eastern ukraine hours before a new ceasefire is due. ♪ ♪ good to have you with us here on al jazerra i am david foster. president assad must be part of the solution to end the fighting in sear yeah. the opposition says he's the problem. under investigation again. an argentine prosecutor renews a probe in to an alleged cover up by the country's president. ♪ ♪ >> and let the fun begin, it is time for brazil's biggest party

the rio carnival. ♪ ♪ ♪ rather than lessening it appears the fighting is intensifying in eastern ukraine just hours before a new ceasefire is due to start. pro-russia separatists and the ukrainian army are battling near a railway junction town which is the main folk you go the combat northeast of the rebel strong hold of donetsk. there has also been shelling in luhansk. >> after what we did in minsk. this is an attack of the minsk results. and without an explanation because unfortunately the offensive operation of russia, intensified significantly. >> at least 25 people have been killed since the ceasefire was

signed. charles stratford reports now from the frontline. >> reporter: ukrainian army tanks behind me are in a support position for what are believed to be up to 8,000 ukrainian soldiers. the separatists say they have surrounded the town. it has become a major flash point, some of the heaviest fighting there. if the separatists take control it would give them a direct route via railway to russia. there was very little on the road exempt military equipment and ambulances. ukrainian artillery was firing close by. >> translator: everything is destroyed said this ambulance driver. you can't get in to town. and there are dead bodies on the road. >> reporter: we pushed up further towards the town we are here at a ukrainian army checkpoints. there is a lot of heavy weaponry going towards the front. we are hearing a lot of heavy shelling these soldiers here are very nerve bus about us being

here they say they don't like to be filmed but they consider it to be bad luck before they go in to battle. but some soldiers were returning and one agreed to speak to us. we were in a village close by he said, we were shelled with mortars and rockets, we want peace, and we are happy about the coming ceasefire but we don't trust president putin. behind me is the last bridge before the town. the military are telling us that it is too dangerous to go in any further, there are big fears that the separatists too hit this bridge at any time. and as you can see, there is a lot of heavy military equipment going in that direction. the ceasefire is supposed to start at 0000 hours local time on february 15th a withdrawal of heavy weapon on his both sides is supposed to begin soon after. for now though, the guns and rockets remain. behind me in the field the ukrainian military has set up

tank batteries and grad rocket positions. you can probably see them in the distance, they are grads to my left now. bare in mind that we were here a few days ago and these soldiers were not here. there is a big fear that the sip tests will try to take full control of the town in this interim period between the truce being signed and it being implemented on the 15th. the battle for the town goes on. charles stratford, al jazerra eastern ukraine. the nighted nations special envoy to syria says president bashar al-assad must be involved in a short-term solution to end the fighting. he emphasized he wasn't talking about long-term plans he insists that the geneva communique remains the basis of a u.n. plan to end the war. it calls for a transitional government possibly including members of the current

government. >> it is an important dialogue that we need to have. he is still president of syria. there is a government there. there is a large part of syria which is under the control of the syrian government. and i will continue having very important discussions with him because he is part also of the solution. >> now, talks between the syrian government and opposition fighters have bring down in homs. the rebels say they won't accept government demands to put down their arms in exchange for insuring the safety of civilians. here is more. >> reporter: this has been the scene in this neighborhood in homs for several days. constant bombardment by regime force is his a clear sign that that -- of where the negotiations with the rebels stand.

the government has asked the fighters to give up the arms and leave for the northern part of the city. but they are not leaving. >> translator: we are here to fight, we will stay and defend our people. >> reporter: an earlier opposition fighters give up arms and positions in turn for allowing police and government institution to his get back to work. also meaning u.n. workers could deliver surprise to thousands of people trapped in the area. they hope for an agreement this time. >> why isn't anyone caring for us we suffer in silence while the whole word watches. >> reporter: for the people of homs. end of that suffering must seen a long way off. al jazerra. italy says it is ready to take part of in u.n. intervention in libya. the gunmen who say they support isil have taken over more territory on the mediterranean coast. they are said to be in control of a state-run radio station which is now apparently broadcasting isil prop began

