>> a warm welcome to this al jazeera news hour with me, david foster. this is what we have coming up in the course of the 60 minutes. damming information of starvation, abduction and torture in north korea. and kim jong-un may be held personally accountable. the commander of the free syrian armies being sacked. we looked at who will replace

him. anand an ethiopia pilot hijack s own plane. and the italian president asks renzi to form a new government. the most comprehensive report speaking of unspeakable atrocities. widespread oppression and torture and crimes against humanity. pyongyang rejects the findings, we have details from geneva. >> reporter: recalling the oppression of family before she escaped.

many witnesses asked for their identities to be withheld. there have been many investigations into human rights in north korea, but never one as comprehensive as this. using a clear picture of what goes on in the secretive state, how people cope with depravation and starvation is difficult. the international commission of inquiry finds in massive system of oppression, torture, systemic rape and abduction of foreigners many of these encounters of inhumanity. kim jong-un had executed his uncle. kim, age 31, took over for his late father just two years ago, but the chairman has written a letter to him. it is his commission will recommend the u.n. refer the

situation in the democratic people's republic of korea, the country's official name, to the international court to punish all those, maybe yourself, for crimes against humanity. >> nobody will be able to say in the future, if only we had known korea. now everyone will know, and it will be available in our report, and it is a wake up signal to the world and hopefully to the leaders in north korea. >> the commission of inquiry senior figures in north korea face international justice, but it does not have the power to make that happen. >> this hard-hitting report presented to the human rights council in about a month's time and they'll pass it to the u.n. assembly. only the security council can do that. and that's where north korea's

long-term ally china has a veto. an international court case seems a distant prospect, but this proper backed with the weight of the u.n. perhaps brings it a little closer. james bays, al jazeera, at the united nations in geneva. >> we heard from michael kirby, the author of the u.n. report, this is what he said a couple of hours ago on the findings of the inquiry. >> there is an abandonment of great wrongs of these kinds. the evidence includes testimony thato the prison camps. north korea said there are no such prison camps, the so-called prison camps, however satellite images show prison camps and we have testimony enclosed in the report which tell the stories of the prison camps, of the starvation and great famine and

of the deployment of the refusal to support the endeavors of the international community and the normal rules to provide food for the population of the babies who are born stunted and remain stunted and will be a continued blight on the public health of north korea to come. of the abductions, the public execution, and the fact that many people simply disappear. >> north korea's secretive country 25 million people living there. it borders china. now unlike it's southern neighbor, which is highly industrialized, north korea's economy is in in shreds but highly militarized. world familiar program believe 3 million people are under

nourished and 200,000 are in prison camps there. the country has been run by kim jong-ukimkimyoung unwho took ovs father kim jong-il. there are testimonies of people who say they were victims of abuse. >> the place that would make your hair stand on end. no words would help you understand what this place is like. people got so hungry they would eat anything from dog food, cattle feed and beans on the ground. i heard that people have eaten beans that have been stuck in animal dung. >> i may have been the culprit

so other members of my family were forced to go to prison camp without knowing the charge. >> the politician has been jailed for 12 years for supporting an attack against north korea. and supporters are told to attack south korea's infrastructure. hundreds of people were outside the court calling for lee's release or execution. >> edres has inexperience in military leadership. >> in order to structure the common relationship the high

military council decided in its meeting on the 16th 6 february to remove him from his duty as military chief. >> let's go to omar who is in istanbul. the decision was profited, quote, by the ineffectiveness of the command in the past few months. normally when you have a falling out with somebody, you you have an opportunity to resign and someone else takes over. it's all done very quietly. this seems to suggest that there was very bad blood between edres and the others at the top. >> y that's true, and it suggests there are differences and resists in the city and opposition as military commanders on the ground. when it comes to the military supreme council we are told there is an unanimous agreement or decision on sacking salem

edres for lack of operations and accuse him spending too much time out of syria. but in his defense i think he was charged with a very enormous task because remember the free syrian army is not a coherent group. it's made of several rebel forces and each group has its own allegiance and affiliations. so it's very difficult for edres and his replacement. >> yes, his replacement appears to be on paper a far more experienced yo military and in combat. >> yes, that's true.

