>> i think this is very important for us and the fact that today was the additional increasing of the financial support is very important and is the right time frame in need is a friend indeed. i can once more reaffirm my strong support of speedy implementation for this system of reform all stage governance for prosperity of democratic society. these changes are the key

prerequisite for a democratic ukraine as well as prosperous and safe life for our citizenen. today voting in the ukrainian parliament and in support my constitutional proposal more than constitutional majority for unit of the parliament and judges this is another step and evidence of the--our decisive efforts to build up the new country with european values, based on the principle freedom and democracy. this is the same way how we can demonstrate our cooperation with the united states effectively. >> well, thank you very much, mr. president. first of all, thank you for welcoming me here today and thank you very much for the

great leadership that you personally your government, my friend your foreign minister, who i've worked with closely in many meetings in the last year, and you are right, it is just about a year since i was here and i want you to know that today, i am here specifically to bring you the support and friendship and good will of the president of the united states, of the administration, but most importantly, the american people. the people of the united states share unwavering support for the ukrainian people as they continue to display a very courageous duty towards democracy, freedom independence and most importantly towards

the protection of the appropriate respect due for the sovereignty of your country. you're people have bravely and relentlessly pursued a sovereign democratic future. we admire that. we respect it. >> i would emphasize to president putin and to those russians who obviously express concerns about the road that you're on, that we don't view this as a 0-sum game. we have never viewed it that way. this is not meant to be, nor should it be a divide between east and west. this is about rule of law. it's about the norms by which nation states behave. it's about the fundamental respect for the integrity of the sovereignty of ukraine.

this morning president poroshenko and i had the opportunity to be able to discuss the necessary and promising reform steps that the president has been leading. this is a program that the ukrainian government is undertaking now even in the difficult circumstances of the conflict that is taking place you just heard president poroshenko restate his personal commitment and the steps that he is taking in order to implement these reforms in ukraine. we spent some time talking about his political path ahead the unity of his government, the commitment of his government to protect the interests of the people of ukraine but also, we talked about the largest threat that ukraine faces today, and

that is russia's continued aggression in the east. there's no other way to call it. we're not seeking a conflict with russia. no one is. not president poroshenko, not the united, not the european community. that's not what this is about. we are very hopeful that russia will take advantage of our broad-based uniform acceptance of the notion that there is a diplomatic solution that is staring everybody in the face. that's what we want. we want a diplomatic resolution, but we cannot close our eyes to tanks that are crossing the border from russia and coming

into ukraine. we can't close our eyes to russian fighters in unmarked uniforms crossing the border and leading individual companies of so-called separatists in battle. we can't close our eye to say modern rockets and modern radar capacity and other capacity that has crossed the border in order to prosecute this conflict across sovereign lines across international borders against all the promises that were made in the minsk ceasefire agreement. we will meet again with

president poroshenko, we will meet with our european allies and friends in an effort to surround score our choice is diplomacy. engaging in a series of steps which will uphold the minsk agreement and which they signed up to. regrettably the violence that accelerated since then, not diminished. innocent people are dying every day, innocent people, people caught in a barrage of artillery that comes into mariupol, which has no business whatsoever being dragged into this conflict,

families cowering in their basements with sheer children to avoid the shelling. it is imperative that every make the right choices here. russia needs to demonstrate its commitment to ending the bloodshed once and for all and we would ask that it does so by honoring the agreement that it signed the minsk agreement. everybody knows what the actions are that were expected from that agreement. it's not complicated. russia needs to now cease this military support for the separatists and bring people to the table and make the effort to achieve a lasting political solution. in order for this conflict to be resolved, certain things need to

happen. the russians need to undertake certain steps and the separatists, who act with their input have to also support those steps. first of all there must be an immediate commitment now to a real ceasefire which is not just a piece of paper and words but which is followed up by specific access namely pull back the heavy weapons from the ceasefire line, from the borders beyond the range of artillery beyond the range of certain munitions to be able to do harm from as i willens. that would be the first confidence-building measure that would begin to law for peaceful resolution. second remove foreign troops

