lindsay adario, it's what i do aa photographer's life and apher's life and the eastern ukraine pro-russian rebels say they have surrounded a town called debaltseve. something the ukrainian forces deny. good the to have you with us on al jazeera i'm david foster. also coming up in the next 30 minutes. malaysia's leader jailed for five years conviction for sodomy. bjp the party routed in state elections in delhi by the

anti-corruption an adny party. >> i'm imtiaz tyab. in the palestinian are settlement of hebron. israelis are trying to impose taxes on their palestinian neighbors. >> pro-russian fighters have occupied debaltseve. its fieders have cut fighters have cut off the only route into debaltseve. charles stratford is pretty close to debaltseve. persuade hard to confirm or disprove these claims but if this town were to be taken by the pro-russian fighters what would it be?

>> reporter: the town of debaltseve is a significant railroad hub a transport hub that if the rebels were to take it would link the territory that they control here with russia. we've seen a steady push by the rebels over recent weeks in a number of towns taken in the very near vicinity. we have a town called gulagorsk which is about ten kilometers as the crow flies ongoing shelling there, the rentals very much in control here, having taken control here only a few days ago. so if this is indeed true that they have surrounded debaltseve, that is hugely significant. the town sits if you like on a finger that stretches into separatist controlled territory. if they were to take debaltseve that seals that area off it

makes the territory they control, it smooths that border if you like. we spoke to a commander in the town of yanekteva not far from here he told us that the town was indeed completely surrounded. ukrainians disputing that. we were on that road yesterday in the ukrainian-held trair territory and they were pulling back the tanks in the positions in the fields. very little traffic in and out no journalists no one was being allowed to travel any further on that road which is pretty different from the situation only few days ago. the situation is certainly fluid here but if the town is indeed surrounded and tightening the noose around it then hugely significant with respect to their aims in this conflict.

>> charles stratford reporting there. malaysia's opposition leader anwar ibrahim has lost his appeal on the crime of sodomy, having been accused of sex with a male aide in 2008. anwar and his supporters insist the ruling is politically motivated. sahaal raman has more. >> anwar ibb hiv's appeal has been overthrown, he continues to say he is innocent and the fight continues. those were his words in court. he was flanked by his family and friends and party officials but the larger questions now remain as to how the malasian public

will react to this verdict. what happens to the loose coalition that he heads and will his wife be able to take on the mantle of leading the political party that he is a part of? these are all questions that will be answered in the coming days and weeks. more importantly this case has received great criticism internationally. it will be interesting to see how the international diplomatic community react to this verdict and how if turn the prime minister's office here in malaysia reacts too. they were very quick to issue a statement on the result of that verdict and prime minister's office has gone through an exhaustive process and the case was brought by an individual not government. they are not what ibrahim wants to hear but the only words the government is willing to offer.

>> the landslide victory in indian state elections. tweeted to assure kegewal support in developing the indian capital. >> the election was about positiveity versus negativity. voter trusted. >> liddy dutt now joining us live from new delhi. considering the party's election only last year what does this say about the way the country perhaps has shifted genetics the bjp or is it perhaps only in the capital, new delhi? >> it is hard to say this is a shift against bjp on a national level but it certainly suggests

the bjp finds it difficult to win the area. the state assembly has been for the last ten years by the congress party and those votes seem to have shifted to the am adne party. leading in 67 out of 70 seats in the assembly, that is a massive victory if in fact those figures turn out to be the exact number they've won. its also, with three bjp candidates in those seats in opposition while the mandate is huge for the am adne part at the moment as we're seeing the responsibility that comes with that will also be big delhi delhi-it's a-i

delhi-ites. >> to put people up in cases of corruption? >> well, now that it's got this potentially got this big majority that may very well be one of its biggest priority. it says it quit office in under 50 days in 2814 that it couldn't get the bhopal bill through. interestingly in terms of dates as well you are looking at the chief minister-elect to be inaugurated on the 15th of february, the very day he quit office last year, so it's a coincidental date there but certainly nonetheless. >> we'll leave it there, liddy