we are told he is heavily involved in fighting and one of his sons is also killed in the fighting of that area. we understand that he is popular with the fighters from different groups in that region, and he has the military experience. but i have to say, david, it's not clear yet if the replacement of idriss with brigadier bashir will make any differences on the ground, especially when it comes to the weapons, to the fighters, to fight or face the military might of the syrian government forces. >> thank you, omar. well, the leader of the lebanese armed group says hezbollah will continue to fight in syria. the group has been involved in a number of battles along the syrian government soldiers. the fighters would only withdraw if other countries stopped their involvement.

>> why is it all right for the u.s. canada, france, britain, belgium, saudi arabia and tunisia, all these countries who are far from syria to be concerned about the presence of their own youth in these armed groups, but it is not already for us, the lebanese, syria's neighbors, with our future and security and deaths tin any and food and life tied to what happens there? why aren't we allowed to worry? to take measures, to take preemptive measures, preemptive war, call it what you like. >> urging russia to stop supplying arms to the syrian government. he was in indonesia. john kerry blamed the syrian president bashar al-assad for the deadlock peace talks in geneva. he said the regime stone wall did nothing but continue to drop barrel bombs on its own people and continue to destroy their own country. and i regret to say they're doing so with increased support from iran, from hezbollah and

russia. he went on to say that russia needs to be a part of the solution and not be contributing so many more weapons. el politicians continue to search for a solution to the conflict as the fighting goes on. rebels formed an opposition checkpoint. the town in the country is important and they're battling for control of the area. the government of syria has allowed aid i in the southern issues osection of damascus. the trial of three journalists will begin on february 20th. they are charged with ties with

the maui egypt has declared a terrorist organization. another journalist has been held since august. al jazeera continues to demand the unconditional release of its staff. meanwhile rallies have been held in pakistan to help support the detained staff. we have more from islamabad. [ protesting ] >> this is one of the biggest international protests in solidarity for the al jazeera journalists that have been held in egypt. journalists from 13 cities from cross the country and have gathered in different parts of pakistan. they say that egypt should immediately release the journalists and say this is not just a day of protests but will

continue their protests until the journalists are released, and they urge the pakistani government to use all men's too-to-realize al jazeera staff. >> police say suicide-bomber was behind the blast of a tourist bus on the border of israel. four people were killed and a dozen from injured, most of them tourists from south korea. they were traveling into israel when it was set off. swiss police are questioning a pilot who hijacked his own plane and landed in egypt. his hijacked the plane when his colleague went to the lavatory. the fear was this was a full-scale armed hijacking. at this stage the passengers were unaware of the unfolding

events. the plane eventually touched down in geneva at 6:00 in the morning local time. the co-pilot said he sought asylum for fear of persecution in ethiopia. at the waited for the pilot to go to the toilet before locking himself in the cockpit and taking control of the aircraft. after landing he gave himself up. >> at 6:10 the co-pilot came out with a rope in the cockpit and the police were on the ground close to the aircraft. he then announced he was the hijacker. >> all 202 passengers and crew on border were unhammerred. the co-pilot could be charged with hostage taking which carries a sentence of up to 20 years. al jazeera. >> venezuela expels three u.s. diplomats and asuese accuses wan

of plotting. and 20 million people in the rage are being effected. and why there has been an uphill struggle for jamaica's bobsled team in the winter olympics. we'll have the very latest from sochi. . >> matteo renzi is poised to become italy's third employment. the 39-year-old mayor of florence met with the president on monday and said he accepted the challenge. >> emotions run high at the president palace on monday ahead of the arrival of italy ace new prime minister in waiting. it's expected the president

