>> hello, welcome to the news hour from doha. these are our top stories: >> surrounded by pro-russian rebels troops pull out of debaltseve. >> the red cross comes under fire in myanmar. the president declared a state of emergency. >> after bombing isil targets in libya and killing some civilians, egypt wants the u.n.

to take back military intervention. >> also ahead: >> now that i know the finish is near, i can finally have a hot shower and warm bath. >> the winner of the yukon arctic ultra marathon. >> first ukraine's president says troops have pulled out of the eastern town of debaltseve in what he described as a planned and peaceful way. they were surrounded by pro-russian rebels. fighting in the town continued despite a ceasefire. debaltseve's become a key prize for the pro-russian separatists. it's at the intersection of two major highways that link separatist territories in the east. its rail hub is also important for delivering coal supplies. loss of the town represents a

serious defeat for ukrainian troops. >> i don't know, our commanders didn't tell us whether it's a retreat or rotation. they told us that change our position because our unit had been there quite a long time and we had quite a lot of losses, so they took the position that we should leave our position. >> the press kept away, so al jazeera's paul brennan watched the withdrawal from a position about five kilometers from the town. >> we've had a couple of days of contradictory and conflicting information about the true nature of the situation in debaltseve. until late last night the ukrainians were insisting that they had not given up the strategically important rail station in the center of the town. wednesday morning the leader of the bo italian on his facebook

page put that his fighters were help to go otherwise an orderly withdrawal of ukrainian troops who have been holed up inside that town defendedding the town, signaling the retreat by ukraine, giving up the fight unable to defend their positions anymore. that will be a bitter blow to the ukrainians. debaltseve is a strategically vital town, providing a link between donetsk and luhansk and should the pro-russian separatists take it, it will give them a clear run between those two areas. the other thing is it would be a bitter blow to the morale of the ukrainian military. they put a lot of investment into holding this town, and for it to fall, if it has, that would be a bitter blow, indeed. >> ukraine's president poroshenko is on his way to meet the troops who were defending debaltseve and had this to say before i he left: >> today we have taken new

offensive lines and with the leaders of the united states of america and the european union demanded a response with the minutes ask agreement. we will prepare organized and coordinated actions. now i'm going to the front line to meet those who left debaltseve and i have a high honor to shake their hands and to thank ukrainian heroes. >> president poroshenko also announced that he was going to be holding a conference call with his german, french and russian counterparts within the coming hours. we can go live to rory challands. that's not going to be a terribly comfortable conversation, is it? >> well, it's not going to be very comfortable for merkel, poroshenko or president hole land. one happy person will be

vladimir putin. this is the prize the rebels and their russian backers have been hoping for for a number of weeks. they had the town of debaltseve encircled in the runup to the minsk talks last week and we know that in those talks vladimir putin was saying to petro poroshenko, your troops are surrounded, the best thing to do is let them surrender and give the town up to the rebels. petro poroshenko said this was not the case, his army was defending the town and would continue doing so, and the army was doing fine. obviously that was not the case, and now the ukrainian army is in full retreat from debaltseve. we're in a situation where the russians have and their rebels at least have a significant prize. they're not playing it in that

way, of course. the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov has said that it's the ukrainian's fault for the situation in debaltseve, and they had essentially broken the ceasefire by trying to pull out by trying to break out of the kettle of the caused drop. we can listen to sergey lavrov now. >> in some areas separatists say they are ready to pull out heavy weapons. the only exception is the town of debaltseve with that we are very concerned about what's going on there. >> we can talk now to associate professor at the kiev academy joining us live now from kiev. where does this leave minutes minsk? >> in at that timers.