car. off the coast of lib yeah, hundreds more migrants have been rescued from their overcrowded boats two commercial ships and an ioane coast guard vessel rescued 700 migrants after hearing a distress signal. some have been taken to the italian island and some to sicily. an estimated 300 died in stormy seize earlier this week trying to reach italy from north after africa. aa ferry capital guilty of the worst maritime did as ter in almost 49 years. the ferry collided with a bod carrying employees on a work outing. the captain will be sentenced on monday. the other boat's captain was acquitted of manslaughter but found guilty of endangering the safety of others. the a scandal surrounding argentina's president is deepening. she is being formally

investigated over accusations of a cover to hide the arranged involvement of a 1919 found bombing a jewish end center. the prosecutor looking for the allegations was found dead last month. daniel reports. >> reporter: prosecutors are determined that the case against the president and her foreign minister will not go away. the allegations is that they covered up iranian involvement in the 1994 attack on the jewish community center that killed 85 people. the alleged reward was cheap oil and trade deals. the government has always denied those accusations but the latest move has hocked the commit cal political establishment. >> one has to distinguish between the judicial and political aspect. the judicial aspect is highly questionable. why we can't deny it's having an

political impact. the allegations were made by prosecutor alberto. the day before he was due to speak? a congressional hearing his bottle i was found in his path a pistol shot to his head. police returned to search for more evidence. nearly a month later argentines are still debating whether it was suicide or murder. some are hailing this latest move as a major advance others saying it's politically motivatedmotivatedmotivated and amounts to nothing. the only certainty is that it has added to uncertainty and argentines are no closer to discovering who detonated the bomb in 1994 or how alberto died. meanwhile, the president has flown for her weekend home in the south for a four-day holiday weekend. she'll return next week for a march organized by alberto's former colleague. it's only likely to further polarize an already divided

society. daniel, al jazerra buenes or us. however think the head of the president's cabinet says the accusations are loaded. >> translator: why is there an active judicial coup? because the complaint which has presented or the judicial steps being put forward are not aiming at a judicial outcome. they are pursuing a political outcome. the youngest palestinian girl held prisoner in israel has been released. 14-year-old was detained for 45 days. accused of throwing rocks and carrying a knife. her release was celebrated by her village in the occupied west bank. we were there. >> reporter: she and her family have waited week for this moment after 45 days in an israeli prison she was given a hero's welcome. the 14-year-old school girl was arrested by israeli soldiers in december. they accuse her of throwing stones and carrying a knife.

she was convicted after agreeing to a plea deal for a shorterrer is 10 make herring the youngest palestinian female held by israel her family says she was pressured in to making a convention by military personnel. people from a small village gathered at this hall to celebrate her release. politicians made speeches praising her for her resilience and strengthening. while posing for photos with her family and friends we asked her about what it was like in prison prison. >> translator: i was always so cold. the prison guards used to scare us with barking dogs, most of the time i would be handcuffed and they would always yell at us. it was really hard. >> reporter: since 2010 israeli military forces have arrested and detained more than 3,000 palestinian children. according to human rights groups after their release many experience symptoms of trauma including hopelessness, anger

and nightmares. ivan worked for an advocacy group that assists palestinian children held in israeli prisons. >> children are soft targets if you are trying to control an occupied population, one way you can do it is by arresting the most vulnerable members of the society to keep other members of society in check. we feel that the israeli military targets these children in an attempt to break the will of the palestinian people and to slam the down on any kind of slashes or poe protesters. >> reporter: two years ago a united nations human rights agency accused israel of routinely mistreat he go palestinian children. including torturing those held in custody. the israeli government dismissed the allegations and accused the u.n. of bias. whatever the case, she is now free. but her experiences in prison will likely stay with us. al jazerra in the occupied west bank. we have this coming up hooker on al jazerra.

>> the cyber world is sort of the wild, wild west. and to some degree we are asked to be the sheriff. >> the u.s. president had a sum out cyber security. the question is, is everyone's privacy being attacked in the name of protection. >> the love anniversary has a special meeting for people. but business has been bad the past few days. >> and valentine's day is supposed to bring booming or blooming business for flower shops but that's not the case in bang losbangladesh we'll tell you why.

