>> rockets slam into residential areas in eastern ukraine. civilians are reported to have been killed. >> hello, we are live from doha. also to come on the program: >> anti corruption supporters celebrate after routing india's ruling b.j.p. in state elections in delhi. >> russia's president on a two day visit to egypt where weapons and grain deals are up for discussion. >> malaysians opposition leader

jailed after lose ago last-chance appeal against his sodomy conviction. >> first a rocked attack in eastern ukraine has killed three and wounded several others. police say the rockets landed close to a ukraine military base. nearby apartments were affected and ukraine is denying claims by pro-russian separatists that they've surrounded the town of debaltseve. the fighters say they've cut off the main supply road from government forces. debaltseve is a key railway town outside the separatist stronghold of donetsk. russian media reports that military exercises are taking place in russian annexed crimea. we go live to rory. it seems as though there is an awful lot of activity just

before those important talks take place in the della reduce capitol of minsk. >> i think any foreign trip like this of a major president going to another country is a telegraphing really of how that country, that leader likes to see his role in the world and the friends that he has. that is no different to vladimir putin at the moment, particularly at a team when the west the united states, the european nations trying to convince many people that russia is internationally isolated. this is putin trying to show it is not the case and he has many, many friends. once putin and al sisi were talking about is the deep strategic relationship, partnership these two countries have. they're two men, two leaders that share a lot in common. they have, i think the same outlook on how their country should be run, they like a vertical power structure favor

control and security over other things and they i supposals have a certain disregard at the moment for what the west and what the united states and european countries have to say about their governing styles. egypt has rolled out the red carpet for vladimir putin. there are pictures all over cairo of his face. there are newspapers talking about how he is the hero of his age. vladimir putin in return gave al sisi a gift, a special gift of a ka kalashnikov rifle in return. >> thank you rory. that's rory challenge our correspondent live in moscow. we go to our correspondent actually in eastern ukraine in donetsk. charles, you've been in the region you've seen what's happening on the ground. what is the situation there?

we heard of rocket attacks but there are other incidents taking place in the region. >> that's right. we've just returned from a town which is close to -- very close to the city of debaltseve, which the separatist forces now are saying that they have completely surrounded. it was taken over by the separatists a few days ago. when we were down there there was a lot of outgoing and incoming shelling, a town completely deserted. we spoke to a separatist commander down there who indeed told us that he said his fighters had surrounded debaltseve. he said that there was poor communication with them, but there has been this vow by the separatists to take this city, debaltseve from the ukrainian military for weeks now. it's a significant place because if the separatist were to take control of it, it's a

major rail hub between their territory and russia. we were down on the other side in ukrainian military held areas. not to put too fine point on it, they were panicking bringing their tanks back and withdrawing from areas closer to debaltseve, setting them up and digging them into fields down there so certainly a very fluid situation. the ukrainian government saying that that city has not been surrounded yet but certainly another indication of just how great the eggs congratulations and fighting is in the region. >> in talking to people, are there expectations that the minsk talks can deliver anything of substance a ceasefire?

>> certainly here in separatist-held territory, there is little hope. there is as lot of finger pointing toward the ukrainian government for the attacks. we've seen civilians held here in donetsk and other rush accept held territory. this is an area described by the u.n. as suffering from a humanitarian crisis, there are whole areas of this town where there is no running water low gas supplies, low food supplies, people haven't been paid pensions for months now. we've seen repeated efforts at trying to bring a truce trying to stop the fighting, repeated failed efforts, as well, so certainly among the people we're speaking to here, there seems to be very little hope that these

talks in minsk can deliver peace and stability security back to this region. >> charles stratford live in donetsk, thank you. >> >> a new video emerged of a stampede at a football match in egypt. 22 fans were killed after a narrow passageway collapsed. >> this is the air defense stadium in cairo and these are supporters of the football team waiting to be allowed in. supporters have to pass through a narrow metal passageway. as the crowd surges forward the metal passageway collapses. people panic. with no barrier in place to stop people getting in, the police have to make a decision quickly do they allow the crowd to enter the stadium or force them back. they decided to fire tear gas at the crowd. the crowd sets off a stampede.