i want to make one comment. these aren't rebels, these aren't represent are a activities, these are russian forces russian mercenary people that have invaded this country. the problem -- >> this is categorically denied by the russian authorities isn't it, and consistently denied. >> well, consistently, but at the same time, if you watch the security council united nations security council yesterday there was no doubt in anybody's mind, with the exception of the russians that they are russian troops on the ground and most importantly, these supposed rebels or separatists are better armed, better equipped with more troops and more high advanced weaponry than most european nato countries. it's difficult to understand where they're getting it from, clearly it's from russia. mines in at that timers. the ceasefire line that was drawn and signed by putin and by the separatist leaders was specifically included debaltseve on the ukrainian side, and the

ceasefire was supposed to come into effect on saturday. now, clearly yesterday, we were supposed to be seeing heavy weaponry pulled back. in actual fact, we saw it pushed forward. the russians threw absolutely everything they had in the area, estimates are upward of 25,000 to 30,000 troops and over 100 tanks. >> ceasefires are very rarely clinical scientific, clear-cut things. now it seems there is a commitment to start the withdrawal of heavy weaponry. is it fair to say it's completely in tatters? as i say it's not a perfect process. >> who's the commitment from i wonder. the commitment was made in minsk that the ceasefire was supposed to hold on saturday. it has nothing to do with look, we are not talking about shelling, but invasion with upwards of 100 tanks heavy

weaponry, we're talking about this place. the town of debaltseve has been completely flattened there's nothing left of it. yes, it's scat jake and important, but this is not the way you behave if you have signed a ceasefire agreement the ceasefire agreement is in at that timers. the question at this point is what are we going to do about it and clearly rory was saying correctly that there's going to be one person on the moscow side that's going to be very happy in the conversation today and there are going to be three outraged world leaders, one from france and one from germany and the ukrainian president. they are going to be asking him wait a second, your signature is not worth the paper that it's written on. >> thank you very much, indeed, talking to us live there from the ukrainian capitol kiev. thank you. >> now to other news. a red cross convoy has been attacked in myanmar. a state of emergency has been declared in the region where government troops are trying to

drive out mndaa rebels. they say they are fighting for the rights of the chinese minority who run a largely autonomous strip of land on the bored we are china. recent fighting appears to be triggered by the return of the leader from exile in china. it's the first widespread unrest in the region since a major offensive by myanmar's army in 2009. it forced the group's rebel leader and tens of thousands of people from the region to seek refuge in china. we have a rost: report. >> a barrage of bullets brings this red cross vehicle to an abrupt halt. it was part of a convey attacked on tuesday where a new wave of fighting has broken out between rebels and government forces. >> unless there is a ceasefire

called, there will be more attacks. in the resistance, red cross trucks have been used by the burma army to attack the resistances. >> two red cross volunteer workers were injured in the attack, one suffered head wounds, the other injuries to the abdomen. both are now in stable condition in hospital. the president of the myanmar red cross released a statement saying: >> the humanitarian situation emerging from the violence is similar to five years ago when thousands of ethnic chinese respondents fled the eastern province, many taking refuge in the southwestern province. 30,000 refugees have reportedly made the same trek after recent fighting. china is calling for dialogue. >> we want to use this

opportunity to once again call on all sides involved in the clashes in myanmar to exercise restraint and avoid the situation escalating any further to ensure peace and stability of the border and especially to avoid affecting security on the chinese side. >> now three months of martial law is being imposed by myanmar's government, a sign that the fighting is not expected to end anytime soon. al jazeera. >> still to come on this news hour, it's a great big get away in china as hundreds of millions head home to celebrate the year of the sheep. >> i'm in los angeles where we are now into oscars week. many here are asking where are hollywood's missing latinos. >> in sport a flying start for afghanistan in the cricket world cup facing bangladesh on their

tournament debut. >> in syria, 150 have been killed in the past 24 hours during fighting in and around the city of aleppo. the syrian observatory for human rights say they include 70 pro government fighters and more than 80 rebels. the u.n. envoy said the syrian government is now willing to temporarily suspend all aerial bombardment over the city. it's divided between the rebel-controlled east and the government-held west. syria's biggest city and formal financial hub has been reduced to rubble. the syrian government said it will decide when to suspend bombing in the ancient city. >> the government of syria has indicated that me its willingness to halt all aerial