napalitano asked the mayor of florence. >> they and many italians are angry renzi is the third prime minister without a vote sinc since 2011. >> they as many other italians are angry that renzi will be the third prime minister appointed by the president without a vote since 2011. >> renzi said italians needed to vote. where is the vote? we didn't vote for him. >> i'm not surprised. it's not the first time someone becomes prime minister without a vote. i won't vote any more. what's the point? >> matteo renzi will now start a round of consultations with the government as he knows he'll

have to win a confidence vote with the senate and lower house of parliament before he can take office as italy's youngest-ever prime minister. journalists say winning the parliament approval is only the first step. >> at this point i think it's very likely that he's going to form a government. but there is a big question mark of how this government will appear, and who will be the real backers of the government? >> while renzi is expected to receive the support of parliament it may prove more difficult to convince italians that yet more prime minister appointed by the president is what they really need. >> let's go outside of the presidential palace in rome. why cannot italy have a prime minister who is elected by the people? >> well, there is a voting law here in italy that was deemed

unconstitutional by the supreme court. they said all along that he was elected leader of the democratic party back in 2013, that he wanted new elections. he wanted to win elections outright, but first the parliament should have passed a new voting law that allows italians to vote to select and choose their own candidate, something that is it not happen with this current law. now he realized or said that he didn't see the form prime minister ni coleta do much about it and the government was not moving fast enough for these new laws. he said i don't have any choice but to replace you as prime minister so i can do that myself. during a speech after he met napolitano is that the first law he would push through parliament is the new voting law. >> he said he we've got to see

who the real backers of this government are. what did he mean by that? >> well, of course, he's inheriting a coalition, a very fragile coalition of government where forces both the center right and center left working together to push reforms through. that has not worked very well. so what the formal lie of sing signorberlous kony, we'll have to wait and see. >> you're right. give us an idea of the state of italy's finances are. two or three years ago everybody said it was in real trouble. how is it now?

>> it is still in real trouble. it is better than two or three years ago. two or three years ago we had the famous spread where they value the risk of italy, and the spread was up 55,200 which was s almost to the point of no return. now it's down to 200. the markets at least see this change cautiously positively. let's put it that way. of course the problems for italy are not over at all. especially on the economic side, and renzi said after the voting law, he promised one law for months, we'll see if he can keep that one up, is labor and the economy laws. >> one law per month from one government per five years, that would be something in italy. claudio, thank you.

>> in pakistan the taliban said it has killed 23 soldiers who have been held hostage since 2010. in the statement the taliban said it was in retaliation for the killing of some of it's men. >> some local tv channels say the government and the army have decided to launch a military operation against the taliban. we want to make it clear that operations that have occurred over the past ten years have never achieved positive results. these operations have resulted in millions of innocent people, children and women dealing displaced. >> we now have the latest on that from islamabad. >> less than 24 hours in taliban i said there would be a cease-fire. another faction announced tha--r

committee was saying they were treated as if they were the taliban themselves even though a clear indication was expected to come out, the current spokesman of the taliban pakistan. there were suggestions there were some sort of a riff or split among the ddp. >> iran's interior minister sent pakistan a warning. do something to rescue iranian soldiers or we will. fighters from an al-qaeda mier group kidnapped iranian soldiers ten days ago along the pakistani soldier. >> we've asked pakistan to deal with the issues strongly and seriously or allow iran to maintain the security of the region deep on pakistan and afghanistan soil. we're expecting a proper and precise answer otherwise we do consider our own right to

intervene and create a security fear fosphere for our safety. >> men will face charge of illegal mining. meanwhile, a dozen more men have emerged from the shaft near johannesburg. the miners first refused to come out because they feared arrest. initial reports said that 30 and 200 men were trapped. it's not known how many more may still be underground. the united nations is asking international donors for $2 billion to avert a famine in africa's region. poor rainfall has produce a food shortage and effects 9 million people. we go to the remote village of wali wali. >> villagers in wali wali know