security experts say the situation should have been handled differently. >> handling the crowd the ringleaders are of course in trouble. if they've got to show a use of force, show it, show that you've got force but in an aggressive manager so that people at least take some respect from that, because the moment you start using bullets you're just adding names to the fire. >> the fan association of the club excuses the police of a massacre but officials say the police officers were overwhelmed. this is not the first time tactics used by egyptian police have been questioned. last month protests to mark the four year anniversary of the egyptian revolution were melt with force by the police and early. at least 25 people were killed. egypt's prime minister called it a tragedy but said it's being used to damage egypt's reputation during a visit by

russian president vladimir putin. al sisi seen here with putin offered his condolences and promised an investigation. after the deaths on sunday, the public prosecutor ordered the arrest at the head of the supporters group and the egyptian football federation has postponed all league matches indefinitely. al jazeera. >> the canadian government is calling for the immediate release of mohamed fahmy the al jazeera journalist and canadian citizen has been in jail in egypt for 409 days, along with his producer, bar mohammad. the junior foreign minister tweeted prime minister harper has personally raised the case of mohamed fahmy with the highest level of the egyptian leadership. canadian officials raised the case of mohamed fahmy with egyptian officials 15 times in the last nine days. we understand this is an upsetting time for the family, we continue to call for mohamed

fahmy's immediate release. the two are accused of supporting the outlawed muslim brotherhood, charges they and al jazeera deny. their earlier conviction had been thrown out. two face retrial on thursday. a third al jazeera journalist, peter greste has been unconditionally released. >> india's common man party has swept the delhi state elections. the anti corruption party won 67 out of 70 seats. the ruling b.j.p. which won the national elections last year took the remaining three. we have more now on what the new party is promising. >> the party is enjoying a second win in the state elections. last time around, it formed a minority government, but stepped down after only 49 days. it had failed to keep its promise to pass anti corruption legislation. now, though, with an

overwhelming majority, people expect action. >> we've done our duty. we voted. now it's up to them to do their job. >> the party was able to gain such an overwhelming majority by appeal to a broad range of voters. it's leader thanked those voters and supporters for putting their faith in him and his party. >> we have to serve people of delhi. i cannot do anything alone. i am very small man. i believe together with 30 million people of delhi, we can make it a city that both the rich and the poor will be proud of. >> he thanked his wife for her support in this election. it was women here who were thanking him. that's because the party has promised to keep them safe in a city where women are attacked on a daily basis. >> we are feeling safe right

now. not even a single guy has tried to touch me anywhere. >> over at the b.j.p. headquarters supporters of the governing national party were shocked. the b.j.p. swept delhi in last year's national elections and won several state elections on a platform of development. this defeat is the first serious election setback for the prime minister. voters in delhi say they still want development but expect better from their politicians. >> this is the victory for the people of delhi. this is a victory for honesty and the thought of delhi is now with the honest people. >> the next step will be keeping its campaign promises. >> such a large win is more than most supporters hoped for but now the real work begins. gaining votes from different sections of society is one thing, but it's going to be difficult keeping them all happy. the party says they are ready for the challenge.

al jazeera new delhi. >> still to come on the program: >> another air strip used by drug traffickers is blown up in honduras but it probably won't be long until it's rebuilt. >> passengers welcome the new shape of things to come in ethiopia.

