>> don't try this at home. >> "techknow" where technology meets humanity. monday, 5:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. unfortunately. >> welcome to the news hour. good to have you with us. coming up in the next 60 minutes. russian opposition is shot dead in moscow. the u.n. security council is told ukraine has averted all-out war. la tuka in custody. >> and farewell mr. spock, "star

trek" fans mourn the death of leonard nimoy at the age of 83. we begin this news hour with opposition in leader in russia has been killed. he was shot four times near the kremlin while he was out for a walk. president vladimir putin has condemned the murder. his spokesman said that they're taking the investigation of the murder under his personal control. let's go out to fred weir who join us live. what more do we know about this? >> well, one of the main long-term opposition leaders in this country. he's one of the most irreconcilable people who was in government himself in the 1990s. he was deputy prime minister.

he went on to become a presidential--not contender but some people talked as presidential contender. he always staked out his differences very clearly very eloquently. he was to be a major speaker at the spring rally first main opposition rally here in moscow in months and months. which is to take place on sunday. so all these things come together to make this a really shocking event for everybody and it's not surprising that putin is saying he thinks it's a provocation of some sort, and he will take the investigation under his personal control because it has explosive potential. >> yes, and unfortunately russia has a history of being kinds of targeted killings, and this does appear to have been a

targeted killing. there was the murder of a russian journalist almost ten years ago now who was a fierce critic of president putin. >> yes, and you know, it's not to be excluded that freelance forces are doing this. it doesn't seem, at least not to this point that the kremlin deals directly with its critics in this fashion. but this is a complicateed country. there are many forces and many who would like to put the kremlin in this position. or who would like to, perhaps hand a gift to the kremlin or show them an example and it's very likely that something like this is happening. but it doesn't matter. it just creates the sense of lawlessness and political--that politics are out of control here in moscow, and it's got to be a

really bad day for vladimir putin along with everybody else in moscow. >> indeed, for the moment agreed weir, live for us in moscow. thanks for that. now ukrainian forces and pro-russian separatists have stepped back from the brink of all-out war. the ukrainian--the u.n. security council has been told. they told security council they have seen a lull in fighting in eastern ukraine. the two sides are struggling to maintain a two-week-old truce. >> to be standing at the brink of a full-out war in the ukraine just a few days ago. today we're actively engaged in de-escalation, which hopefully becomes a process. a sustainable cease-fire and the

continued process of deescalation including the indispensable prerequisite to peaceful settlement. >> diplomatic editor james bays has more what they told the security council. >> reporter: the security council has been briefed by two key officials from the osce, the organization on the ground monitoring the situation in eastern ukraine. they're also the organization that has been arrangeing these minsk agreements, and getting all sides together in minsk. they say the situation is now at a crossroads. we've had a great deal of violence, a total of 6,000 people now believed to have died and 1 million have been displaced. it has been confirmed that in the last few days the amount of violence has been reduced. there has been a transfer of

prisoners and heavy weapons have been pulled back. there have been lulls before, and 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 heavy weapons have been taken to. they want more oh sport from the international community. they want more missing students sophisticate sophisticateed community and troop movements on the ground. they want 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 vast area. >> well, president poroshenko has confirmed heavy weapons have been withdrawn from eastern ukraine, but he's warning troops will return if necessary. >> as you know, yesterday in fulfillment of the minsk agreement we started to withdraw some heavy weaponry from the line of confrontation.