how to live on less. but this has been a bad harvest. >> i'm worried for my people. we've had such little rain our people. our harvest was really bad. now we have to be careful with what we eat. >> adults eat one meal a day. for children this is lunch. crushed dried beans have little nutritional value but it fills the stomach. they're lucky, they might get dinner, too. >> we tell the children we're cooking dinner but we're just boiling leaves. eventually they fall asleep with an empty stomach. we have to lie to them to keep reverse going 237 children are starting to show signs of malnutrition. hunger is not new to this region, nor is the bill of billf dollars of aid sent to them. the food shortage has doubled in the last year to 20 million people.

>> behind these figures tremendous amount of human suffering and tremendous amount of development do wrong investments and wrong policies. it's a mess and there is nothing valuable in pointing fingers. what is super important for the future is that we have a plan. >> the u.n. is appealing for $2 million to fight food shortages in the region. people are hungry but no one is dying of hunger. this is not a famine. despite appeals by the united nations this isn't a crisis situation yet. this is the lifeline of this remote area. some travel two hours just to complect a few liters of water. but there isn't enough for everyone. with six months to go before the next rainfall the worst is yet to come. >> wale wale, at the senegal border. >> why the woman who prosecuted

criminals is being told to leave the job early. and stars come out from the british film award. we'll tell you who picked up top honors just two weeks before the oscars. >> what happens if the weather gets too hot. blank >> al jazeera america is a straight-forward news channel. >> its the most exciting thing to happen to american journalism in decades. >> we believe in digging deep. >> its unbiased, fact-based, in-depth journalism. >> you give them the facts, dispense with the fluff and get straight to the point. >> i'm on the ground every day finding stories that matter to you. >> in new orleans...

>> seattle bureau... >> washington... >> detroit... >> chicago... >> nashville... >> los angeles... >> san francisco... >> al jazeera america, take a new l

>> you're watching the al jazeera news hour with me, david foster. the top stories this hour the united nations accuse the north korean government of widespread human rights abuses. saying starvation, execution and torture are used to enslave the population. pyongyang has dismissed the inquiry as a political plot. the leader of syria's main opposition fighting forces has been sacked. he spent most of last year outside of the country. they say that idriss has been ineffective and lacked experience in leading military

operations. swiss police are questioning a pilot who hijacked his own plane, diverting it to geneva. he hijacked the plane when his colleague went to the lavatory. thousands of people who live in the city of aleppo have been able to leave the fighting and now are finding rave refuge in a knewly created camp but not everyone has been able to find some kind of shelter. >> this camp on the outskirts of aleppo is now home to 10,000 people who fled the constant fighting in the city. >> we were bombed day and night by barrel bombs, rockets, artillery and tank shells. we had to abandon our home carrying whatever we could. i have six children. we had nowhere else to go. >> the tents are paid for with money raised by private donors. this group of volunteers is

responsible for setting up and assigning the makeshift shelters. organizers say 75 families come here every day. >> we are forced to leave families for shelters. they have to sleep on the ground without any blankets. sometimes all we can give young infants, children, and women are sheets of plastic to cover themselves. >> this woman came to the camp after government forces bombed the neighbor in the east of aleppo, destroying her home. >> may god bless you. i suffer from bronchitis and have problems. take pity on me. i can't sleep in the open. >> despite the challenges many hearsay the conditions of this camp are far better than what they left behind. al jazeera. >> thousands of libyans have gathered i to celebrate the

movement that toppled muammar qaddafi. monday marking the day in which mass protests began against the former leader in 2011. but subsequent governments have failed to improve the security situation with militia continuing to operate independently. let's go live now from the libyan capitol of tripoli. the people there seem pretty happy that qaddafi is gone and their lives are moving on, but the security situation, we'll get to that directly in a moment, isn't good as we just mentioned, and early elections have been called. is that likely at all to change the situation there? >> well, david, there is a hope that that could ease the mood of libyans here who are not happy with their experiment in democracy so far. the government expired, parliament expired on februar