bombing, all aerial bombing, all sorts, all types of aerial bombing, and artillery shelling for a period of six weeks all over the city of aleppo. from a date, which we will be announcing from damascus, i plan therefore to proceed to both damascus and hopefully to aleppo as soon as possible. >> the united nations security council is due to meet in new york for an emergency session on libya. egypt is pushing for military intervention and working on a draft resolution with other members, but western countries want a political solution. egypt's foreign minister has been speaking to our diplomatic editor, james bays. >> egypt on the diplomatic offensive, foreign minister with the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon hours after his boss,

president al sisi hinted at a military intervention. after a meeting with ambassadors, including the u.s. samantha power. in an interview with al jazeera he clarified his proposals saying they were limited to the tubrok government. >> is the possibility of international boots on the ground something that should be under consideration? >> i think all measures should be under consideration. it's up to the international community to define what is the best course of action to deal with this threat. i will not prejudge or jump to any conclusions, it is up to us to forge a collective understanding and commitment that should not exclude any form of support to the legitimate government. >> the u.n. security council will meet to hear a presentation

on wednesday. other ambassadors including those also fighting isil say the egyptian proposal is worth examining, but international law must be followed. >> it isn't an issue today of egypt alone. it's really more than egypt. it's more than coalition similar to the coalition in iraq. this would require process legal process that the security council has to deal with. >> for now egypt is going down the u.n. route but international law is something that president al sisi has ignored in the past. he's ordered bombings in libya on a a number of occasions including in recent days, with no u.n. authorization at all. james bays, al jazeera at the united nations. >> the italian foreign minister said the international community must act to find a solution to the crisis in libya. he says italy is willing to do its part. >> we are ready to contribute to

the effort of monitoring the ceasefire, to peacekeeping, to infrastructure rehabilitation, and to military training, to reintegrate the militias into the regular army. we are ready to heal war wounds. >> let's go back to egypt's airstrikes earlier this week, aimed at isil-affiliated groups. eyewitnesses say eight civilians were killed, including three children. >> these pictures are from a hospital witnesses say this boy was fatally wounded during airstrikes by the egyptian military. his sister was severely injured. doctors couldn't save them or the lives of their younger brother, but some commentators have disputed whether the children were killed in the airstrikes. they insist they were killed by suffocation. >> this is strong evidence of the conspiracy lying in fabrication against egypt. >> hospital staff say that account of events is a lie.

>> everything happened here, while they say the suffocation took place there. the children were here. >> the egyptian government said the airstrikes hit camps of isil-affiliated groups. egypt says the military campaign was launched in retaliation for the beheading of 21 egyptian christians. witnesses say several civilians were killed in the airstrikes. >> there was no military presence here, just families lived here. the mother and their children were all killed. there was a gentlemen also killed. there were about eight killed in the neighborhood, in addition to four who are still seriously injured. >> egypt is calling for a u.n. solution to intervene in libya. france and italy want an

international response worried if left unchecked in libya fighting groups at isil could be at europe's doorstep. al jazeera. >> occurred peshmerga forces reportedly killed several isil fighters near the iraqi city of erbil. kurdish forces prevented isil from taking over two villages in the region. one kurdish fighter was killed. coalition airplanes were also reportedly involved in the offensive. >> let's go to nigeria now where a policeman has been killed in the south of the country during an attack on an opposition rally. several others were injured in tuesday's attack in the town in river state. there have been a number of bomb attacks in this state over the last few weeks in the runup to next month's presidential election. we are joined via skype from the

capitol city of river state. can you start by telling us about this rally in the first lady's hometown, and what happened, because i know that you attended. >> well, i went there to attended the rally. the first lady's hometown. it was the first port of call was the school, where he greeted the head master and pupils and then he went to see the bishop, i will. i wasn't with him in the bishop's house but what i can say is before we can off to the venue from the school and the

bishop's compound, we started hearing stories about boys who were allegedly loyal to the first lady throwing explosive devices in a bid to stop the rally from taking place. when we got to the actual rally venue, i couldn't quite believe that this was true, because i mean, it was going to be live on television and you think that if people wanted to make a point against their opponent, their political opponent, they'd be a little more discreet. much to my surprise, the rally had been underway for a few minutes when shooting started. they started shooting at the crowd, at the candidate. everyone either fell to the ground and tried to play dead, or most people tried to stampede their way out of the venue. i fell over, and i thought i was a goner. people were treading on me, stepping over me. the panic, you could hear the explosions and the bullets.