however, this is the only first and beginning of the fulfillment of the minsk plan, which are still being violated by the enemy. that's why at any time at any moment our service men are ready to return the weaponry to the previous position and repel the enemy for the shortest period of time. >> director of the center on global interests in washington, and he joins us there for now. thank you very much for being with us. what do you make of these latest developments of how withdraws and lull in the fighting, encouraging signs? >> perhaps they are encouraging. it's hard to tell because the first minsk agreement, as we know started out with very many promising signs of cease-fire and ended up in continued fighting. right now both sides are withdrawing heavy weapons and

yesterday for the first time ukraine reported no soldiers have been killed. the ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the fighting. but it's too early to tell, really, if russia really wants the crisis fire to hold, it will hold, but russia has been very uncommittal in exactly what it wants in eastern ukraine. so we're not sure exactly. i think the main thing to watch here is the city of mariupol in the south. it is a strategic important hub in the potter city. it's one of those viable options to supply crimea if necessary for russia. so if we see increased fighting in mariupol, that is a clear sign that the minsk will not hold. there are just too many uncertainties right now. ukraine is not supposed to regain it's sovereignty over the

border with russia until the end of 2015. so if russia wants to escalate things, there is nothing really preventing them from sending more weapons and perhaps support troops into eastern ukraine. perhaps it's too early to tell. we'll have to monitor the situation. but right now it looks promising. >> yes, in terms of monitoring the situation one of the things in a was reported to that u.n. security council was the difficulty of verifying a lot of this information because of lack of access to key areas. how difficult is that going further down the road? >> yes, the monitoring again it's been a key issue. they're supposed to send monitors into debaltseve. they've been turned away from debaltseve when the fighting was raging there just a few days ago. so it's just a matter of basically politicians drawing

red lines in terms of how serious are they about allowing monitors. let's say, for example if monitors are not allowed to have heavier fighting areas in mariupol and around debaltseve, are europeans prepared to draw a red line, and increase the sanctions on russia over violations of monitoring. again, it's really hard to tell how flexible both sides are in terms of honoring this agreement. as soon as the cease-fire was supposed to stop, we've seen an increase in fighting in debaltseve. until the separatists took the city. so far it seems that both sides are ignoring the clear fact that the cease-fire was violated. it's hard to tell how flexible both sides are. >> indeed, still early days, we'll wait to see how this plays out. for the moment, constantine

joining us from washington. thank you very much. the fighting in eastern ukraine forced more than a million people to flow their homes, but many thousands of others were unwilling or unable to leave. local hospitals turned into trauma units and now they're struggling to cope with the shortage of staff and medical supplies. paul brennan reports from the front line town of horlivk. >> home is this simple room in the children's hospital. they're too young to understand what has happened to them in recent months. >> it is really difficult. all the children are scared. as soon as they hear the slightest sound or noise its frightening for adults. just imagine how the children feel. >> the fighting ranged, the hospital was caught in the cross fire. a third of the children's treatment rooms were found

unyouible. >> 90% of the children have psychological problems. it's the fright when the bombs fall. and the fear after they have landed. they have problems with their speech stammering and stuttering, they lose confidence in their parents. when adults are frightened, the children are frightened as well. >> the current pause in the fighting has not stopped the flow of injured and ill from arriving here. it's just shifted the emphasize. the attention of the medical staff are now shifting to post conflict issues. a two-month-old pep was brought inbrought--a two-month-old baby was brought in with shrapnel wounds. this woman 69-year-old natalia was sitting at home when a piece of shrapnel sliced off her hand. >> so many casualties. so much blood.

everything is destroyed. i wish so much for the war to end as soon as possible. >> the hospital director tells how in the darkest days of the conflict the civilian hospital became a front-line trauma unit. >> on the 29th of january we received 74 wounded people. most of them soldiers. among them were burn victories from landmine and shrapnel. on that day heavy fighting was going on in debaltseve, and they brought all their injured to us. the flow of patients was never ending. >> back in the children's unit drip by drip two-year-old barbara is being treated for her stomach innext. like so many here, she does not care what made her ill. she just wants it to get better. paul brennan al jazeera. >> mexican police have captured one of the most wanted drug lords la tuta gomez runs the

knights templar cartel. the police have been monitoring him for months. we have reports from mexico city. >> one of mexico's most wanted men taken without a shot. gomez known at la tuta, ran the knights knights templar. they went from drug trafficking to extortion of farmers anybody they could squeeze money from put. >> i was a drug trafficker. i took risks. they wanted to steal from me and kidnap my family. i didn't allow that. i don't want to compare myself from anyone in history but why did pancho villa raise his weapons? he was a major criminal.