february 7th, but parliamentarians extended their term, and people in here were upset about that. they don't feel enough progress has been made in a broad range of areas. there were protests right where we're seeing celebrations today. people were unhappy with the government and demanding that it step down. the government appears to be respond to go that having met and by consensus on sunday agreeing that they would hold elections by the end of the year, and we're told there should be a law governing how those elections take place within the next month. now we took a look around tripoli and on the eve of the third anniversary, the beginning of the revolution that took down muammar qaddafi, and this is what we found. [ protesting ] >> the revolutionary fervor is still alive but now it threatens to turn on libya's new government. >> we want our government t, thy

haven't done anything for two years. we ask them to go. >> after 42 years of muammar qaddafi many libyans are unhappy with their experiment with democracy. >> the transportation is quite bad. the healthcare is dysfunctional at best, and i think those things are really--that gets to the crux of the matter in somebody i can't and they have not been able to recommendl reme items. >> the revolution is along over, but the militias that fought it never were disarmed. >> i think we can see peaceful demonstrations in a country where we've seen 20 million small arms, and we still see

shooting there. that's great. but my worry would be if it just starts, you can always start the killing, but it would be very difficult to stop it. >> a surplus of arms in an unhappy populous make for a volatile population. >> the government combated staged coup plots in the last week. tripoli, a militia fired on a crowd demanding they leave town, killing 50. they kidnapped the prime minister. since the up rising brought down libya's long time leader libyans seem to have unraveled. it's been three years since the start of the revolution that toppled muammar qaddafi. home to the homeless. someone turned it into a park but there are many who are happy

to keep it this way. they consider this a fitting tribute to a reviled leader. >> we have libyans who agree to bring down the qaddafi regime. that was total agreement, but unfortunately we did not take enough time to decide what to do after that. or the kind of libya we want. i think we will find our way eventually provided that we keep the arms away. >> but with rising political disfactiodissatisfaction, secury remains beyond the horizon. >> these militia, do they provide any semblance of law and order where they are, or are they simply like gangs.

>> there are suspect actors who are armed here in town. but outside of town one of our colleagues, a group from al jazeera arabic went down to the eastern town and interviewed militia there that had more tanks than the libya army. there are militia there who are posing a danger at least to the government's perspective to civil society here in libya. there are a lot of arms in this country. they are not registered. the justice minister hopes with a peaceful transition of government people will see democracy can work and lay down the arms that in so many other countries people lay down at the end of a revolution that they have not done so here. >> john hendren. thank you. ordering the expulsion of

three u.s. diplomats from the country, venezuela-u.s. relations have not been good for a great deal of time. hugo chavez hated what was happening north of his border. is this anything more than another spat between the two countries? is there anything more serious about it? >> what we know is that the president made an announcement accusing these people who still have not been named of meeting with student organizers who are conducting anticipate government protests. we'll hear more on that. one of the opposition leaders who now is being sought for by the government, they have a warrant out for his arrest has called a national rally for tuesday. >> time and patience are in short supply for most of these

venezuelans who say they're get up with the president and his revolution. [ cheering ] >> refuse to go back down, they say they will continue defying a government ban on unauthorized protest. >> we are tired of crime, censorship and people getting killed every day. >> but even as they stood together some questions have united who they really are. >> there is a lot of division right now but we have to be strong and not going into chaos. we step in the boxing ring and fight against each other. >> the widespread anti-government protest this week thrust into the spotlight the hard line stance.