and heavy equipment from ukraine, which leads to the third step, respect the international border. close that border, so the movement of these materials and tanks which are the fundamental means by which this continued war is proscated and respect ukrainian sovereignty. work through the interests russia has expressed about the people in donetsk and have those issues worked through but the way to do it is not by fostering greater violence. both sides need to release the hostages who are currently detained and in addition it is important to note that president poroshenko this morning in my conversations with him pointed

out that he remains committed to supporting the special status law, which is currently on the books, which provides greater economic and municipal and political rights to those particular to the area. that's important to remember, that he is also committed to pursuing real constitutional reform and he is committed to holding new free and fair elections and this these steps are respected, it is fully appropriate to also expect that the full measure of the minsk agreement can also be respected and implemented. that is the outline of peace

and the united states of america, president obama is deeply committed to helping to assist all the parties come together in an effort to try to achieve this. the fact that chancellor merkel and the president are visiting today show that the rest of our international partners stand united with ukraine in calling on russia to take the steps that i just outlined, and to take those steps without delay. that is exactly how this conflict can come to an end. that is our choice. ukrainian people, penalty poroshenko, united states, european allies and friends, we are convinced that if diplomacy

is given meaning beyond the piece of paper and words on it through the actions that follow to implement what those words layout, there could be peace. this is a critical moment for this region, this country and for the prospects of peace. it is really possible that this conflict could come to an end but only starting with the ceasefire, moving the heavy equipment back and beginning to deal with the real issues that we all know are on the table. that is also the only way that russia's international isolation is going to be ended and eased and it's the only way that the ukrainian people in all parts of this country will finally achieve the peace that they so deserve. let me just say that when i came here a year ago, i was deeply moved by my visit deeply moved

by the people that i met as i visited the site where so many people were killed by snipers at that pivotal turning point in the struggle for freedom. it is really enormously impressive what the people of ukraine have accomplished, broadly speaking, over the course of this year. they held an election under the most difficult circumstances a peaceful transfer of power the finding of a new government, a government that has worked hard in unity to try to end this conflict and we hope that in the next days, it may be possible finally to try to find a road ahead and mr. president we're grateful to you for your steadfast leadership and for the effort to reform things, even in

the middle of this conflict, which you have remained so committed so, so we thank you for that and i look forward to seeing you in munich in a day or so. thank you, sir. >> secretary of state john kerry there wrapping up a speech in kiev talking after president poroshenko addressed the press there, as well, talking about how he was not seek ago conflict with russia, but said that the u.s. cannot close its eye to say tanks and rockets crossing the border against a minsk agreement, that russia needs to make a chase and that people are dying every single day and henceforth laid out various things that he wants ukraine and russia to do. let's bring in rory from moscow.

one wonders how president putin will assess what we've just heard. >> i think president putin on paper at least in his statements will say much the same as john kerry was just saying, except for the facts, of course that he would resolve himself russia of any blame that kerries been pointing for the conflict and what's going on. he will again deny that russia has any troops and arms, weaponry material in ukraine. he will deny that that recorder is being used as a sort of porous membrane by which all this material can get across, and he will say that it's the ukrainian army that is setting all the environment really, the conditions for the failure of the minsk peace agreement not

the separatists and certainly not russia. putin has never stopped saying that the minsk agreement should be the framework for a ceasefire in you a crane. what putin says, though, is that russia has never ceased upholding it, it is ukraine to blame, not moscow. >> rory, we'll leave it there thanks very much indeed. let's give this some context now. the ukraine and russia are battling in eastern ukraine heavy shelling continues in donetsk and luhansk and the city of mariupol is being hit by violence the major transport hub between russia and ukraine. that is where we report from. >> ukrainian army fire rockets towards the front line.