>> coming up next, diplomat and author nassir abdulaziz al-nasser. >> when there is consensus you'll see great results. >> battling extremism. >> religious leaders have a big responsibility. >> advancing peace. >> today the world turned into a global village. >> promoting change. >> i think united nations should be reformed. >> every sunday, join us for exclusive... revealing... and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. "talk to al jazeera". coming up next. only on al jazeera america. >> hello again these are the top stories. a rocket attack in eastern

ukraine killed three and wounded others. police say the rockets landed close to a ukrainian military base. nearby apartments were also affected. >> the russian leader, vladimir putin is in cairo meeting president al sisi. he says both egypt and russia continue to battle their own forms of terrorism. trade deals are also being discussed. >> india's common man party has won a landslide victory in state elections. the party led by an anti corruption campaigner stunned the ruling b.j.p. which won last year's national elections by a large margin. >> the european union is providing jordan with more than $100 million in loans to help deal with neighboring wars. the unit arab emirates resumed airstrikes against isil. the u.a.e. grounded its jets in december after a jordanian pilot

was captured. flights have now restarted after the pilot was burned alive by isil in a gruesome video. >> the u.n. envoy to syria is in damascus for talks with the government. he is expected to meet the syrian foreign minister. he said he plans to push for a freeze in fight to go get aid into allepo. it is at the heart of clashes between government forces and competing rebel groups. >> the foreign ministers also made it clear that damascus will not accept foreign ground troops to fight isil. >> i clearly say that we are keen in defending syria's sovereignty. we won't allow anyone to impinge on our nationalsonty and won't allow foreign ground troops. >> in iraq, u.s. commanders say

airstrikes near isil helped repel isil. kurdish fighters have now retaken areas around mosul. the city has been controlled by isil since june. the nearby mosul dam controls the water supply for several large towns. we have more from baghdad. >> what we've seen in the last 24 hours is coalition airstrikes american and british helping peshmerga forces take over three key bridge heads nor the mosul dam itself. we are seeing a big push from the kurdish peshmerga fighters and isil fighters being put under pressure in mosul. it feels it is a preparation for a ground offensive going on. iraq officials have said they expect a ground offensive into mosul to take place within the next three weeks. we've heard in the last three days general allen, one of the top u.s. military commanders say

that the taking of mosul city will be a key morale boost for the iraqis and kurds and they will need coalition ground support. that's the strongest statement we've heard when it comes to ground forces with iraqi's and kurdish peshmerga forces. in anbar province in the west of iraq, it needs to be brought much more into the political process. however, it seems there is going to be a push toward mosul in the next few weeks and ground is being prepared for that.

>> makes leader vow to go continue his struggle after an appeal was denied in his sodomy trial. he is widely seen as the biggest threat to the ruling party's long hold on power. we have more. >> >> hub was people arrived at malaysia's top court chanting slogans and waving flags in support of the convicted leader of the opposition. >> the former deputy prime minister arrived with his family friends and party officials. together they heard the five man court led by the chief justice dismiss his appeal. the court ruled there was overwhelming evidence that he had sodomized his personal assistant in 2008. the upholding of the five year sentence angered supporters.

>> i'm just disgusted by how they will do anything in their power to bring down one man, you know in the country up to like rigging the whole judiciary system. >> some say that we need to have a good argument, good evidence, but yeah, again it's up to the judges. >> the government i could a statement. the police report against ibrahim was brought by a private individual not the government. exhaustive and comprehensive due process has been followed over many years. we call on parties involved to respect the legal pros and the judgment. authorities took no chances with security around the court. at his final support rally, he was upbeat. >> there is no base for them to even consider the slightest possibility of a conviction. i'm innocent, and i expect to be

free. >> that's something human rights campaigners had also expected. >> the government has prosecuted someone on the base of a crime that shouldn't be a crime first point. second point is it's selective prosecution, essentially going after someone because they are politically prominent a thorn in the side of the government and this is someone they want removed from the political seen. >> the party and the fragile coalition opposition are looking for a new leader and face an uncertain future. it is clear that the decision made here that the country's highest court will be discussed and debate the by malaysians for generations to come. >> the former head of the international monetary fund has given testimony at his pitching trial in northern france. dominique strauss-kahn denied knowing the women were

prostitutes. the 13 co-defendants are accused of aggravated pumping at a luxury hotel. it's not illegal to pay for sex in france but is illegal to run a prostitution business. >> in france, an electrician is accused of stealing from a painter. doesn't sound terribly interesting, really, until you realize that painter is pablo picasso. the retired handyman is suspected of stealing 300 works of art. he claims the spanish artist gave him the collection back in 1970 as thanks for installing a burglar alarm at his villa. picasso's heirs and the state prosecutor say he's lying. the art was hidden in a garage for decades and that never been on public display. >> to honduras now which is a main hub for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine and other illegal drugs across the entire americas. the honduran army is fight ago