the student protest had turned deadly. look to arrest him, he sent out a video to his supporters telling them to keep up the fight. >> we are on the right side of history, justice, and trust. stay strong and don't lose faith. >> his growing popularity is a challenge. >> losing our focus. we are trying to change venezuela but we're taking a step backwards. >> with the two leaders with the different views the opposition movement could be taking two paths. >> there is a division between the moderates and radicals. some believe the only way to fight against the government is

to build a majority and win elections while others believe that the government is undemocratic and the only way to bring change is to take to the streets. >> back at the anti-government protest opposition members all agree on one thing. that they want to see a change in the government. but with elections five years away and the majority of venezuela still supporting the president, it's unclear just how they will make that happen. >> you let's talk about why so many people in venezuela don't think they're as well off as they could. this is a country that has vast oil wealth and chavez is going to share it around. what is happening with the economy? >> well, to give you an example venezuela now has the highest level of inflation in the world. the people here are really suffering financially when they go to the market.

they don't know if the price of tomatoes today will be the same as it will be tomorrow. the other problem that is very serious concern here is crime. venezuela has huge indices of crime and there is a problem with impunity. 90% of cases here are never solved. that affect has really taken a toll, and people are very frustrated with the situation, and many feel the government is not addressing those problems well enough. >> thank you. that's rachel there in caracas. coming up on the news hour, how the latest gadgets are creating mountains of toxic trash in china. and we'll find out who stood tallest in the nba, and most of them are pretty tall.

>> guatemala's highest court has asked it's nation's top prosecutor to step down six months before her term was to end. she had been lauded for her crackdown on organized crime. we're in guatemala city where he speaks about her fight to stay in office. >> some say she's the most formidable attorney general in guatemala's history. but now the country's highest court has told her she must step down in may, seven months before she says her term would end.

>> the institutions responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes and for administering justice must be a auto must and independent. it puts the rule of law at risk. >> since being appointed, she has confronted some of her country's most powerful and feared figures. she brought former dictator to trial on genocide charge for his alleged role in massacres during gall ma's civiguatemala's civil. in 2013 she was nominated for the nobel peace prize. but many suspect interference in the constitutional courts' decision. >> i think that our country's

powerful and wealthy are starting to feel afraid because of the genocide trial. they feel they might be next. this is why they want her to get out. >> some legal experts say the constitutional court decision has nothing to do with the political divisiveness that plagues guatemala. >> they say the term has to start and fend may. it's in the constitution. she was appointed in 2010 after another attorney general was removed. that's why she thinks she has time to serve. >> the problem we have in guatemala is that although the constitution is known, it is not understood by that many people. nor do many people understand the concept of constitution allah which for me is fundamental. >> now that she's leaving there will be considerable interest in who replaces her, and what they

will bring to one of the most important roles in the country. david mercer, al jazeera, guatemala city. >> the world apparently insatiable appetite for this sort of stuff, the latest electronic gadget, you see the mountain of discarded old stuff grow bigger and bigger. most of that waste is dumped in china where recycling is a lucrative industry. we report from the eastern seaboard that electronic rubbish may also be a health hazard. >> shipped in from around the world to one of the main ports for solid waste some of the millions of tons of scrap melt that china processes every year. among the most valuable scrap, e-waste from the devices that the world no longer wants from laptops to mobile phones. in this part of eastern china evidence everywhere of the

hazards caused by recycling toxic components. a government crackdown on unregulated processing has forced recyclers to take refuge in concealed yards. >> for those people unlucky enough to live near the piles. >> the situation is worse now compared to when we moved in a few years ago. the pollution is serious and it's very bad for our health. >> more than two-thirds of the world's scrap devices find their way to china, and the demand f fors here is homegrown, a trend that will continue with growing affluence. some of the tv and computer monitors on their way to a new recycled existence. able to handle 2.5 million

devices per year this plant is operating at two-thirds capacity, but it won't be long before china's appetite for ne newer devices means the plant will be operating at full strength. >> the amount of e waste keeps increasing as china's people see their living standards rise. >> with currently less than 100 plants like this one operating throughout the whole of china, it is the sector that is set to expand. a new growth business making a living from outdated technology. al jazeera, beijing. [♪music] >> here is andy with the sport. >> well, focus has been rather disappointing story of day ten of winter olympics. poor visibility causing the postponement of some events and it could return again on tuesday. the men's snowboard with one

