captured mexico's most wanted drug lord who took over an entire state is now in police custody. we're live in mexico city. ♪ i'm darren jordan in doha also on the program a bangladeshy blogger has been hacked to death. and germany backed an extension to greece's bailout. and another world -- record at the cricket world cup.

♪ police in mexico have captured the country's most wanted drug lorder is van go gomez known as la tuta was captured on friday. gomez's nickname la tuta came from his career as a school teacher before he became involved in drugs. he used the media to his advantage, and became one of mexico's most well-known drug bosses. he was the president's prime target in his offensive against drug violence. arresting gomez is a major step in reclaiming control of one of the most violent states in mexico. go -- gomez had a large amount of influence there.

a bangladeshi american blogger has been hacked to death. he advocated secularism and had apparently been threatened over his blog posts. >> reporter: the family says the religious extremism he protested against may have lead to his death on this crowded sidewalk in bangladesh. he and his wife were ambushed on thursday evening by at least two men with meat cleavers. his wife was seriously injured. >> translator: i saw an unknown person bring out a knife and first hit him on the head and then the shoulders. i shouted for people to help but nobody came to save him. nobody came. >> reporter: police found the meat cleavers, but they haven't arrested anyone or said who might be behind the attack. roy's family and friends say they have no doubt his beliefs

and writing made him a target. he was a professed atheist committed to tearing down fan gnat schism. >> translator: this was blerned by the blood fact fies [ inaudible ] >> reporter: activists gathered at the university to express their outrage over the prominent blogger's murder. roy is the second bangladeshy blogger to be murdered in the last two years. natasha ghoneim, al jazeera. in afghanistan rescuers are struggling to reach villagers that could be buried under snow after a series of avalanches in the north of the country. hundreds are still missing, and there are fears there could be more avalanches as the snow

starts to melt. >> reporter: the police chief and the governor say that there are dozens of villages that they simply cannot contact at the moment, these are isolated villages, high up in the mountains, much further down. it's estimated some 200 families are unaccounted for at the moment. afghanistan security forces have tried to reach the areas. we have seen a large convoy of some 600 vehicles from afghan security forces entering into the area today. there's already 1,000 troops in the area trying to clear the main road. there is only one road into the area, which is a big part of the problem. afghan security forces are also hampered by the fact that they don't have all of the necessary equipment that they need or the expertise. the president will be visiting

the area at the moment. the government is under a lot of pressure to try to do something, to try to help the situation and get supplies to people who desperately need it. this is an area that a lot of the political elite in kabul come from. and that is putting extra pressure on the government. >> reporter: this video shows an attack in western iraq. hospital staff say at least nine civilians and many isil fighters were killed in the air strike. the u.n. is condemning the destruction of iraq's ancient relics by isil fighters. iraq has more than 12,000 registered archaeological sites around 1800 of them are currently under isil-controlled areas. jane sent this report from baghdad. >> reporter: the ancient statutes from assyrian palaces are an inspiration for this man.

as a soldier in mosul in the 1980s, he would hide a camera in his pocket to take photos of them in the museum. >> translator: what is this statute? it's just stone. but it's what the statute represents, any citizen will consider this statute as his ancestor. it's his ancestor. >> reporter: this is near the heart of baghdad's cultural center. many here know firsthand mosul's significance as the center of history and culture. isil took over the museum in june when it seized the city. the most valuable pieces have been removed years ago for safekeeping. these ones were wrapped by staff to protect them from the elements. there is no protection from these men who smashed statues from assyrian buildings.

they used power drills to destroy these statutes which have stood at the gate for almost 3,000 years. you see these everywhere in iraq. for people here these rrnth just lifeless statutes in a dusty museum most iraqis see them as part of their legacy and they mourn their loss almost as if they had been live. this is an art student. he says the loss of the statute is inconference call will begin momentarily. late -- incalculatable. >> when i travel outside of iraq i say i'm a son of the bib loanian. >> reporter: east of mosul was another assyrian capitol. almost as precious are the

intricate carvings that told of empires created and lost. >> these statutes, they are ukraine. -- unique. destroying them i wish they looted them, because one day they come out. things like that have happened before. but destroying them they are gone forever. >> reporter: these were excavated by the british and others in the last century, major parts of the palaces were taken to foreign museums, those may be the only places left iraqis will be able to see their ancient heritage. the german pavrl has overwhelmingly backed a four-month expension of greece's bailout program by international creditors. the yes vote was expected after the ruling coalition and smaller opposition parties voiced support. nike spicer has more from berlin. >> reporter: you can't say there was a lot of enthusiasm behind

the vote but the majority was massive. almost all voted in favor of the motion to give greece a little more time. first there was a feeling that there's really no choice if greece were to be forced to leave the euro zone the effects would be cat -- catastrophic for all countries, especially germany. things went well in this vote. it doesn't mean it is going to go well in future votes. it's very unlikely to get anymore money from germany. only one in five germans wanted the vote that occurred to give greece more time to go the way that it did. john psaropoulos reports now from athens. >> the left fringe of the ruling

party is unhappy with the bailout agreement that has been reached in the last couple of weeks. it had been an absolute position on the part that it would not accept an extension of the austerity terms that accompany the loan. they wanted an extension of the loan for a few more months. but they didn't get that, they were forced to cave in at the third euro meeting held over this issue, so within the ruling party now, there are ministers who are saying that they will not abide by these terms. notably the energy and environment minister who says that in his portfolio, there will be no privatization as stipulated in those austerity terms. also unhappy are other left-wing parties. the communist party is consciously positioning it's a as the anti-austerity alternative in greek politics.