dutt in new delhi. a car bombthe fans having to walk through a narrow passage way before entering the stadium. and the stairway collapses and sets off a stampede. egyptian authorities say there will be a thorough investigation. the egyptian prime minister ibrahim malof says this is a deliberate means to distract the visit of russian president

vladimir putin. the canadian government is is callings for immediate release of mohamed fahmy. canadian official raised the case of mohamed fahmy with egyptian officials 15 times in the last nine days. we understand this is an upsetting timing for the family, we continue to call for mohamed fahmy's immediate release. while fahmy and baher mohamed have been accused of supporting the outlawed muslim brotherhood, something they deny. the two-phase retrial this thursday a third al jazeera journalist peter greste has been released unconditionally. the united nations envoy to syria is in town for talks with the government. seeking a truce for the biggest city in the country aleppo.

moalem says he plans to push for a freeze in fighting to get aid into the city. at the height of clashes between rebel forces and competing groups. force he made it clear that damascus will not be accepting foreign ground troops in the fight against i.s.i.l. >> i clearly say that we are keen in defending syria's sovereignty. the syrian arab army is carrying out its mission with courage. >> said to have retain areas around mosul which is iraq's second biggest city. the nearby mosul dam controls the water supply for anumber of large towns. the u.s. led coalition has been giving the kurds air support.

now i.s.i.s. is running a large social media campaign in iraq. iraqi government fighting back though using comedy and art. jane ahas more from baghdad. >> this is one of the front lines in the fight against i.s.i.l. a state run iraqi television, videos are part of an effort to counter i.s.i.l.'s wide spread social media. areits most effective tool, state of superstition. the video is a parody of an i.s.i.l. song from mosul that has gone viral. instead of paradise, this one promises would be suicide

bombers will end up washing dishes. each of the twefer episodes explores a different section of life under i.s.i.l. this woman struggling to cover her face, interviews a doctor. iraqi officials say the program is aimed at countering i.s.i.l.'s statements that it upholds islam. have. >> translator: we are trying to scrape away the different layers of i.s.i.l. the idea of parody means they don't belong among the most sacred but they aim to destroy nations and civilizations and their understanding of i.s.i.l. is comical. >> there is also a kurdish effort. inspiring laughter rather than fear. around the world the danger

from i.s.i.l. is not so much in the battlefield but in the minds of young men are popular culture in all sorts of forms. artist uses the soams soles of shoes to depiskt fighters. >> i'm indeed afraid but i won't be silenced. >> harif said he came up with the idea after i.s.i.l. seized mosul. the shoes he says are as damaged and deformed as i.s.i.l.'s ideology. jane arraf baghdad.

nigeria's attempt to eliminate boko haram in six weeks. weeks.

>> the new al jazeera america primetime. get the real news you've been looking for. at 7:00, a thorough wrapup of the day's events. then at 8:00, john seigenthaler digs deeper into the stories of the day. and at 9:00, get a global perspective on the news. weeknights, on al jazeera america . >> good to have you with us. these are the top stories this hour. malaysia's opposition leader anwar ibrahim has lost his appeal against a conviction of sodomy having been convicted of sex with a male aide in 2008. his opposition to a government

stretching back 50 years. national prime minister of india narendra modi has dprachtedcongratulated the candidate. pro-russian separatists have surrounded the town of debaltseve. the ukrainian army says it hasn't happened and the russian military action is taking place in are crimea. rory challenge comment on the movement of russian troops. >> pretty elementary, to go into

any bargaining position with as strong a hand as possible. what we are seeing are a few tiny requirements of its might. 2,000 intelligence personnel are on military exercise and 200 troops are on exercise with 50 tanks in crimea, newly acquired crimea. now we have the minsk talks coming up tomorrow but what is going on on the russian side of the border seems more like military theater. on the ukrainian side of things this boils down to actual genuine deadly fighting. so as you say the russians and the separatists are claiming debaltseve is surrounded with some five to 6,000 ukrainian troops cut off from the main body of their army. we are also hearing that the

azov battalion of russia itself is pushing eastward to take over the town on the russian sea closer to the russian border than mariupul. ahead of the minsk talks which is going to be significant for establishment of a peace deal with ukraine. >> rory challenge, thank you. scheduled for february 14th now delayed by six weeks to give time the country of nigeria says to improve security. by that time boko haram fighters will be driven out.