we all know that. history tells us that. but there are things that run off course because there are people who do not establish the rule of law. >> over the past two years the cartel was under threat. first from vigilanties who rose up against them. and then from a federal offensesive from the state of micoacan. he has been hiding for a year. his capture could give a boost to president peña nieto. over the past year mexican officials have proclaimed victory in micoacan, and a recent wave of killings in the state shows that michoacan's problems go beyond just one man. >> avalanches in afghanistan. three days of mourning begins

for the dead. and emotional day number uruguay giving a first wall to the veteran president affectionally known as pepe. in sport, bayern munich coo california go to the top of bound bundesliga. we have all the action in sport coming up later in the program. all that still ahead but first greece won't seek a third bail bailout. prime minister stipras advice there won't an third bail out. >> reporter: this is the first anti-government protest in athens since the election, and it's coming from the left, the communist party.

they may experiment with new policies but it's still legally and politically bound by the austerity straight jacket as it's socialist predecessors. >> the previous government's commitments became this government's commitments. there are few changes in words. we still have the same institutions. is minimum wage going back up? we've heard many of the same things under the socialist. smaller government,. >> the communists took only 5.5% of the vote in january. but the communist party senses an opportunity. it is positioning itself as the new anti-austerity alternative but the communists are even more radical. they want greece to leave the euro. the european union and my nato. >> they're floating bills tension is already high within the ruling party with one

cabinet member refusing to abide by privatizations the government agreed to. but there is also pressure from europe. in berlin, the bundestag on friday ratified a seven-page letter from greece to fulfill its obligation to germany and other creditors. private stiprime minister stipras will have no help from creditors for two months and needs to pay off debt in the meantime. >> i call on you all to work hard implement the public mandate of january 25th so that the country can turn a page. less talk and more action. >> they may get their partners to agree on a new deal in june

which will replace many of the austerity terms. but for now they have to earn their trust. opposition and compromise at home will make that task more difficult at home. >> outage is raging in bangladesh over the murder of a blogger who spoke out against religious extremism. hundreds of protesters to demonstrate until aro roy's attacker is arrested. >> he was an atheist who advocateed secularism in a country where most people are muslim. >> the books he has written will be appreciated by the people of this country and will also enlighten the new generation for years to come. our goal is to move forwards a secular society.

>> the attack happened near the police station. officers were at the gates of the book fair, the crime scene. hundreds of protesters gathered in daka square on friday. they issued a 24 hour ultimatum to arrest the killers. in 2013 militant blogger was hacked to death in a similar attack near his home. protesters want justice this time. >> this is a conspiracy going on now to turn this country into an extreme religious state. we have gathered to protest such a move to arrest the and to arrest the killers within 24 hours and we'll protest until our demands are met. >> hard line conservative groups, but no one has been

arrested or detained yet. >> this is where the blogger and his wife were at on thus night around 8:30 p.m. he died on his way to the hospital. his wife is in critical condition at a local hospital. what is ironic there were hundreds of people around, and the police were nearby. everyone was witnessing this, and they were crying for help, and nobody would help them out. the government will be under intense scrutiny to find the culprit and solve this case. daka bangladesh. >> a lawyer and commentator on bangladesh. he said that the government must do more to protect freedom of expression. >> it is very shocking murder,

it is unfortunately not the first time. it appears he was targeted because of his views and what he has said. but we should be cautious that the islamic extremists may have committed this. i say this because unfortunately in bangladesh, very rarely is there is the culprit ever brought to justice. because of the political culture there is deeply held suspicion held of various political parties, the bottom line is somebody lost his life because of a particular view that he has held and that is totally unacceptable, and no one should be facing such violence. i find it difficult that