the separatists say they have surrounded a town under siege. volunteers like this man are trying to drive civilians to safety. >> you can hear shelling and shooting at night it was very intense, he says. i have to go, says this man. it's bad in there very bad. we follow add bus along the mud roads into town. attempts at negotiating a temporary safe truce for passage had failed. the shelling is intense. very few people on the street

run for cover. what sounds like mortars fire at targets we cannot see. that being repeated efforts to try to get wounded out, there have been calls for ceasefire. some of those ceasefires have been ignored. we followed a humanitarian aid convoy into the city to try to deliver aid to the people trapped here. the men tell us they are going to an area that is too dangerous for us to film. >> we are trying to deliver aid to people still here at our own risk. we could not otherwise a temporary truce to come here safely. >> approximately 25,000 people used to live here. after weeks of heavy fighting, it's not known how many are living here now. only the very brave romaine. i want to deliver aid to people

every day shouts this woman as another shell lands close by. the area is a major railway hub linking territory the separatists control with russia. it's believed up to 8,000 ukrainian government troops have been deployed to try to defend the town. they are suspicious about what they say are separatist spice. this armored personnel carrier blocked us as we left town. the soldiers questioned us before letting us drive on. this road is the only way into the area from the ukrainian military controlled side. while the fighting intensifies it is the only route out for many civilians who remain inside. eastern ukraine.

>> the arab spring may be a distant memory for many countries, but parliament confirmed a nounty government, let's go live to tunisia. now we have a government, the question is just how unified is it? >> yes exactly. well looking at devoting in parliament 166 votes that's a pretty comfortable passing of tunisia's new government, controversial because it includes the main ideological and political rival of the party which won most votes in the election but at the same time, i think most people just want this new government, whoever it includes to get on with the job of solving the problems of this country, which include the economy, joblessness the social

problems that led to the revolution in the first place and the new additional problems of the last four years which have to do with security. >> as with this deal, we've got both sides unifying, so to speak. do we still have an opposition? that is one of the problems. the main two parties in government and other smaller parties are quite popular here, so that has weakened the opposition. a lot of people are saying this is like a one party plate. others say this will bring stability to the country and the country needs that desperately right now. this is of course for many tunisians, the fact that parliament agreed on this coalition going forward a positive thing here.

>> to greece, finance ministers greed to disagree after their first meeting about the greek bailout. we are in berlin to face one of the greece's toughest critics. wednesday he tried to gain support for his government. greek banks will no longer be allowed to allowed to use greek debt as collateral for loans. >> a key meeting this. >> it was. i think a crunch meeting of a week of meetings with european officials and institutions by the greece looking for support for a plan to restructure their debt, at the same time holding fast to their election pledge to walk away from the bailout program and the austerity measures attached that have been imposed over the last five years. a crunch meeting as i say if

they'd come here looking for support, they were probably always bound to be disappointed, both men declared their great pleasure, even joy as being able to talk to one another but that was somewhat disingenuous because they didn't come close to agreement and they both agreed on that. the german finance minister has been intimately involved in the makeup of the bailout programs and austerity measures all along. he says he was skeptical of proposals put forward by greece, skeptical, he said, because they don't go the way we want. he said that germany was fully prepared to respect the election mandate given by the people of greece to this government with its pledge to walk away from the boil yacht and austerity but he warned agreements made between countries and the european union cannot be broken unilaterally. an agreement was probably never on the cards but he said they've come close to start ago

pathway of negotiation that is will lead to a final solution, though it has to be said that it's hard to see how they can reach a final solution unless the greek government does walk away from this pledge to walk away from the bailout and austerity measures attached. >> from there let's go straight to athens. john, how has all this been taken in greece itself? >> well, here the government is defiant. they have rejected of course a call from the germans to recant statements made wednesday when the cabinet was sworn in. many of those statements announced that certain austerity measures would be rolled back, but this government has been elected precisely to end austerity, as they have pointed out in their press release and therefore, they are not in a position certainly not before they've even received their vote of confidence and presented their agenda to parliament, that will happen over the weekend and the vote will come on monday

night, they are not in a position at the moment to recant preelection promises. it's hardly surprising that he said we didn't even agree to disagree. we didn't discuss the greek debt we discussed the broader crisis and how to end it. sticking to the german script, we the german government having as far as we can in the negotiations. we now expect a statement from the greeks saying they are committed to sticking to the promises signed to by previous greek governments not necessarily further austerity measures like the ones that were under discussion with the previous greek government in december but certainly everything that has been agreed to must remain agreed to. germany wants that red line kept to absolutely before any further discussion takes place. the greeks are saying, we're sorry, everything is up in the air right now, there is no agreement on anything until we have a new deal. >> what's the mood on the