i was really lucky actually, because i think it was a police officer who dragged me to my feet because i couldn't have gotten up by myself. >> who would you say was responsible, then, for this attack on an a.p.c. rally? >> well, i mean, it is believed that the first lady's henchmen arranged the attack. now, i was told by some of the people there that they actually saw one of them coordinating thugs and directing them and telling them what to do. i was told this by -- in fact several people told me they had seen one of the first lady's henchman and they recognized some of the boys who were running around, creating mayhem. i don't know these people, so i can't tell you for sure that that was true. >> ok. thank you very much. journalist who was in attendance at the rally when violence broke out. thank you very much, indeed. >> thank you.

>> now swiss prosecutors opened a criminal investigation against hsbc europe's biggest bank has had its officers searched in geneva following allegations it helped clients dodge taxes. the first public prosecutor said it's looking into allegations of aggravated money laundering. hsbc has declined to comment. >> greece is requesting an extension of its loan program on thursday, but government officials say it won't be an extension of the current bailout. greek banks are in desperate need of cash and bankruptcies are widespread, as we report now from athens. >> the heart of the factory is still beating but only just. this rolling door maker has lost 90% of its precrisis business. the collapse of the construction industry has bankrupted its clients and with them have gone $2 million owed to him.

that's a problem, because this company in turn owes banks $9 million it cannot pay nor can it borrow to finance new business. >> i've been working in this factory since i was 18. it was then a small workshop of my fathers. banks have played a big role. suddenly, we're back to where we started and we are all alone. rather than wait to die we decided to attack. >> this is the attack, a series of class action lawsuits involving 20,000 debtors representing more than $2 billion of bank department. they've formed a sieving action group that wants banks to discount debts by 50% to 90% the same discounts banks would face if they sold these loans to distress funds. >> while this lawsuit is pending, banks cannot ask debtor to say pay loan installments, nor auction off collateral. that gives us our edge in negotiations. it's going to take 20 years for this to come to trial.

we say to banks, do you want to wait 20 years or settle with us now on a haircut and start earning money again. >> officially, greeks owe banks $90 billion they cannot pay back and the real figure may be much higher. >> banks were supposed to finance a turnaround of this economy. they are decreasingly able to do so. depositors with drew more than $17 billion in the last two months afraid that greece may be forced out of the euro zone. >> if greece lees the euro zone, it would lead to capitol controls as land in cypress two years ago. >> what is looming over greek banks is a liquidity crisis, actually, it's looming all over the country, if the country does not resolve the liquidity issue it will become a big problem. the bankers are scared. >> individual greeks, like greece itself, are caught in a

debt trap. the lack of money and of jobs are fueling each other. greece's leftwing government has staked its future on break that go vicious cycle. al jazeera athens. >> now time for the weather. we will explain when a cyclone is not a cyclone but is a hurricane or a tropical storm right? >> yes, that's right. we have a tropical sky clone or two affecting and you say us at the moment. these are exactly the same as a hurricane in the atlantic or pacific, same as the cyclone in the indian ocean. it means lots of very strong winds, means very, very heavy rain flooding rain for some, actually. see the first just around the far north of australia and another system just out at the coral sea. this one is somewhat weaker in the coral sea but will affect more people, because it is running towards the eastern side of the country. just around the coast around