security was not in the area. he was leaving a book fair, and so one has to ask the question that when these kinds of attacks are repeated year an year, where is not the bangladeshi government doing more to bring perpetrators to justice and insure greater security for these people. >> the afghan government is appealing for international help to find survivors of an avalanche of the north. it's declared three days of mourning for the victims. 200 people are known to have died. that figure could rice, and as nicole johnston reports their families are accusing the government of being too slow to respond. >> pan j shir has seen snow before, but this is something different. meters and meters of it turning jagged mountains into smooth white slopes, and valleys into silent gorges. in the provincial capitol, it

was anything but quiet. helicopters buzzed over head. hundreds of troops trudged uphill to secure the peaks and a convoy of military vehicles blocked the only road through the valley. while in the commotion president ashraf ghani was flying in to the area. there was one loan crew clearing the road meter by painful meter. >> the road is blocked by snow. that means oh dozens of villagers are cut off and right now they're not getting any help. at this rate, clearing the road could take up to ten days. this man is desperate for news. his wife and eight children are in a village they can't reach. >> all my family is stuck up

there in the canyon. i've had no contact with them for a week. i keep coming up here in case someone comes from the other side of the pass. >> the government said that it's doing it's best. 1,000 security forces have been dispatched to the area. the people are getting angry at how long it's take to go clear the snow. >> 18 members of my family are under snow. they're getting no help. cars and helicopters are only here for sightseeing. >> panjshir is dotted by tiny villages, all carved out with heavy snow and avalanches. >> the machinery we have is greater for paving the roads. the bulldozer does not have chains on the roads. if we can get machinery we can clear the roads quickly and focus on the villages. >> down on the valley people are used to living with snow. but up in the mountains thousands of their countrymen

wait urgently to be rescued. >> now still ahead in this news hour it's been a battleground for two years and syrian suburb is under aerial attack. and in sport we'll hear from the man about his thoughts about a winter world cup in qatar all when we come back.

>> ...you know... we're selling it to the blacks... and when they start killing each other, nobody cares! >> i was going through like a million dollars worth of drugs just about every day. >> freeway rick was getting his dope from a very big operator... >> they had been trafficking on behalf of the united states government. >> the c.i.a. admitted it... >> then you have to start

questioning the whole system... >> the rise... fall... and redemption of freeway rick ross >> freeway crack in the system only on al jazeera america >> hello again. the top stories on al jazeera. russia's president is condemning the murder of a kremlin critic. the opposition politician died in a drive-by shooting by unknown assailants in moscow. the putin spokesman said that the president will personally supervise the murder investigation. peace monitors have sold the u.n. security council that all-out war has been averted but there has been significant fighting between ukrainian and pro-return-russian forces.

mexico's leader of the knights templar drug cartel was arrested. now isil forces have attacked a city 100 meters away from baghdad. the group claims the suicide-bombers blew up their vehicles, and took over an iraqi army checkpoint. earlier this month the iraqi security forces foiled an attack north of the city. now 48 iraqi soldiers have been killed in fighting with isil in anbar province. the iraqi forces have been trying to security the town of offal baghdadi. the town is close to a strategic air base used by iraqi forces.

jane arraf reports from baghdad. >> the statutes are any inspiration. as a soldier in mosul in the 1980s he would hide a camera in his pocket to take photos of them in the museum. he says he has not slept since he saw the video of their destruction. >> what is this statue? it's just stone but it's what it represents. any citizen will consider this statue as his ancestor. he does not consider it mere rock. it's his ancestor. >> this is near the heart of the culture center. many here know firsthand of mosul's significance of history and culture. imtook over the city in june. the most valuable piece has been removed years ago. these were wrapped by museum

staff to protect them from the elements. there were no protection from these men who spanished statues from syrian palaces and artifacts from the world heritage site. nearby they used power drills to destroy these statues which stood at the palace gates for 3,000 years. the images considered by the syrians to be protective spirits are so sigh connick you see them everywhere in iraq. the people here they see these statues as part of their legacy going back to the first of their civilization. an art student said that the loss of the statues are incal could youible. >> this is the symbol of iraq.