street? >> well, people on the street are both hopeful and nervous. they do want a new deal. they did elect this government in for that reason. they do not want to be throne out of the euro zone. they do not want mistakes made in public statements and behind closed doors and they are afraid of an accidental default whereby greek simply fails to collect enough tax to say pay salaries in the public sector and shore up the pension system and also to service the debt. those debt service payments are happening every month so the greeks want the greek government to stick to the agreement up to a point. they want a new deal, certainly. >> john, thanks very much indeed reporting from athens. >> to the weather now. there could be rain in california. >> they've had an extremely dry january, and san francisco in

fact the worst since the gold rush of 1849. this is great news. you look at the satellite picture, you can see this swath of crowd the pineapple express we call it, pushing up into the western side of canada. quite thick cloud this is, will bring the welcome rainfall in through the weekend. it really is something to behold. an area of pressure off the coast of british columbia, rolling in, strong winds not particularly pleasant. you can see the rain coming in over the western side of canada. the rain comes down across the pacific northwest into northern parts of california there. san francisco we're going to have to wait until friday before we see the rain start to go push its way in. we need the rain as it goes, probably not going to see enough of it if the truth be known but hopefully we can see the rain within a 24 hour period. you could see more rainfall

coming through here for the southern part of california, really getting this and that wet weather pushing up across the western side of canada. elsewhere, the recent snow across the canadian prayer recent snow will make its way towards the northeastern corner, nothing as bad as the last few weeks, so looking good for much of the u.s. over the next couple of days. >> rescuers are still searching for the missing after a plane crash into a river in taiwan. >> police in southern india rescue hundreds of children working in factories. >> we'll tell you whyen tunisian tennis player is under investigation for pulling out of a match he was winning.

>> welcome back. the u.s. secretary of state said the united states cannot close its eye to say russian tanks entering ukraine. john kerry is in kiev speaking with president poroshenko about the violence. >> the french president hollande and german chancellor angela merkel traveling on thursday. >> some fear there is no longer a real opposition. >> greece and germany's finance ministers have agreed to disagree after the first meeting about the greek bailout.

the e.u. will no longer allow banks to use government debt as collateral for loans. joining us from london, what is your take on what's happening right now. they've agreed to disagree. what's the way forward from here? we don't even know if they've agreed to disagree. it seems not very much common ground from the press conference. from the greek finance ministers, at least some words do sound as if there is potential room for negotiation comments from him he talked about a frenzy of reasonableness from the greek government, and that i suppose is perhaps at least one olive branch, but we heard yesterday from the e.c.b. as you just mentioned. they have certainly made it more

difficult for greece to have access to very cheap lending although they will still have access to the e.c.b.'s emergency liquidity fund. this is all about putting the pressure on greece to talk to the e.c.b., i.m.f. and e.u., the bailout runs out on the 28th. it seems they want to discussion an extension, but what the new greek government wants to do is talk instead to the various leaders of the european governments, rather than the troika >> if lending is not allowed to greek banks where are we at then? >> certainly we are much closer to a default. there are a couple of dates after the february 28 deadline for the extension of negotiating an extension of the bailingout.

greece does have to pay back some funds to the i.m.s. over the next couple of months and in the early summer pay back larger funds to the e.c.b. many analysts think they can probably put together funds and pay back initial repayments, but certainly as we head into the middle of the year, it has become a little more difficult to anticipate that they will be able to do that. it is possible that the e.c.b.'s action does bring us closer to this crux situation where they may have to default. that's interesting in itself. you've got to remember that the e.c.b. was simply going by the rules. it's not an elected body, and yet it could be behind pushing up the tone of this conflict even higher. >> if we are closer to default what would that mean for the people of greece who just voted this government in. >> this is the difficult position this new government is in. it has a mandate given to it by

the people to really stop austerity and find some solution that would help the greek people have i think a better standard of living. i think that's really what the greek government promised them. yet on the other hand, it does have the liabilities to confront with europe on the other side. it's a tough negotiation, but i think what we must remember, really for almost everybody's sake in europe and perhaps broader than that, too that some sort of deal would be in everybody's best interest. >> jane, appreciate your perspective on this, thank you very much indeed, that you can. >> thank you. >> to syria shelling that hit damascus and other government controlled areas. syrian state media reported at least five are dead, 37 injured including children. the syrian observatory said the rockets came from the army of islam. we have a report now from the lebanese capital of beirut. >> a significant attack on the syrian capitol, 50 rockets and