niger's parliament voted to help to send in troops. boko haram has releaseed pictures showing abu ba considerarshakaush -- bakar,. >> a security force says 12 of the hostages were killed. now in -- in neighboring niger the third attack in four days. continuing fight against south sudan is threatening another famine. the united nations say two and a half million people are on

threat of starvation. more than half of south sudan population is in need of aid. >> a woman from hong kong is accused of domestic abuse against her employee,ing the case has below advocated protest for the more than 3,000 people in hong kong who serves as personal aids. from chicago john hendren reports. >> confidential and other records of millions of customers were stolen. there are fears that information could be used for identity

theft. >> cybercriminals were able to access the nation's largest health insurer. >> several groups of plaintiffs are said to take legal action over the security breach. anthem has been accused of failing to protect the electronic treasuretrophy. anthem ceo joseph swedish says there's no indication that claims tests or diagnostic areas were hacked. previous tax have targeted sony pictures home depot and target.

>> mind bending in extent and impact and potentially heartbreaking for consumers who might be affected are. >> reporter: in the sony attack u.s. officials suspected north korea. in the anthem case cyber- cyber-security acknowledge specializing in cyber-warfare. china has denied involvement in cyber-attacks. medical identity theft has become a booming business. on friday, anthem alerted its customers to a so-called phishing scheme. john hendren, al jazeera chicago. are accusing a supermarket chain of hoarding stock. critics say it's the

government's economics policies that are is causing the shortage of foods. andy gallagher reports. >> in caracas are shoppers line up early. they have dealt with shortages for months. angela says she has never seen before. today's monday and nothing's arrived. how is it possible if the shop owners don't inif there's going to be a shipment. >> ricarddo sanguino says. >> this is yet another phase of the political war with groups

of businessmen hoarding or boycotting. >> several owners jailed on clarnlings of harming the economy. days later those same businesses have little or nothing on the shelves and some shoppers are not convinced the government is happening. >> i want them to explain how the measures will improve everything. everything they have expropriated have been rounded up. >> blaming shortages on years of price controls, spiraling inflation. francisco martinez says there's little doubt who's to blame. >> the fact that we have a deposit that attacks private property unjustly criminalizes their activity and undermine

investor confidence both inside and outside of venezuela. >> some are calling for tariffs to be dropped. >> the thing is, the shop owners want a $400% profit. >> it is unclear whether the government will continue tracking down on businesses or if these pleasures will help get food back on the shelves. but in the meantime, are be venezuelans continue to stand in lain. >> trafficking of hundreds of tons of cocaine and other drugs across the americas. here is marriana sanchez. >> every week, the meece active drug route in honduras.

the honduran military showed us does of clandestine -- doses of clandestine drug traffickers. they get local people and in less than 24 hours they repair thems. traffickers used this complex territory to load drugs on trucks to take any land or speedboats no hid north to mexico or the ufs. many of the loam comurpt is involved in the trade. >> speedboats drop bundles and many people await their good luck.

>> officials say they have never seen any drugs on the beach. military says it is lessening the flow of drugs. >> in the last two years we have found even,. >> highest murder rate in the world. ned with her children and grandchildren from her home in la saba, as are the vimentd were murdered. >> we're starting from zero, i'll get bad but i'll get used to it. glmp >> soldiers say they're confident they will be able to control the region but their fight by land, air and sea

covers 17,000 square kilometers with limited resources the communities worst affected are yet to see the process. >> more on that and all the day's top stories if you go to aljazeera.com. is "techknow." a a show about intersection of hardware and heuvment and we're doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science, by scientists. tonight, "techknow" investigates mining the deep. dr. shini somara is a mechanical engineer. tonight, one company's ambitious plan that could