>> the gold found here in the 80s and 90s are among the most significant on earth. >> these statues you see them gone. they are unique. and destroying them, i wish they looted them because one day they will come out you know, in 100 years, let's say. it doesn't matter. things like that happened before. but destroying them, they're gone forever. >> they were he is can aggravated by british and others in the last century. major parts of the palaces were taken to foreign museums. those may be the only place left iraqis will be able to see their ancient heritage. jane arraf al jazeera, baghdad. >> almost 1700 syrian refugees are turning what is left of their homes in kobane.

the border town between turkey and syria has seen some of the worst fighting between kurdish and isil fighters. it was recaptured by iraqi peshmerga forces aided by coalition airstrikes. staying with syria a rebel- rebel-held suburb of damascus has been under siege for nearly 200 years. nearly two years. >> she was just over a year old. she died much malnutrition. she was not the first victim in douma, the rebel-held area has been under siege by government forces for almost two years. during that time activists say that 264 civilians died, 188 of them children.

>> we couldn't find medicine. we couldn't find milk. when you do, it's very expensive and we cannot afford to buy it. >> people are not only dying of staff aggravation. douma has been a battleground for years. it's been raised razed to the ground. >> just like other suburbs if in the capitol it is under siege. it is the first area to see anti-government protests. four years later it is the main opposition stronghold surrounding the government-controlled city. >> reporter: 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 four days. walid survived, but his wife and seventh-month-old daughter didn't. minutes after he left the house government aircraft targeted the neighborhood. it sustained an intense air campaign in response to a rebel attack on central damascus.

>> on in a day my wife would stay at home. she took my daughter, i went to my sister next to us. i left them there. i came back, and the house was destroyed. >> some people in the opposition did question whether causing civilian casualties in damascus had any military or political benefit. walid is not one of them. he blames the government for targeting civilians. despite losing his family and his moment walid believes the struggle should continue j. >> the u.s. and cuba have held a second round of negotiations on restoring relations. roslind jordan has the latest from washington. >> the lead negotiators in the u.s.-cuba normalization talks said on friday that they felt the second round of talks had gone well, but there is a major sticking point. the cubs want to be remove from the u.s. state sponsor terrorism

list because they don't sponsor terrorism or action. the u.s. has started a review, but they have not agreed whether this issue should be part of the talks. >> what we're saying, yes it is not a pre-condition it is not a condition. but we're saying it is important, a very important issue for cuba. i can say that it is a priority for cuba that we hope is addressed, and is solved in the process towards the establishment of diplomatic relations. as i already said it would be very difficult to say that we have established relations with our country still on the list that we believe very very firmly that we have never belonged to, and we do not belong to. >> today was productive and encouraging. in open, honest, and sometimes challenging yet always respectful conversation we addressed the requirements of each side and the differences we identified as the first

discussion in havana a month ago. >> no there is no date set for the third round of talks. and its starting to look unlikely as if the embassies will be open for business by the time of the summit of the america. that is in early airplane april. but both u.s. and of cuba say they're working towards establishing relationship and then settling issues of cuban status and the question of human. >> right it's been billed as the largest gathering of conservatives in the united states. for four days the conservative political action committee will hear from some of the biggest names in the republican party. alan fisher reports. they are the committed the concerned the faithful, the conservative action committee one of the most important republican meetings of the year.

>> the men and women gathered here today will play a critical war. >> it's required stop for anybody wanting to win the nomination. >> it may not be a majority of republicans, but it is a very substantial segment of the republican party and it is the most passionate segment of the republican party. so it's important to appeal to c pac to for the hopeful credentials. >> the poor speech, failure to connect with the audience here, that could fail a campaign before it gets under way. the significance of who is here is as who isn't. this is a predominantly white middle class male gathering.