the gold coast, as well. let's start with a big one. it is the equivalent of a category 31 hurricane, one of those systems affecting the atlantic. sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour. we are talking the potential for damaging winds, we are talking some very, very heavy seas and lots and lots of rain. our other one, tropical storm marcia, you can see sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour, notably weaker, this system, but it will run just to the south of townsville through thursday. i think it's going to be around friday by the time it makes its way towards brisbane, so lots of very wet weather and heavy seas, as well. we also have high tide to contend with here, so that is going to cause some problems. we already have very, very stormy weather affecting those

beaches just around the eastern side. many beaches have actually already been closed. we move into friday, you can see the system swirling away, really heavy rain, we are going to see strong winds continue to feet in the area. by saturday, that could even affect the cricket. >> we've got more to come still on the news hour, including russia's president shows he still has friends in europe and offers cheaper gas to hungary. >> denmark shows how it's possible to reduce reliance on russian gas by going green. >> in sport nadal aiming for a return to form.

>> crane's president poroshenko said troops are pulling out of debaltseve in an organized manager. the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov said the separatists are now ready to withdraw heavy weapons from the front lines. >> egypt air force targeted fighters fill yes, i did to isil in libya. the u.n. security council will meet in emergency session. egypt is pressing for military intervention. >> a red cross convoy's been attacked in myanmar where

government troops are fighting ethnic chinese rebels. the president declared a state of emergency in the region. >> to the conflict in ukraine russia is fast running out of friends in the european union but supplies natural gas to hungary and russia offers a friendly agreement. >> vladimir putin is not welcome in most european capitals, but in budapest was treated like an old friend. the foreign minister hailed his visit as a success for hungary. two reached agreements on gas and other deals. president putin hinted that if only europe was willing more cheap russian gas could come its way. >> we can implement part of the

agreement. we can join hungary with serbia and other partners. >> this visit has not gone unnoticed. there are critical voices in europe that say that victor urban is talking to the wrong guy. vladimir putin has just had more of his officials sanctioned by the e.u., ukraine and the argument goes that he is trying to tie countries into energy dependency. >> they were unhappy about the domestic policies. >> i don't like the direction of hungary to become friends with putin and taking on his idea. >> mr. putin has shown that while the e.u. is looking for a

unified front against russian aggression in ukraine he still has allies in europe, and hungary's government said it's simply doing what's best for hungary. al jazeera budapest. >> clearly the west is struggling to find ways to pressure russia to stay out of the ukrainian conflict. >> denmark's energy revolution is being achieved without fanfare, but its significant could be huge. wood chips not coal heat burners in the biggest power plant in the country providing steam driven hot water for homes and wind driven electricity for 1.5 million more. copenhagen will soon be the world's first carbon neutral capitol city. >> we rely on offshore wind. the virtues of that is that we are going to deliver green power

and achieving coast effective and at last to be independent of oil countries. >> in denmark. debates over wind turbines ugly, clean wind supplies have become the obvious choice and denmark is avoiding menace city problems affecting its european neighbors. >> there's barely a country in europe that doesn't have enormous challenges working out where its energy is going to come from in the future. nuclear is expensive and complicated, fracking is deeply unpopular. get your gas from russia, that has huge defense and foreign policy ramifications. denmark is set to be completely self sufficient in just a few years. it's being driven primarily by simple and renewable forms of energy. >> at the a time when the cold war feels borrow born, denmark set its own policies towards

russia around compromised by energy demands. it's advice on neighbors that are simple. if you go green like us, lose the reliance an russian gas, you can stop feeling threatened. >> if the day came when russia would cause all gas supplies, we would have to deliver sacrifices to comfort some of our neighbors in the european union but if all member states had done the same as denmark or would do it, they would be in a completely different security situations, of course. >> teaching the lights on has become entangled with defense and foreign policies. if governments don't want to be friendly as a choice, the day it's better for their own security looks compelling. >> a devastating illness affects millions of people worldwide. researchers predict the number of people with the diaz will sore over the next few decades