mortars landed around 7:30 in the morning people telling us of a sense of fear. the capitol has been relatively save throughout the conflict, the occasional mortars raining down but not on this scale. it follows the warning by the leader of the islamic army, warning on tuesday that damascus was now a military zone and there would be retaliation for the government besieging and bombardment of their area. the fighting around the capitol has intensified along the bored we are lebanon. that is having a significant impact on the syrian refugees seeking shelter here in lebanon along that bored we are syria. >> they've been given 24 hours to leave but as i they say they have nowhere to go. >> the army said we have to leave, the tents have to be removed all along the border. they gave us no reason. they told us go and people thought maybe they won't go

through with it. they came back now and gave us only one day. >> this makeshift camp in lebanon has been home to 200 families of syrian refugees and some workers who were here before the war. it's on the border with syria and local officials say the battle across the border is intense filing. we are told the fighting is 10 kilometers away behind these mountains. you can often hear it from here. this is why the lebanese army said that this entire border area isn't safe and why all these people now have to leave. >> local officials support the decision to move the syrians. >> this is a security decision. the army is suspicious from some of these people, so they are taking precautions. we are directly on the bored we are syria. they are a syrian army and somehow armed men. we don't know who is who. they are also made to leave for their own safety. if the army carries out military operation, these people will be

in the crossfire. >> some u.n. staff showed up while we were here to register everyone forced to leave. they tell us they don't have enough international support no aid and no money to deal with the more than 1.5 million syrians now seeking shelter in lebanon. these people are desperate. >> this man asks, where am i supposed to go? do we have to go to the moon? do we become terrorists? look at my daughter, where am i supposed to take her? there is no justice. he tells us he has land in syria and hasn't seen his family in four years but they cannot go back. one family's story among hundreds of thousands of others left alone with no money no dignity and powerless to change their fate. al jazeera on the

lebanese-syrian border. >> jordan's king is in the home found of the air force pilot killed by isil. king abdullah is paying is his respects to his family. the dead pilots father has called for his son's death to be avenged. on wednesday jordan executed two convicts in retaliation. >> the iraqi prime minister al abadi ordered an end to a occur fee that has been in place for more than a decade. people will be able to move around freely from saturday. >> some might say it's a slightly risky move in this climate, but it's certainly a wildly popular one among most baghdad residents. for the first time in 10 years no more rushing to get home before the midnight occur fee. this is a city people like to stay out late and they haven't been able to, affecting restaurants, shops basically the tenor of daily life here.

the prime minister also announced there will be a crackdown in some select neighborhoods on the types of weapons that can be carried and the number of vehicles allowed in official convoys. that's a big deal, because you routinely see here in the streets ministers, members of parliament other firms with more than a dozen security vehicles snarling traffic intimidating pedestrians and rushing through traffic lights. all that have is meant to stop. there can be now only three vehicles in an official convoy and there be a limit to mid range and heavy weapons in some of these neighborhoods, as well. this appears to be an attempt to crackdown on security forces that have taken an increasing role in baghdad security, primarily shia militias engaging in arrests unconnected with official security forces and beaten up traffic police when they've been stopped at traffic lights. basically, it's an attempt to make life more bearable in

baghdad. other cities are expected to follow suit. >> new details are coming to light about hundreds of child laborers discovered in india in a plastics factory. police rescued 350 children working there in the past 10 days. 200 of them are from one of india's poorest state. we have more from new delhi. >> the police authorities in the city are calling this a collective effort on the part of various government democraties to effectively find these children and free them. the question going forward though is what happens with these hundreds of children, a fraction of them have been identified in terms of where they're from and who their families are. as you've mentioned many of them from the central indian state, but the question now is how permanent is the solution.