>> you everything with the values you know, letting people know what their message is, and the conservative fiscal message and social message as well. >> jeb bush will be one of the biggest names here. he does not always appeal to the conservative of the party. the reaction to him could be significant. but the event tends to throw up a surprise a minor character who delivers a performance winning over the crowd creating momentum. for one conservative operative. the people who leave the haul will leave them out to the country selling the person they like the best. >> these are careerly the conservatives. clearly the people who will be out there knocking on doors supporting candidates, and everyone is here to make their best impression here on them.

>> republicans have lost the last two presidential elections and they don't want that to become a habit. alan fisher at the c pac conference in maryland. >> following a handful of costly lawsuits that some say were politically motivated they're forced to publishing weekly. for many of the journalists working here this cut back is yet another example of how the government has silenced dissent. >> they are seeking over the media, so there are fewer and fewer spaces to criticize what is wrong. they've tried to create not only a single unified message for the

country, but also a single narrative for abroad. >> during the last 15 years t tal cual with editorials and-- >> these people have wanted to disqualify their leaders. what is written in these newspapers cannot be sustained as proof. >> but tal l l cl cual will not be stopped. >> i trust the kindness of our people. i trust those who built this country. this country did not pop up out of nothing. >> dozens much jobs are at stake

and faced with fewer and fewer options many talk of immigrating. but for the tal cual's editors they see. >> they will become a nation that looks backwards instead of forward. >> tal l cual will join a list of media that has shut down over years. it's closure will be a sign of democracy in a country disappear. al jazeera caracas. >> in a few hours voters in the southern african kingdom will head to the polls. the election day date was moved up two years after an alleged

coup attempt. [music] >> in one of his final rallies before the election, the current prime minister makes a plea for votes. >> thomas is trying to get the outright majority rather than having to take part in another rocky coalition. >> the 2012 election resulted in the first coalition government. it was hoped it would solve its long history of political problems but it didn't last long. in june last year they had seen a vote of no confidence. the prime minister dissolved parliament, in august he pled to south africa alleging the military had staged a coup. the military denied the allegation, and the main opposition diplomatic congress

party blamed them for not working with coalition partners. it's promising to make changes. >> to restore the dignity to the obvious of prime minister, which has been brought into such horrible disrepute by the incumbent prime minister. that's point number one. to restore the confidence of the people in their own government. >> this country needs a stable government. the u.n. has identified it as one of the least developed nations in the world. it has one of the highest rates of hiv and high number of the population is living under the poverty line. >> they say they're ready to go to the polls. >> they havepolls. >> this will be a free and fair election. >> of course it will be a free and fair election. everything has been made very transparent. >> african union observers say they're concerned about

potential violence at the polls. the army has promised it will stay in the barracks, but the city police and regional forces will be providing security at the ballot boxes. the people will be looking this time for a government that will bring them leadership and stability. al jazeera. >> still ahead in sport the world of basketball mourns the passing of a man who changed the face of the nba. we'll have all the details in a moment.

>> nimoy played the half human half vulcan from the space enterprise mr. spock. a character who favored brain over emotional brawn. >> let me remind you that you that i'm sick and tired of your logic. >> that's an i will lodgal attitude. >> it was nimoy who came up with the split fingered vulcan is a

absolute inspired by a jewish prayer in a hebrew letter. >> this is how we did it, a vulcan greeting. that just took off. it was amazing. >> leonard nimoy was 83. >> let's get all your sport now. >> thank you very much. bayern munich has celebrated their 115th birthday by going 11 points clear at the top of german's bundesliga. it was a routine win for bayern when they went 2-0 up. it looked like an easy night ahead. but after they made it 2-1 bayern worked under severe pressure.