victim while the 15 kilometer was postponed from supplied that hopefully will take place on tuesday. >> the visibility was really low. we only had 20 to 30 meters visibility. it was really unsafe to have any competitions today going on. it's a pity, an. >> the weather has not affected the two-man bobsled. russia took gold in that event and set a new track record in the third run but it's team jamaica who continues to steal the limelight after a 12-year absence. jamaica returns to the games. they just completed their third run and finished 29th place overall, sadly, not good enough for them to progress any further in the competition. axle was expected to be one

of the stars of the games, after failing to win a medal has opted to quit sochi early. he has pulled out of the giant slalom wit gaming of allergies d fatigue. now football's world governing body appear happier with one of the unfinished stadium projects in brazil. describing the world up venue as fantastic. they have been told that the stadium is 97% ready and should be finished in march. it's deep in the amazon rain forest and they may pause games if the weather gets hot. >> if the referee feels that the heat is too high, we'll make sure that the players are not in danger and make sure that they can still play and drink, it is--we have played in beijing at the olympic games at noontime.

it was very, very hot in the stadium, and the games took place, and they played for 90 minutes. >> real madrid are level on points with barcelona and atletico madrid in the spanish league. they extend their streak to 14 unbeaten games. here without the suspended cristiano ronaldo. and they trail only on goal difference. named most valuable player at nba all-star game. the annual games between the best in the west and their counterparts in the east, 31 points and 14 assists, and the east won 163-165, ending a three-game losing streak. >> you know, just being out here with all these great athletes, playing in front of a great crowd in new orleans, you know, when the game got competitive i

think as athletes we all want to make the game competitive, especially as an all star game. both teams compete until the end, and the east wanted to win this one. we took this one personal. >> new zealand cricket counts, continue to lead his country into the fight intense india. against india. and being on the brink of defeat, the home side will take the lead into the final day. >> just took it over time. yeah, they came at us hard, we weathered the storm and we brought a few runs away and we tried to take them as deep as we could. to lose one cricket today is a pretty pleasing effort. >> there more news on our

website. russia just won the 1200 kilometer, and that is her third gold medal of these games. check it out www.aljazeera.co www.aljazeera.com/sports. that is it for now. >> from sport to the movies, if you're wondering which films to put on your must watch list, an indicator of those films which could well be successful at the oscars, which happens to be two weeks from now. this report by phil lavell. >> reporter: even the biggest movies stars in the world need some help now and again. hollywood's royalty from all over in london. there's your best actress, cate blanchette, even they had to make way for the real royalty, and prince william with dame

helen mirren who won is ans could scar for "the queen." "gravity" being one of the critics favorite. the entire cast, all two of them, are american. the movie is set in space, yet this still counts as a british film, and here's why. >> it wasn't filmed in outer space. it was filmed here. so the fact of the matter here filmmaking is an international endeavor, you know, and it just so happens that british filmmaking involved talent from europe and both sides of the atlantic. >> oprah winfrey is one of the world ace most famous women, but when it came to best supporting actress she loved out to jennifer lawrence for "american hustle." and captain phillips was one of

the four big hopes with nine nominations to american hustle's ten, and 12 years a slave, steve mcqueen's drama about a man abducted and sold in slavery. this movie took in $30 million in its first five weeks in the u.k. alone. although it missed out on its share of prizes it took two of the big ones. best actor and this was the best picture. >> and so that is it for another year. the first of many, not one, two, but four strong contenders for all of the top prizes. there is not long to wait. the academy awards take place in two week's time. >> that is it for me and the news hour team. but i will be back in a couple of minutes with another half hour of news.

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.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. here are the stories we're following for you. we'll take a closer look at what goes on inside north korea's oppressive regime. venezuela's embattled president expel three u.s. diplomats as protests continue in his country