as will the cost of treatment unless there is a major break through. with me is the executive director at a think tank. tell us why the pharmacy suitical industry is not driving faster at getting a cure for this, which as we have already said is a disease that affects so many millions of people from all parts of the world. >> absolutely. well drug development overall is a very time consuming high cost and risky business. with dementia and alzheimer's disease, we don't know a ton about the basic biology of the decease. we need to learn more about that before going after a new therapy. >> why s the pharmaceutical industry interested ape solution to this problem given that the industry is often accused of being merely driven by profits when it comes to diseases that affect developing economies and

like ebola, like malaria, for instance, these are criticisms that are regularly raised at pharmaceutical industries, so why not someone that affects everyone particularly first world. >> there are commitments on the parts of certain companies working in this area. if there were a breakthrough and new therapy developed it would be an opportunity for a huge market but we have seen that we need to understand more of the science itself. we need to understand what the biological problem is before we can actually fix it. we need to be investing earlier in the process and it also takes about 15 years to develop a new therapy and conservatively costs a billion dollars. we've seen a significant amount of failures in the always i'mers disease phase, over 100 of them from 1998-2012. some are start to go take a step back. between 2009-2014 an aggregate

across bio pharmaceutical countries have cut their newer central neurological system in half. >> couldn't you argue the same when it comes to trying to find a cure for cancer. >> we have a lot more years and more research going into understanding cancer. if pharmaceutical companies knew which asset to say be investing in, they would make that investment, but we need to do a lot -- we need to do a better job of understanding the science. >> where should this leadership come from, if not from the scientists in the pharmaceutical industry, where should it come from? >> all different sectors. we need to continue to have industry step up to the plate. we need to from policy makers

and governments need to have commitment to continue to invest in the basic science so we can understand the disease. we need to have regulatory authorities come together and talk about how we can reduce the time and cost for developing a new drug and the clinical trials that are needed to move experimental therapies into the marketplace. >> ok. melissa stevens thank very much indeed for talking to us. >> thank you. it's been a pleasure. >> to bangladesh where the war crimes tribunal sentenced a leader from the opposition party to death. the previous court rulings have led toe clashes between police and opposition supporters. we have more from dhaka. >> the judges inside have just handed a death sentence to a senior leader of bangladesh's largest political party. he is the latest in a number of leaders who have been given death sentences for war crimes

committed in 1971 during bangladesh's car of independence from pakistan. in the past, after these verdicts are given, you see tremendous violence across the country, which is why there is quite a heavy police presence here for security purposes. this is because this is a trial that divide as lot of people in the country. supporters say that it's an attempt by the government to wipe out the top leadership, that it's a politicized trial. the timing of this verdict is interesting, because it comes right after a report by every robertson, a british lawyer, that is quite critical of the tribunal that backs up a lot of claims, a lot of claims that this has been a politicized process, and is quite a blow to the government in terms of the tribunal's credibility. the government rejects the charges made against it. they point out that it's a report that was commissioned by lawyers, and so is not likely to

be an impartial report. now while jeffery robinson's report does criticize the trial it also notes that there is a need to seek justice for war crimes committed in 1971 and one of the suggestions is that a u.n.-led court be set up, that would allow bangladesh to seek reparations for war crimes from the government of pakistan. >> millions of chinese people around the world are now preparing to usher in the year of the sheep. around 3 billion people are leaving the chinese capitol itself to make the trip home. they are going by road, train by air and by sea. we report now on the annual exodus from beijing. >> you need to be patient when you travel in china especially at this time of year, when it becomes a country in motion.