in many respects, it's great they are rescued, great that some of them have been able to be traced back to their hometowns and areas but given the poverty that the authorities say they come from, they end up back in a trafficked network and end up in the same situation for more dangerous situations in the future and that's the big challenge india has faced for many years now. >> thanks very much indeed. >> a 72-year-old man has been explaining how he survived a plane crash in taiwan on wednesday. he is seen here being rescued from the wreckage. he is one of 12 people who managed to cheat death after the aircraft plunged into a river shortly after takeoff. >> i felt something was not right after the plane took off. the flight was not full. i told the woman next to me that we should buckle our seatbelts hold on to the seat and cover our heads. i just finished saying it and

then the plane went down. >> investigations are underway to find out why the plane crashed, killing at least 38 people onboard. we have more from the crash site. >> slowly, the wreckage of transair flight 235 is how would out of the water. search teams are now looking for bodies. many are still missing. the twisted and tangled parts of the plane are slowly recovered from the fast-moving waters of the river. overnight, industrial cranes lifted the main fuselage out of the water. it took two hours in freezing conditions. up to 1,000 emergency and military personnel were involved at the height of the rescue. the a.t.r., 72 turboprop was on a routine flight from taipei's second airport to the island. this footage showed the plane as it dived clipped the highway and two taxis then plunged into

the river below. progress to retrieve all the parts of the plane and victims are slow. the military have built a structure to help. >> parts of the plane wings are still underwater. we're unable to pull out the wreckage, because the current is very fast today. >> teams of divers have been scouring the surface and bed of the river. they've been working around the clock in teams of up to six diving in short periods in the icy waters, searching for clues and wreckage. on thursday, they found part of the wing, a vital piece of the puzzle. also the chilling last words between the cockpit and control tower were released to the public. while the search continues for those that are still missing the investigation can begin.

the flight data recorders were recovered from the crash site, as has most of the wreckage and they may hold vital clues as to what caused the flight to crash. al jazeera taipei. >> the french president hollande is providing support to three affair ken weapons fighting boko haram after the group crossed into cameroon, killing more than 100 residents. it happened in a town right on the border at that yellow line right there. witnesses say the fighters came from a nigerian town close by. about a five minute walk away, it is connected by the bridge on the right. on tuesday, boko haram fighters suffered a heavy defeat. chad soldiers killed 200 of them and drove the others out. cameroon and chad have recently taken on boko haram, which was

an islamic state in northern nigeria. >> chadian t.v. released still images of their recent battle with boko haram. the images claim to show chad vehicles and soldiers at bases. >> coming up on al jazeera we're off to the movies. >> i'm in berlin, where this year's film festival is getting underway. find out what the organizer did or didn't do to upset norse korea. that's coming up later. >> what a difference the season makes, last year's runners up in germany continue their miserable run of losses. details coming up.

>> let us move on to the sports. >> thank you very much. another chance to end 23 years of waiting for the continental title, they reached the final of the africa cup of nations beating democratic republic of congo 3-1. goals sealed their win. it's the third cup final in nine years. >> we are satisfied, we are happy to be in the final. it's a joyous time. we'll give our best to win the cup, if possible. >> we have not done everything right in this game. i did not really like the game, but the most important thing is to qualify for the final.

they are celebrating in the streets this evening getting ready for the final on sunday. >> we are joined live now. ivory coast three to the final. could this be the time for the golden generation to really come to the fore? they haven't really had a great time in the past. >> that seems to be the school of thought, this is the last and final opportunity for the golden generation the experienced players to go on to win the africa cup of nations. a cup has eluded them. it has been a slow start but coming into their own clinical against the democratic republic of congo. the last two times these sides met was in the qualifying stages of this tournament.

you knew there were going to be goals aplenty. into a third final in nine years, and this is their time to take it now. >> let's talk about the semifinal that you're going to go there to equatorial guinea, any chance the host might spring an upset. >> i've spent time with the locals in the market and streets and two things are happening at the moment, one the host nation shirts and jerseys are flying off the shelves everybody wherever you see it's just a sea of red people are proud to be wearing equatorial guinea shirts. they enter semifinals for the third time. this is not only their time to make it to the final but the time to actually get their hands on the trophy. it seems to be an overwhelming belief. it's not a matter of whether