constant cat and mouse bat toll try to stop the flow. local people are make that go fight more difficult. we have a report. >> every week, soldiers destroy lon did he say stein landing strips used by drug traffickers here. this is the most active drug route in honduras. the military showed us dozens of landing strips, saying planes left behind were transporting cocaine mainly from colombia and venezuela. it's a seemingly never ore ending task. >> this is the fifth time the army tried to destroy this landing strip but look at the damage. traffickers get local people and in less than 24 hours they repair them. >> mangrove areas have patches of land. speed boats head north to mexico and the u.s.

the honduran military told us many local communities are involved in the trade. >> speed boats and light planes drop drug bundles. the tide bring them ashore. people wait around for them to try out their luck. >> local fishermen here say they've never seen any drugs on the beach. the military says it is reducing the drug flights and last year con advertise skated 11 tons of drugs. >> honduras used to be a transit point but in the last two years we have found narco labs. it has left us terrible violence. >> the drug trade fuels violence in the country with the highest murder rate in the world. she fled with her children and grandchildren from their home because rival drug gangs were dumping their murdered victims. >> we had to leave our home, everything and came here. we are starting from zero.

i feel bad but i'll get used to it. >> she found a community where residents take turns to watch out for turf battles and protect their families. soldiers say they are confident they'll be able to control the region but their fight by land, air and sea covers 17,000 square kilometers, with limited resources. the community's worst affected are yet to see the progress. al jazeera honduras. >> twitter said governments are demanding more and more customer data. in its latest transparency report the social media company always revealed the country which made the most content removal requests recently. turkey filed 477 content removal requests in the second half of last year. twitter says it complied with half of those requests. that is five times more than any other country.

russia was up next with 91 requests. twitter said it complied with 13% of russia requests, but didn't deliver on russia's demands to silence critics of the kremlin. germany had 43 removal requests dealing with alleged hate crimes. the u.s. government made most requests for data, the 3,200 requests amount to nearly half of all made. >> traffic congestion is under attack in the ethiopian capitol addis ababa. china is financing the bill. our reporter goes for a ride. >> this is the newest public transport. the government has just completed the light rail. for many people here, the transit system is a marvel. those you talk to say it is a

milestone. many in the city came to see for themselves the trains being tested. they'll be ready to carry passengers in three months. this man said he would make the fast trip. >> i'm old and i'll only use the train for a few years but i'm glad my children and grandchildren will benefit. >> the light rail trains will have a capacity to carry 60,000 people in peek times. this could reduce the overcrowded and overburdened road transport system by almost 50%. >> this is a fast track trainen central africa and a fast chinese model is definitely big progress from a country trying to shed an image of death since the famine here two decades ago. >> it's not just a railway there's construction everywhere, most backed by chinese investments. the government is believe highways connecting the country

to its neighbors megahydroelectric dams and huge housing estates. ethiopia wants to develop line china did. analysts worry the country may be relying too much on china. >> making yourself dependent on one country is not going to be sustainable. you have to be very, very careful and stay independent. at the end of the day what matters is it's not the loan, but your own domestic capacity to generate savings and revenue. >> government officials insist that the country's well within its means and has been taking mackable low-interest, long-term loans. >> we are not only taking the loan, we are taking -- also. our people, our land contractors are working with chinese so after the short time, we are going to construct by our own receives. >> many are proud of their

countries achievements, but hope that the benefits of this will soon trickle down to them. al jazeera ethiopia. >> you can find more about the day's developing stories on the al jazeera website. >> this week, diplomat and author. >> i always say they have a big responsibility to address this issue and to promote tolerance to promote respect to promote that religion lead to peace, not to blood. >> the u.s. alliance for civillations office claims to connect