however, they found another gear and scored another couple of goals. with the final score of 4-1. they have proposed the 20-22 final in qatar should not take place any later than december december 18th when it comes just days after a fee at a task force recommended moving the tournament. it will be held on qatar's national day. the proposal will go to fee at a fifa's committee next month. many say that the december tour also cause disruption but they said that there will be plenty of time for problems to be ironed out. >> they'll make a little business of noise about the

world cup in qatar but finally more than six years. seven years to prepare. there will be a solution, and i'm sure-- >> to tennis number one djokovic will face roger federer in the dubai championship time. djokovic is in there because he beat thomas tomas berdych on friday. berdych came back in the second set, and he would take it 7-5 but the third came back in the third and deciding set putting his place in supplied's final against the swiss. well, much easier time for roger federer. he easily brushed aside the teenager in straight sets. federer going for his second title of 2015, which would

improve his head to head record against djokovic. meanwhile here in doha, victoria asvranka beats another former number one, venus williams in the semifinals. the bella russian is a wildcard after last year. it drops her rankings to 48. when venus to come her sets, it looked like her first final since 2014. but azerenka would claim the victory, and a chance to claim her first title since 2013. the czech world number 15 in straight sets. now just over an hour's time two of the favorites in the cricket world cup will face each other in auckland, co-hosts australia

and new zealand will face each other. still undefeated at the tournament. later india will take on the united irish emirates. they're looking to make it. >> second in the driver's championship last season for teammate luis hamilton. on friday he was fastest by over a second. russia's driver was only eighth, pretty insane and new design of the redbull. the four-time champion said he's feeling pretty good ahead of the

race in melbourne. >> i think it's positive that we did lapse today, no doubt. i think you want to arrive in melbourne and you want to make sure that you finish the race. that's number one. and obviously you want to be as quick as you can. that's what we're working on. >> now tributes have been pouring in following the death of the first black player ever to play in the nba. earl lloyd was 86 years old. he made his debut in 1950 for the washington capitols. he went on to win a championship with the syracuse national and paved the way for michael jordan and magic johnson, one of the many who paid tribute. magic tweeted:

>> that is all your sport for now. more later. >> thank you very much. now it is the final day at the office for uruguay's veteran president. jose mujica wants to make it as low key as possible. from montivedeo, we have reports. >> reporter: gracias, thank you for the president president people affectionally call pepe. president mujicka and his five years of president changed a lot. no issue too small.

>> we can't stop war but we can mitigate the consequences of war. we don't believe putting tents in the desert and sending a bit of food will salve our conscience. >> providing refugees with housing, jobs and schooling. did he the same for six former detainees from the u.s. base in guantanamo when few others would take them. at home at the provoked controversy with the legalization of same-sex marriage abortion, the production and sell of marijuana. president mujica may be leaving office, but he's leaving behind something very concrete. this housing project will be part of his legacy. he donated 80% of his salary to it, and he's a regular visitor. mother of five says she wishes pepe could be president forever. >> he's totally changed our lives. he's everything. i don't know how to thank him to repay him for all he's done for the people, for us.

>> when it's finished, it will provide housing for 86 families a community center with football pitch and movie theater. >> he lived the way we lived in a tiny house making the same sacrifices that we make. that's why he's the president of the poor. >> president mujica said alleviating poverty was his legacy of his administration. he wished he could have done more. >> i long considered myself a militant and as long as i can i'll keep fighting. >> while not everyone supported him he leaves the presidency with a huge approval rating. pepe mujica's departure uruguay will never be quite the same. >> now a full bulletin of news is up here at al jazeera. and as always there is lots more

at our website at www.aljazeera.com.

>> this is al jazeera america. live from new york city i'm tony harris. homeland security shutdown. and the house says no to a funding extension as the clock ticks towards a final shutdown. murder in moscow. an outspoken critic of vladimir putin gunned down near the kremlin, leonard nimoy loses his be battle with lung disease.