they are part of the world's largest annual migration. it will take 25 million back home often to see their children for only the first time in a year. for many, the coming year of the sheep is tinged with uncertainty. factory workers worry the economy slow down are far from over, so some are not returning. >> i will never come back to the city to work in my life. it's meaningless. we come far away trying to earn a higher salary, but everything's too expensive. nothing's left. >> the chinese place great importance on the zodiac calendar. there's a debate whether it's the word of the sheep. since the chinese use the word for both sheep and goat. >> this sign is recorded as the least desirable. the goat and sheep are seen as meek creatures followers and not leaders, so not a good year in which to be born, which is

why hospitals expecting fewer births this year. >> definitely a drop. possibly about 20% drop. if i see some other women talking to them, saying they are going to skip the year of sheep and have the baby the year after. >> whether you're super stirs or not, there's no denying the sudden improvement in air quality. with poll looting factories closed down for at least the next week, the skies are clear and blue, and for many, that's the best new year gift of all. al jazeera beijing. >> still to come on the news hour, we'll be in l.a. for the oscars. we're on the beach in rio de janeiro, where police are trying to prevent a repeat of this robbery. >> we are at the finish line of one of the coldest events, the yukon arctic ultra marathon.

>> brazil's biggest street party is rio de janeiro's carnival. increased security may well damping spirits. >> rio de janeiro and the beach are synonymous, especially during carnival, when people from the world over flock to the area by the hundreds of thousands. locals know to bring the bare minimum, bare being the operative word, to protect themselves from a possible tsunami. not a tsunami from the ocean

but from the area around rio de janeiro, a human wave that descend the from the slums on to the beaches stealing everything in its path. >> three months ago, on this same beach this was the scene. beachgoers running in panic trying in vain to escape from the onslaught of thieves. that's why rio de janeiro's police introduce add new type of sun protection called operation beach. the same special units forces that normally fight drug trafficking gapings is now stationed at the beaches in full combat gear. >> this is not an extreme measure. it's a precaution in order to protect people who frequent the beach, due to the large number of people who come here, some take advantage to commit crimes. >> some 300 police on motor bikes and on foot carrying

pistols and stun guns, we've around the umbrellas. while on the pavement, the central command truck uses state-of-the-art technology to keep track of potential flare ups in realtime. these are the images from police helicopters and local cameras we are told. suspects are arrested on the spot, a welcome development, say locals. >> without a doubt i decided to come here precisely because it's close to the police truck. it makes the whole family feel safer. >> the last month and a half, things have improved, it was a bit dangerous. >> authorities promise to keep operation beach going as long as there is a mass presence of beachgoer, which in rio means practically all year round. al jazeera, rio de janeiro. >> time for the sports news now.

>> afghanistan is steady in the cricket world cup didn't go as the team would like president the latest chapter in the country's story with them taking on bangladesh in australia but bangladesh finished up as winners. they took four early wickets in pool a p.m. bangladesh rallied thanks to a 114 partnership both players manage to go get a half century to help post 267. afghanistan beat bangladesh in their one previous meeting in this format of a mismatch. they were quickly three for three. the captain would be their top scorer with 44.

he learned the game in a pakistani refugee camp, now playing in a world cup. in the end afghanistan bowled owl out for the 162 to lose by 105 runs. >> i generally don't think they're up from the fight right from ball one that was a criticism that i'm going to go talk to the players now. will we benefit from it? i want us to be better prepared mentally and better on our feet when they first go in. >> we need a really good win and i think it's not an easy win but it's a comprehensive win. in that case, i think it's a really great feeling. >> bangladesh next face australia and afghanistan play sri lanka. >> england world cup campaign has a growing number of problems, heavy libatedden by australia in their first game and ahead of the next match against new zealand the captain faces unwanted questions. he's failed to score in four of his last five innings.

>> i think the fact that i've been through bad patches before has helped, and again reengaging with the belief you need to have and that determination in your training probably gives me more confidence than if it was my first time going through a bad one. >> don clark named as the european captain for the 2016 ryder cup. they won last year, clark won the title four times as a player. they will be lead ago european team that's won six of the last seven matches. next year's event will be held at the hayesle to know national in minnesota. the u.s. captain to be named next week. >> lucky to escape with a draw in the first leg of the

champions league tie chelsea to take the lead in front. the header in the 54th minute saw the final score 1-1. >> 1-1 reflects one for chelsea one for paris but if you go to chances created and goalkeepers' performances, we have to be honest and say that they had more than us. >> one other game tuesday. >> back playing on his preferred

