>> >> the head of a u.n. inquiry into the 2014 gaza war quits after being accused of bias. hello, welcome. this is al jazeera live from doha. also... >> if it's right for me to be free, it's right for all of them to be free in his first interview since release, peter greste calls for the immediate release of his colleagues. >> on a collision course with congress president obama unveils a u.s. budget which

includes a plan to raise taxes on the rich the story of the syrian child refugee who has become a music protege in the u.s. hello. the head of a u.n. inquiry looking into alleged war crimes drog the conflict in -- during the conflict in gaza in 2014 has resigned. he was appointed last august. he has been accused by israel of biased because of consulting work he did for the palestine liberation organization in 2012. >> i did a legal opinion about the international criminal court when palestine liberation organization was advising beam on ratifying the roam statute and they asked for an opinion, i

delivered it. it was a small consultancy, i do it all the time for governments. what happened in the past - when i was sworn in as a commissioner, i took an oath to be an impartial member of the inquiry, and nothing since the commission has began its work suggested anything to the contrary. this is from the past. and they are suggesting that i am behealeden to the palestinian liberation organization. that is not the case i'm independent. and the commission has to do its working including israelis with great integrity, impartiality. >> our diplomatic editor has more on why the israeli government was uneasy with mr shab as's appointment. >> professor shab as was always a controversial appointment.

binyamin netanyahu should be in the hague on war crimes he had said in the past. he's been chairing the work on the commission listening to testimony from those in gaza. the commission was not able to travel to the gaza strip, because it was denied permission by the israeli go. . the israeli diplomats complained about the work that the prove store did in 2012 and was wade $1,300 for a legal opinion by the palestinian organization. prove professor shab as issued a letter of resignation, saying he had done nothing wrong but wanted nothing that overshadow the report. there was a resignation before the work started, human rights lawyer ammal clooney, known

because she has a famous husband who is a hollywood actor. >> remains of members of the yazidi have been found in a mass grave. men, women and children were found near in the northern provinces, believed to have been forced by islamic state of iraq and levant. a peshmerga lieutenant said some victims were shot others attacked with knives. zeina khodr has more from erbil. >> another mass grave was found in the sinjar area, in the north-west of iraq along the syrian boarder. fighters cleared the area from explosives booby trapped explosives and discovered a grave, and reports of 25 bodies have been found, believed to be from the yazidis community - men, women and children. according to officials, some of the bodies had gunshot wounds

others were slaughtered. we have to remember that i.s.i.l. some members of the islamic state of iraq and levant took over the sinjar area last august and were accused of killing hundreds of yazidi and kidnapping scores of women and children. their fate is unknown. in december the peshmerga forces with the help of u.s. coalition air strikes managed to push into the mountains, pushing into the area. they were unable to take sinjar city. it's an important area for i.s.i.l. it's a main supply line between iraq and syria crossing sinjar city. another mass grave, the conflict in northern iraq continues. the 1,000km front line. the community pays a heavy price. a syrian government jet

targeted rebels in the south. activists say 12 were killed and dozens injured in air strikes on a rebel held area. duma another stronghold has come under attack. 10 people were killed, dozens injured, including women and children. an air strike in damascus killed and injured dozens. it was to the east of the capital. al jazeera journalist peter greste spoke of his relief of being released after 400 days in an egyptian gaol it was with incredible angst he left two colleagues behind. in his first interview he asked for egyptian to free mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed. stephanie dekker spoke to peter greste about the moment he

learnt he was being released. >> look i can't tell you how relieved i am at being free. i didn't expect. we were settling in for an appeared of months behind prison for the retrial. to be out now, today, with a few minutes notice really is just extraordinary. but i also feel incredible angst about my colleagues leaving them behind. i know that there is mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed, and other people that were convicted along side us in absentia and four others that had nothing to do with that case serving prison sentences. and so amidst all of this relief i feel a sense of concern, a real sense of worry, because if it is appropriate for me if it's right for me to be free, it's right for all of them to be free. for those convicted in absentia to be free of those convictions.

>> i want to ask you about that yesterday, the process for you personally how the day evolved and how it felt for you. what was the last thing said to your colleagues how did the date play out for you. >> i wasn't expecting anything at all. i woke up thinking about the campaign ahead of us feeling as though we would have to spend on extended stretch in prison. i went for a run and the prison warden called me over and said, "time to pack your stuff." one person was going. >> i said "where? to another prison", he said "to, no the embassy is coming they'll be here in an hour. get your stuff and go." as i said to you. it's a sense of relief and excitement. and an angst saying goodbye to colleagues and friends, people

that have really become family in that prison. you don't spend 400 days in a box with someone without getting to know them intimately indeed. over that period i got to know and accept baher mohamed and mohamed fadel fahmy and the others as family. couldn't be any other way. mohamed fadel fahmy is an extraordinary professional very dedicated journalist passionate strong-willed character. baher mohamed is one of the most amazing family men i have met. if anyone has suffered out of all of this it is baher mohamed. he has a wife and three children, one of whom was born while he was in prison. it was incredibly tough for him as someone so devoted for his family to have to be where he is knowing that he's innocent knowing that this is a huge mistake. and only being able to see them

