have been in contact with interpol and a unit that investigates niece debts. we are dialled into the pawn shop industry. >> decades of war in afghanistan transformed how ordinary afghans socialised. >> kabul had a thriving industry, but a fear of violence keeps people at home. we journey to the past to catch a glimpse of once remained as kabul said heyday

>> time almost stands still. the staff show adelaide bollywood movies, using antique tools of the trait. the cinema dates its workers, remembering hays heyday. technology and rapidly changing society killed the buzz around watching films on the big screen. it was not just modernity that kill cinema going, decades of war pushed people into their homes and a mind-set that remains. generations of afghans come here to watch movies. the theatre is hardly changed in 50 years, but the current generation are electing to come to watch films and they play to an empty house. >> this man remembers with pride how upmarket the place was.

>> translation: this cinema, as i remember it, was delux and limited. people came with their families, there was hardly a free seat. everything was perfect, carpet, curtai curtains. it was full of men and women. >> the rest of kabul rushed to modernize, the park cinema was locked in its past. few investors wanted to throw their money into something popular. the cinema is open because the government covers basic costs. they are sentimental about the pace. now a crumbling tribute to a culture lost. >> now, the last of hundreds of millions of people in china are making their way home ahead of friday's lunar new year celebrations. the animal festival sees the urban dwellers head to the

countryside. 3,500 billion trips are expected to be made. it's the largest annual mass migration in the world. just a reminder that you can always catch up with all the news on the website. aljazeera.com. >> turmoil half a world away is taking the bite out of your 401 k. to deal with you have to understand it and i'm here to hep. >> people that live near a farm belt. how it got a whole lot harder. >> i'm ali velshi, and this is "real money."