surface, nadal's last appearance saw him losing in the quarter finals. on the world's number three winning in this first world match. >> the man who admitted to providing illegal drugs to baseball players the former owner of a clinic provided banned substance to say players including new york yankees star alex rodriguez and ryan braun of the milwaukee brewers. he provided the drugs also to high school players. >> competitors started to cross the finish line at the end of the 690-kilometer yukon arctic ultra marathon. it includes athletes on foot, mountain bikes and cross country skis. daniel was at the finish line

near dawson city. >> so there you have it, the finisher first place in the foot section of this race, he's from italy, and just at the very last minute, a bit of drama here, there's a mountain bike section as well. peter of germany came along and waited and crossed at the same time. they've come a remarkable distance. it's a finish at night and many of them have gone through the night to get here. more out on the trail we'll keep a close eye on them, but for now everyone celebrating this finish. >> this remarkable man has led this race throughout, and not only that has come more than 690 kilometers in less than 10 days. that is just incredible. this is a race that was not actually finished before 2009, people tried but didn't make. it now people are doing it in less than 10 days, an

unbelievable athletic feat. when he asked him earlier whether or not he felt good about it, well, he was a little bit unconcerned. >> i wouldn't say that i am an athlete. now that i know the finish is near, then i can finally have a hot shower and a warm bath. >> that's probably the thought that keeps anyone who is settle in this race going about 10 people still heading for the finish line, roughly give or take a few. mountain biker has finished. we will await the first cross country skier the top finishers in their categories. simply finishing this 690-kilometer event is victory in and of itself. >> more on that incredible race at our website, you can check it out at aljazeera.com/sport. >> that is the sport for now. >> thank you very much.

>> to hollywood and the countdown for this year's oscars. the latin american community says their completely out of the picture. we explain. >> you can't move for film star faces in hollywood. they are everywhere. can't say the same for latino stars, they are much harder to find. >> here's the thing. la tone knows view more movies than any other ethnic group in the country. it appears this place does not reciprocate that affection, at least when it comes to casting. on an average year, more than three quarters of speaking roles in big budget, hollywood films go to white actors. as for latino talents 4%. considering latinos make up a pretty significant part of this country's population, 17%, here

in los angeles the number is almost double, it does beg one question. what is hollywood's problem? >> they're too white. >> that is the verdict from this long time film and theater director who said stereotypes are very much to blame. >> the executives, the only relationship they have is to their maids maybe their gardner and they have created that they are drug dealers and prostitutes. >> dianna knows all about that. >> gang members drug dealers played a lot of who canners and then there was always the made and servant. >> an actress she spent 30 years on the hunt for those big screen breaks. >> we don't exist in television and film. we are one out of every six americans in the united states now, the largest minority, we outnumber blacks and you look at film and television, you do not see latinos.

>> writing the hit movie real women have curves, this is her latest and this is her powerful message to others. >> it's sad to be the loser in somebody else's story because in a white man's story, i get to be the servant of the loser and i say no. that's what i teach people to say no, challenge that story that you live in, ok? you do not get to be the loser. it takes so much dignity to be who we are. because in someone else's story if we're the loser i'm going to show you i'm the winner. >> the red carpet does in deed come calling for many more remains a dream and is likely to stay that way at least in the short term. >> stay with us here at al jazeera. i'll have another full bulletin in a couple of minutes from now with the very latest from the increasing tension in the run up to the nigerian presidential election. stay with me here at al jazeera.

>> writer taiye selasi shares her impactful point of view >> certain people have to explain there presence... >> when you're part of many worlds, where is home? >> in ghana, i was not going to be able to become the person i wanted to be. >> every monday, join us for exclusive... revealing... and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time... talk to al jazeera part of our special black history month coverage on al jazeera america

>> ukrainian troops pull out of the strategic town of debaltseve surrounded by pro-russian rebels. >> also coming up: >> the red cross under fire in myanmar. the president declares a state of emergency. after bombing isil targets in libya and killing some civilians,