on a family visit. and knowing now that he's going to have to spend that period behind bars. i think he was excited but concerned. we need to keep the focus on him. you know on a daily basis, the key is to stay fit physically mentally and spiritually. so i made a conscious effort to deal with all three of those things to keep running in a limited space, keep up an exercise programme. to keep mentally fit, and spiritually fit, and through all of that it was a way of enforcing discipline on myself. with each day hopefully, touch wood, i didn't come out of it

too damage. >> finally, what are you looking forward to? >> i have a very long time watching the stars, feeling the sand on my toes - the little things. this has been like a rebirth. but it is those little beautiful moments that are precious spending time with my family. that is what is important. not the big issues like peter greste al jazeera is calling for the release of its two staff members still in prison. in a statement, the campaign to free our journalists will not end until outline three are released. peter greste was released after 400 days in prison. baher mohamed, mohamed fadel fahmy - the three have to be exxon rated and the conviction

against our other journalists tried in absentia meanwhile canada's foreign minister said the release of mohamed fadel fahmy is imminent. efforts to free him, a canadian minister was going well. he did not elaborate as to when it was expected to happen a u.k. oil giant b.p. plans to cut billions to cope with falling fuel prices and a loss of earnings. the company has already slashed hundreds of jobs in the north sea and around the world. b.p. is suffering more than other oil companies as it continues to pay for the 2010 deep water horizon accident in the gulf of mexico u.s. president obama unveiled his proposal to boost government suspending to 4 trillion increasing taxes on the wealthiest task. 9 billion will be spent on the

islamic state of iraq and levant. >> reporter: there is very little the president and the republicans who control congress agree on. that is especially true when it comes to money. >> i cannot believe we are here again. >> this pleas is a mess. >> previous cuts shut the government. leading to defaults. it's been ugly and now it should be worse. president obama wants to increase spending by 7%. 75 billion. in these hundreds of pages he calls for raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations. before reading a page the republicans said no. they are willing to use the budget again to force the president's hand. they will not fund the department of homeland security past february if the president doesn't change an immigration policy. >> the president said it will allow millions of undocumented

immigrants to stay in the u.s. in a trip to the department of homeland security they will take the blame for a fall out. >> as one republican put it if they let your funding run out, it's not the end of the world. that's what they said. until they pass a funding bill it's the end of a pay check for tens of thousands of front line workers who will continue to have to work without getting paid. >> analysts say it is about politics than trying to pass a budget. >> both sides are angling to do or not do things based on what they think the impact on hillary clinton will be or their favourite amongst the republican. and they view that the white house is the big enchill arda because so much power has accumulated. congress only decides subsidiary issues. >> for the most part they decided to fund the government

for months at a time. >> in six years president obama funded two likely to mean economic uncertainty for the country until after the next election. breaking news to tell you about, coming out of egypt. reports of an explosion in central cairo. that's according to a witness telling the reuters newsagency. the cause of the blast is not clear. there has been a number of blasts carried out since the army toppled mohamed mursi. that's all the information that we have right now. we will hope to have much more on this as we get more information. back with more after the break.

>> a crisis on the border... >> thery're vulnarable... these are refugees... >> migrent kids flooding into the u.s. >> we're gonna go and see josue who's just been deported... >> why are so many children fleeing? >> your children will be a part of my group or killed... >> fault lines al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> today they will be arrested... >> ground breaking...

they're firing canisters of gas at us... emmy award winning investigative series... fault lines no refuge: children at the border only on al jazeera america hello again. the top stories on al jazeera, the head of a u.n. inquiry looking into war crimes during the conflict in gaza in 2014 has resigned. william schabas told al jazeera the commission must continue its work to bring justice to the people of gaza. peter greste is calling on the egyptian government to free the journalists still behind bars. in the first interview since his release he spoke about his relief at being free and the concern at the men best behind in the cairo prison. >> more than 40 are dead in

syria after the government targeted rebel-held areas. activists say fighter jets struck. women and children among the dead and wounded fighting continues in eastern ukraine as pro-russian separatists try to capture the town. a rebel leader announced the plan to boost to 100,000 men. scores of people have been killed following rocket and artillery attacks. talks on a ceasefire in the belarussian capital. we will mobilize up to 100,000 people to the army. given the situation on the front we will have to mobilize people with weapons. after today's event, it is urgent. it will be a general mobilization. charles stratford has more on the mounting tensions in the eastern ukrainian city of

donetsk. >> the two blaming each other in the new initiative on saturday trying to restart the peace talks, saying the two men that were sent on their behalf have the authority to make decisions for them and a reference to a recruitment drive. they want to get 100,000 volunteer fighters here in the donetsk and luhansk region that is to start within the next 10 days saying the men sent to the front were not trained sufficiently. a reference to ukraine's drive, a fourth wave to bring an additional 50,000 ukranian soldiers to their front line. all this talk comes at a time of increasing violence here in the