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the global headlines fighting still intensifying in eastern ukraine hours before a new ceasefire is due. practice-russia separatists and the ukrainian army are battling particularly near the down. the united nations special envoy to syria says the country's president bashar al-assad must be involved involved in any short-term solution to end the fighting. but stefan emphasized it was up to the syrian people to find a longer term political solution. argentina's cabinet chief says the latest accusations against his country's president are bias the. she is being formally investigated over allegations of a government up to hide alleged iranian involvement in the bombing of a jewish center. protests are taking place in malaysia against the up prison. of the opposition leader. student groups are rallying

demanding his release. he is serving five years in jail after a court in malaysia rejected his appeal against a sodomy conviction. he and his supporters say the charges against him are politically motivated. in bahrain activists are calling for more demonstrations on the fourth anniversary of their up rising. police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on protesters on the eve of the anniversary. continuing to call for political reforms by the ruling sunni royal family. while there have been anti-government frosts too across egypt. security forces used tear gas to disburse demonstrators in giza. in the capital cairo a bomb went off killing one police officer. now a report. >> reporter: this is where a bomb exploded killing a police officer and injuring nine other people. it happened in in a neighborhood

in cairo. it's the latest in a string of resent attacks targeting security forces in egypt where there has been violence since july 2013 when the army toppled president mohamed morsi. every friday anti-coup protesters take to the streets to denounce the military and show support for morrisey who is in jail. in the city of alexandria. protesters raise banners that read sisi is still money from the gulf countries. they are referring to the recent leaked tapes of president abdel fattah el-sisi apparently demanding money from regional allies. in giza district, protests take a violent turn. security forces fire tear gas to disburse the crowd. >> the anti-coup protest movement in egypt is obviously

meant to apply pressure the sisi government. it's probably the most sustained protest movement in modern middle east history. there have been protests every day for the past 19 1/2 months. there has been moderate success but because media organizations have been intimidated from covering the frosts, they haven't had the kind of success that the organizers would like. >> reporter: the government accuses the muslim brotherhood of staging attacks targeting the police and the army. the outlawed group continues to demands for its leaders to be leased. and mohamed morrisey reinstated. al jazerra. more than 100 wales have died after becoming strand odd a beach in new zealand. volunteers are still trying to save dozens more. that remain in the bay. nearly 200 pilot whale whales were beached in what is called

the worst stranding in the area in more than 15 years the your honor president program says tech companies must do more to protect us all from cyber attacks. he was talking at a sire security summit in silicon valley in california which is home to some of the world's biggest computer companies. but the chief he can executives of facebook, going and yahoo stayed away. rob reynolds has more. >> reporter: president obama came here to stanford university the home of many technology breakthroughs to call for a new partnership between government and the technology city in combating cyber crime and data broaches. he noted that 100 million accounts belonging to american individuals or business interests had been hacked in the past year. he also referred to the well known hack of sony pictures which the government here has linked to the government of north korea. but with many companies in the tech field like google, yahoo and facebook still outraged

over what they see as the u.s. spy agency's penetration of their customer a account. a lot of tech industry is wary of such a new around ship. obama himself referred to this saying that it's not an easy matter to arrange. >> grabbing with how government protests the american people from adverse events, while at the same time making sure the government itself is not abusing its capabilities is hard. you know, the cyber world is sort of the wild, wild west. and to some degree we are asked to be the sheriff. >> reporter: cyber security experts say industry has legitimate concerns about government intrusion. >> from the industry perspective being i think, you know, people want to protect their customers.

if you are a business and you have customers your end goal is to pro tent so you try to put in every single effort that you can. this comes back to the discussion that we have to have where is the balance between me protecting my customers and all of us protecting country together and how do we do that. >> reporter: several of the biggest online companies are work to go develop encryption so advance that not even government spy agencies could crack. it the government is opposed to that move but there is very little that they can do to do. 10 years ago three americans registered the website with the idea of sharing a few video on his line. youtube now has average of about a billion users a month and is one of the most profitable and influential of all websites. here is tariq bassly. >> here we are in front of elephants. >> reporter: this is the first video ever up load today youtube, the company's cofounder joie at the san diego zoo in