ghana will be swept aside that's almost a given among the locals. obviously they'll pose a stern opposition. >> are fans happy that this tournament has been hosted there? they didn't have much time to get prepared for this. >> absolutely. there's an immense sense of pride. it comes down to not just the wearing of the shirts, but how hospitable they've been with visitors to these shores. there's an incredible sense of pride in hosting this tournament, loads of volunteers are also getting into the spirit. you can see it when they start preparing for the games hours before the fans start rolling in there's that incredible spirit that these guys are happy to have the africa cup of nation here. they will be expecting quite a full house at the stadium here. >> i expect it's going to be

quite a match there robin. >> last season's runners up, won 1-0. dub listen is firmly in the foot of the standings. >> rodriguez could be out for two months after breaking his foot. he gave real madrid a lead in the 12th minute in the match wednesday before being taken off. his replacement double that is lead in the 36th. they now lead barcelona by four points in the league. >> tennis is investigating tunisian player after he retired

a match in which he was winning. he took the first set of his opening match but with drew with an elbow injury which he reportedly picked up in the australian open. victory would have seen him face israel in the next round. we contacted the tunisian tennis federation. they declined to comment. >> the reason he has come under suspicion is because he dodge add meeting with israel before. in 2013, he with drew from a tournament after scheduled to face an israel opponent in the last eight. the move was allegedly ordered by the tunisian tennis federation and resulted in him being booed. he's not the only one to snub israel in recent years. perhaps the most high profile incident was portugal refusing to swap shirts with israel players following a friendly. >> at the 2004 athens olympics,

disqualified from his fight against an israel opponent for weighing in too heavy. suspicions were raised, because he said he previous ally refused to face that opponent in the draw. >> one of the season's high flyers in toronto after trailing the east number two for much of the first half, the nets grabbed the lead in the third and didn't look back. anderson had 22 points, as brooklyn routed the raptors 109-93. >> the new england patriots celebrating, thousands lined the streets of boston to catch a glimpse of the champions. the celebration came a day late

because of bad weather conditions. this is tom braes fourth championship title. >> there's more sport on our website. for all the latest, check out aljazeera.com/sports. we've got blogs and videos from our correspondents around the world. that's all the sport for now. >> thank you very much. see you later thanks a lot. >> film festivals can be a good thing, but for berlin's, attracting the anger of north korea was not part of the plan. it's all because of a mistake on pyongyang's part. we explain all. >> they love a drama at the berlin film festival but as this year's gets underway, they've been at the center of their own. sony knows how that feels hacked and humiliated, allegedly by his people and all because of this the movie "the interview"

and the full out ribbing from hollywood to here. this is why "the interview" goes on general release here in berlin thursday, but north korea got the city of berlin and berlin film festival confused. it described the showing as terrorism. it vowed vengeance for the humiliation. in fact, the exact words were merciless punishment. this man is the boss here. he had to race to the north korean embassy and say you've got this all wrong. it has nothing to do with me, it is just a coincidence that it's opening on the same day. pyongyang did pull back, albeit privately. aside from that drama, there is plenty more to see on screen in the next week and a half. everything from chamber maids to cinderella is on show.

they are doing it without even the director being here. he is banned from making films until 2030 after he upset his government. taxi is in for a real shout for the top prize as he watches from home in tehran. >> he doesn't stop, because that's what he's doing. he's making films expressing himself via film. he needs to make them and will never stop. for us, it's a great way of promoting his work to the world. >> over the next 10 days, the movie world will watch the crowds will freeze trying to watch. even north korea will keep an eye to make sure the crowds keep looking at this and not this. al jazeera at the berlin film festival. >> with that, that's it for this news hour. we've got another full half hour of news coming up in just a couple of minutes. i'll see you then. bye for now.

>> on the stream >> february marks black history month but is it time for a refresh? a look at why african americans are turning to twitter to discuss the issues their local communities won't >> the stream on al jazeera america

>> sunday night. >> 140 world leaders will take the podium. >> get the full story. >> there is real disunity in the security council. >> about issues that impact your world. >> infectious diseases are a major threat to health.

>> "the week ahead". sunday 8:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> we cannot close our eyes to tanks that are crossing the border from russia and coming into ukraine. >> flying in to support ukraine u secretary of state john kerry arrives as fighting intensifies in the east. >> also coming up on the program, an historic moment for tunisia, parliament approved a new unity government. >> the european bank tightens the s