the way caesar did several years ago when it was a similarly small party and didn't seem much of a threat but here it is today in power. the communists have noted that trajectory, and they want to play a long game here. they have decided their strategic goal will be to eat away at the left wing and try to get not only it's votes on the street, but also possibly some of its mp's in parliament. still to come here on al jazeera, it has been a battle ground for two years, now the syrian suburb of duma has seen the heaviest aerial attacks that have lasted for days. more on that. stay with us. ♪

rajectory, and they want to syrian suburb of duma has seen

♪ welcome back. a quick reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. a bangladeshi american blocker who spoke out against religious extremism has been hacked to death. roy who advocated secularism had apparently been threatened over his blog posts. a german parliament has overwhelmingly backed an extension of greece's bailout program. and mexican police have captured one of the country's most wanted drug lords servando gomez known to many as la tuta was one of most wanted drug

lords. let's talk to john hullman who gin -- joins us live from mexico city. how significant is this capture? >> reporter: this manner is van doe gomez, la tuta was a very important figure. even as a criminal he hobnobbed with local politicians. he organized shipments of iron ore to china, allegedly. he was a very powerful figure. he extorted kidnapped and kept a very public profile while he was doing it. he granted interviews to national and international media. showing his face even at a time when federal forces were looking for him, hunting for him for over a year and they finally caught him early this morning in the state capitol without firing

a shot apparently. and that is going to be quite a relief to them. he was important, but the gradual infiltration of the forces into the state has damaged the importance not just of him but also of his cartel a very old cartel which used medieval shields to set it apart from other cartels, and they did have a real grip on that state, but the grip has been slowly crumbling over the past year so this is sort of the end of a procedure that has been going on for a year. >> how much is this going to best the president's effort to retake control from the drug gangs and stop the deadly violence? >> reporter: well, it is a boost for him, and one that he needed. he has come under pressure a lot

recently specifically because of his government's rather tepid reaction to the forced disappearance of 43 students in a neighborhood state. also for corruption scandals about properties and things like to. so his approval rating is pretty low at the moment and this hopefully for him will give it some sort of boost. in terms of an overall strategy to reduce the violence in mexico, he seems to be very good, and the president's administration seems to have been good at picking off drug lords. they have captured quite a few during his time in power, but what they maybe haven't been so successful in doing is coming up with an overall strategy to combat violence in mexico. the state where he was captured today, the homicides have gone up in 2014. so there's still a long way to go for him in terms of an

overall strategy. >> all right. john hullman in mexico city. thank you. the ukrainian president has confirmed that heavy weapons have been withdrawn from the front lines in the east of the country, but he said his soldiers are ready to return if necessary. >> translator: yesterday in fulfillment of the minsk agreements we started the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the line of confrontation. the very beginning fulfillment of the minsk plan which we fought for at the difficult talks in minsk, which have still being violated by the enemy. that's why at any moment our servicemen are pretty to return to their previous positions and repel the enemy. as those troops pull out, the united nations security council is meeting in new york to discuss the fragile

ceasefire. james bayes has been listening to what has been going on. >> reporter: the security council has been briefed by two key officials from the osce the organization on the ground mon -- monitoring the situation in eastern ukraine, and they have been arranging these minsk agreements and getting all sides together in minsk. they say the situation is now at a cross roads. we have had a great deal of violence. a total of 6,000 people now believed to have died and 1 million have been displaced. but in the last few days the amount of violence has reduced. there has been a transfer of some prisoners, and the heavy weapons are starting to be pulled back. they do warn that there have been lulls before and then the violence has flared again. they say they have problems getting access to parts of eastern ukraine. they want more information from the two sides.

they want to know where the weapons are being taken to, and they want more support from the international community. more access to satellite imagery. and they would also like more drones. when their mission started they had four drones, one was shot down, and they would like more than three drones to patrol this area. in syrian dozens have been injured in a car bomb attack. the town is controlled by rebels who agreed to a ceasefire with the government staying with syria, suburb of damascus has been under siege for four years. more than 100 people were killed by syrian government air strikes in the first week of this month

alone. >> reporter: this baby was just over a year old. she died of malnutrition. she wasn't the first victim in duma the rebel-held suburb has been under siege by government forces for years. >> translator: we couldn't find medicine. we couldn't find milk. and when you do it is very expensive, and we cannot afford to buy it. >> reporter: people are not only dying of starvation duma has been a battleground for years. much of it has been razed to the ground. it's just 7 kilometers northeast of the center of damascus. it was the first area in the damascus province to see anti-government protests. four years later, it is the main opposition strong hold vourning the government-controlled city.