2005. [ laughter ] >> reporter: the idea that anyone anywhere, could share their videos online caught on fast. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: just over a year later, 65,000 videos were being up loaded each day and youtube getting 100 million daily views. no surprise then when this happens. >> today we have some exciting news for you, we have been acquired by google. >> reporter: 17 months after going live youtube was bought by google for $1.65 billion. >> google has this very large scale inning from infrastructure for contest therecontentdelivery. you cube wouldn't have been able do it if it was just a startup by a few guys. >> reporter: with the backing of googlal site's influence and open access policy made it a powerful force. >> no longer do people have gatekeepers, you negotiation radio stations, tv networks, movie studios to get the word

out about content that they have created. instead anyone can create something and distribute it to the world. >> reporter: and with a billion people visiting the site each month a new generation of online stars have found their audience. >> hey guys, it's me ma ran 56789 adverse on the site and the revenue sharing system mean some are making millions of dollars each year. >> once they have built an audience they can create merchandise, do brand deals do concerts if they want to. it's really reduced the barriers to entry for anyone to then go build an audience and monetize. >> reporter: it's all seen a wise variety of of videos changing the education industry. more than 300 hours of video is up load today youtube every minute. making it difficult for the company to stop violent sometimes explicit videos from being posted.

>> this is the challenge as well as the opportunity of the content is that you can have this huge platform that anybody can up load anything which can have huge positive net value. but also some negative net value as well and this is -- we have never been good with dealing it we can knowledge and we learn. >> reporter: as more people around the world connect to the internet and their band width improves the popularity of online videos is likely to increase. youtube and parent company google will be hoping they can continues to dominate audiences and the revenue they bring. al jazerra. it is valentine's day and for flower shops that usually means booming blooming visitors. in bangladesh, bow bouquet strikes and the fear of violence. >> reporter: it's been difficult for most businesses in businesses in bangladesh but for flower growers it could be a bad year.

february is when they make almost all of their money. they barely break even the rest of the year. but as the opposition here tries to get the prime minister to step down, through national strikes and violent blockades transportation has stopped. this means that although he and his men continue to gather the rose on his their farm, there is no trucks to take them to the city in time for valentine's day. >> translator: it's just a couple of weeks this month that really matter. these two weeks are worth seven to $9,000 for us. that's basically all our profit. >> reporter: for the florists in the cities, there is not just a problem with surprise. the demands is also drying up. >> translator: the love anniversary is a special meaning for people. but business has been bad the past few days. >> reporter: this is one of the largest flower markets in the capital, and it's right at the square a popular venue for

political rallies. this makes it an especially sensitive location during general strikes. there is always a fear that there might be an attack here. and the den voirs wore that i this might be keeping customers away. february is flower season in bangladesh and not just because of valentine's day. february 13th is the first day of the spring. on this day it's common for young women to take to the streets wearing yellow and orange flowers. but some worry that the violence could stop people taking part in the festival that has seen new growth in recent years. >> translator: this is a day that everyone should enjoy out in the streets. not by staying cooped up in their homes that would be a sad thing. >> reporter: they hope this won't be the case. a bad february already means a bad year. if this continues he is not sure his business could survive. al jazerra bangladesh. now, brazil's biggest party of the year started in rio de

janeiro, more than 900,000 tourists are expected there for five days of the city's carnival and as lucia newman reports the city is now the hands of a king. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: the king is about to make his entrance. the moment millions of brazilians have been waiting for when the legendary king receives the keys to the city of rio. >> i declare the festive is of vanvan value in rio now open. >> reporter: the keen is officially in charge of the city for a week. even the mayor is at his feet. >> translator: from this moment on you will have to deal with the cities build and complaints and the traffic and other problems of rio. >> reporter: but these are not the king's priorities, it's animating what is known as the biggest party on earth with his queen and her princesses by his side an 82-year-old tradition.

but who is the man with so much responsibility? earlier this week we visited 28-year-old wilson as he went for miss final costume fitting. the working class rio neighborhood where he lives. wilson had to compete for the highly coveted honor of wearing this crown. a contest he has won for two consecutive years. >> translator: i took stage lessons with helped loosen me up and learn how to control my facial expressions when i am dancing. i also learned more about the history of carnival and my personal experience at carnival also helped a lot. >> reporter: he began parading in the local samba school when he was eight. samba and carnival are obviously in his blood. from now until next wednesday wilson will reign supreme in rio. after that he'll return to his normal less fairytale life as an events promoter hoping and

praying that next year he will get back the keys to the thrown. lucia newman, al jazerra, rio de janae owe. and for more on all of the top stories we are covering, go to aljazerra.com. aljazerra.com. you're in the stream. don't send your kid to the ivy league. why elite colleges according to a guest, don't measure up. a budding movement that spreads to more states? and later, the department of education has found an interesting demographic trend that could change the way schools operate.