region. there are daily attacks incoming and outgoing shelling from here from across the front line and the civilian population spent most of their time hunkered down in their houses and basements if they can. we heard shelling a few minutes ago. saber-rattling language used in the context of violence in this region. >> the obama administration is sending heavy weaponry to the army is not the solution to the crisis. rosalind jordan has more from the u.s. state department. >> reporter: contrary to reports that the obama administration is considering giving lethal aid to the ukranian army the u.s. state department spokesperson suggests that basically the administration is looking at all options, but that nothing has been placed on the table or

taken off the table. she went on to stay that the u.s. is interested in trying to achieve a political and diplomatic resolution to the crisis in eastern ukraine, where in recent days separatist fighters and what is believed to be russian soldiers carried out more attacks on citizens in that part of the country. the ukranian government is looking forward to the upcoming visit of secretary of state john kerry, because they hope to persuade him and other members of the administration that the time is now for the u.s. and e.u. nations to provide lethal assistance. it's complicated because n.a.t.o. does include ukraine as a member. and there is some concern about the sensibilities of moss coe, when they believe there is a way out of the crisis. >> breaking news out of egypt to tell you about now.

it's been reported that security has been heightened in cairo, airport security heightened after police find two bombs at terminals there. in from the reuters newsagency. we are not sure if that is connected to the earlier reports we told you about, about an explosion in central cairo. that's all the information we have right now. we will bring you on that and when we get it chadian troops operating in cameroon launched an offensive under the control of boko haram. nigeria said it retook five towns held by the armed group, following a joint offensive by military and civilian vigilantes. they repelled an attack by boko haram in the north-eastern town. boko haram has launched

cross-border attacks from nigeria to cameroon and chad. they share a long porous border. fighters are thought to control half of borneo state in the north of nigeria. there was a growing refugee. more than 14,000 crossed lake chad in early january from the north-east town of baga. there has been more attack in north-east nigeria ahead of the february 14th elections there. on monday one person was killed and 18 injured in a car bomb attack on a campaign rally held by nigeria's president, jonathan goodluck. >> nigeria's main opposition leader says he'll make the country a safer place if he is elected. he was addressing supporters at a rally. >> translation: our main job is to improve security that is a

priority because people need to be free to go where they want to go and day or night to make a living. >> human trials have begun in liberia. one of the most affected west african countries of ebola. 30,000 chose to take part. the ebola epidemic killed 5,000 in the west african region. parties in sudan called nationwide boycotts of upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. the party said it would shun the vote to protest political and fresh freedom. leaders called on all sudanese to join the boycott to end the 25 year rule. the united nations highest is set to rule on two accusations of jen side

serbia-croatia. 20,000 were killed in the 4-year war for independence in the early '90s. croatia accused crochet of ethnic cleansing. >> what happened is former yugoslavia then a union of six republics dissolved. it was ruled that serbia as the successor can be held accountable for claims broughtly croatia. >> president obama's policy to open a relationship with cuba is causing a rift with congress. raul castro said he will no formalise ties until obama reconsiders the trade embargo. u.s. congress is not likely to support the move and is expected to hold a hearing later on stage. >> the u.k. house of commence is

set to vote in a medical posterior, allowing a baby to be born. the procedure is to stop mothers passing on a faulty gene which can cause a range of bebill tating disease. it has to be approved before it becomes law five monet paintings are going under the ladder in london for $5 million. the most coveted is "ley grand canal" which monet declared was. >> beautiful to be pointed a winner of international music competition to be performed at carnegie hall. the winner from a young syrian refugee. >> reporter: carnegie hall. most spend years practicing before getting a chance to may

at this store. for tomb yrk, it's 18 months since his first piano lessons. to be one of 50 children chosen to perform here. it was not easy for a young man whose family fled the civil war. there's a lot of kids like me of my age maybe dying because of the cold or bombs, i don't know. and i am not happy for that. i'm sad for that. i hope it will end soon. >> he's not here just to have talent. the first home playing the accordian. he knows that because of his talent turkey's president gave him and his family what many want - citizenship, and with it the ability to work and travel. in this case to new york where

judges spotted his talent. >> the play does not touch our heart. >> perhaps no one appreciates his accomplishments more than other ex-pats. >> his love of music brought him here. hopefully it's an opportunity for other kids in syria who under the horrific circumstances, they can aspire to and find hope. >> he knows he needs more than luck. >> coming here and performing in this hall it's a big honour to me. i am happy, and i am so proud. he says he has a lot of hard work ahead to achieving his goal of being a professional

musician. but already he has come so far. of course as always there's more on the website aljazeera.com. get the latest on all the stories. >> the first stop for many child migrants to the united states is this border patrol facility in mcallen, texas. >> "good afternoon, welcome to the rio grande valley processing center..." >> it opened this summer in response to an influx of unaccompanied minors from mexico and central america. >> do you think this is an immigration issue or a refugee issue? do you think some of them will be granted political asylum? >> we're not talking about criminals.