in the first week of february more than 100 civilians were killed in what was described as one of the heaviest aerial attacks on the city that lasted for days. this man survived but his wife and daughter didn't. the sustained and intense air campaign was in response to a rebel attack on central damascus. >> translator: on that day my wife was scared to stay home alone because of the air strikes. she took my daughter and i went to her sister who lives next to us. i left them there. a few minutes later i heard the plane and explosion, i came to see house destroyed. >> reporter: some people in the opposition questioned whether causing civilian casualties had any military or political benefit. he was not one of them. he blames the government for targeting civilians. despite losing his family and home, he still believes the struggle should continue.

close to 1700 syrian refugees are returning to what is left of their homes in kobani the border town between turkey and syria, that has seen some of the worst fighting between kurd irk forces and isil forces. the town was recaptured last month aided by u.s.-lead coalition air strikes. in egypt two people were injured when police opened fire on demonstrators. protests started after friday prayers in giza. police used tear gas to disburse them. there were also protests in other cities. israeli soldiers have fired tear gas and rubber-coated steal bullets at protesters in the occupied west bank. in hebron six palestinians and an foreign activist are being treated in hospital. there have been similar protests in another village where four people were injured.

they were marking the tenth anniversary of resistance against the construction of the israeli separation barrier. a woman in long wong has been sentenced to six years in prison for abusing her indonesian maid. her former employer was convicted of 18 charges ranging from assault to not paying her wages. steph went there to find out more. >> reporter: ariana has become a symbol for the plight of domestic workers. her case of abuse have shocked many around the woerlt. for eight months her 'em mroir treated her like a slave. >> translator: i was tortured and beaten. i was never paid. i was allowed to sleep for only three hours in the afternoon. i was forced to sleep on the floor. i was very seriously abused.

>> reporter: ariana's case lead to protests in hong kong. internal bleeding and injuries all over her body she was admitted to hospital for a month. on february 10th a judge found her 'em mroir guilty of aiding charges of abuse. >> translator: my case became well-known because of the protests otherwise i would have been just another case like so many, only because so many people have supported me we have come this far, i really hope my case will not be the only one that gets attention. all of the other maids who are still quiet should be brought to court. >> reporter: to prevent more abuse is the president has announced he want toss stop indonesians from going abroad as domestic workers, only skilled workers would be able to seek work elsewhere. he says he wants to preserve the country's dignity by banning maids from working abroad. but critics say the president's

plan violates worker's rights. migrant worker organization urge the president to focus on protecting workers instead of banning them from work abroad. >> translator: the government indirectly legalizes the modern slavery. in our laws it is not written that migrant workers are human beings who should be able to defend their own rights and determine their own conditions. >> reporter: most of the estimated 6 million migrant workers are employed as domestic workers in other countries. the government insists this has to stop eventually. >> translator: what we want is that those working abroad have skills so they can fulfill job requirement. that will make our workers more

competitive at job market. their rights will be more respected worldwide if these two conditions have been met, then what the president means, the dignity will be fulfilled. >> reporter: she says the government can't stop sending women like her abroad. she hopes her case will be a warning for the thousands that leave every year to make money for their families. wild elephants have rampaged through a village in india. they destroyed homes as they trampled through a vij-- -- village. rangers say deforrestation in the west is forcing elephants into residential areas, where

they are destroying vegetable fields and banana plantations. it's been a day of records at the cricket world cup for south afterricaafrica. sarah coates has more. >> reporter: this was always going to be an exciting match. featuring some of cricket's biggest hitters. south africa got off to an ideal start, bringing up 50. riley chipped in for the pro he is with another half century. but this was just the beginning of a full blown batting assault as the captain came to the crease. striking boundary after boundary to hit the fastest 150 in one-day history of just 64

balls. there was no stopping him, finishing unbeaten on 162, south africa scored 408 for 5. the highest total on australian soil. they never even got close three days after a double century, chris gail gone to 3. samuels bowled for a duck as the west indies crumbled. they conceded a world cup record 257-run defeat. >> it's good to see a time like that hustling around and you could see the odds were almost like open really to -- to fight. and it's a great turn around after the disappointing loss. >> reporter: south africa will next take on pakistan.

sarah coates. al jazeera. >> and a quick reminder you can keep up to date on our website, on the latest of the capture of the most-wanted man in mexico. the address, aljazeera.com. there it is on your screen. aljazeera.com. >> hi, i am lisa fletcher, and you are in the stream. measles cases multiply. from the recent disneyland outbreak. plus, sweat 16 and getting the right to vote? a growing movement taking root in cities across the country. later online movement. reacts to. what it means for the future of hacking.