award winning, investigative series... on al jazeera america >> welcome to the news hour from al jazeera's news center in doha. these are the top stories: >> the iraqi army begins a major offensive to retake sadaam hussein's hometown from isil. >> meeting his russian counterpart. >> benjamin netanyahu gives a controversial address which angers the white house.

>> welcome to the program. a major offensive against isil is underway in iraq. a force of 20,000 soldiers and fighters are trying to force the armed group from tikrit and surrounding province north of the capitol baghdad. shia militias known as popular mobilization forces are involved as well as sunni tribal fighters. 2,000 sunnis are involved. the offensive includes fighter jets and helicopter backing up ground forces. the iraq prime minister has called for the liberation of iraqi cities from isil. >> >> today god willing, we will start and important military campaign to liberate the citizens of the province from

islamic state militants. i call on you to deal with the citizens well. we should protect the citizens and their properties. >> jane is in baghdad and joins us live. what more details have you been hearing about the operation and how it's going so far? >> prime minister abaddi this afternoon is briefing members of parliament on how that operation is going. it has a huge political component. iraqi military officials say they've launched a three pronged offensive, they're no longer on the defensive coming from the south, north and west of tikrit. it is the first big city, the first really big test that iraqi forces face, and part of the reason it's such a test is that it is a major sunni center.

it's sadaam hussein's hometown. >> how well prepared are the iraqi forces. when they officially faced isil fighters they dropped their weapons and ran away without a fight. what is different this time around? >> part of it certainly is the motivation. they know if they fail this time, there will be a lot of dead soldiers, a lot of dead young men who volunteered from the south of iraq. the political situation now will not tolerate the kind of mass defectses and the failure of leadership and corruption that brought down the iraqi military

and led to basically dissolving entire army divisions in june when isil rolled in. this is a stripped down military. it has a lot of newly trained forces, a lot of forces assembled by the militia's rather than the military, but they are much more motivated. key to this is they have u.s. air support. it's been that air support and other support by other coalition members that has really allowed the iraqi forces and kurdish forces to take back large parts of the territory. before this event even started there were airstrikes, there was shelling, there were all sorts of other operations designed to ensure when they get into tikrit, they will have a good chance of taking it back. >> just a final thought, how much is this seen as a precursor to iraqi forces retaking the much bigger prize of mosul later in the spring? >> very much. the province surrounding tikrit,

one of their senior military officials have said just a short while ago that this will basically be a staging ground, a jumping off point to go further down the road, further north and take back mosul. that one though, seems to be a few months away, because really, what the iraqis are talking about now is a major game plan in which there would be a police force that would follow, as well as a plan for humanitarian assistance. it's not something you put together overnight or even in the next few weeks or months. >> jane, thank you. >> egyptian state media reports and explosion in the capitol cairo that happened near the high court building in the center of the city. we don't know if there were casualties, but as soon as we get more information, we'll bring it to you here on al jazeera. >> more than 6,000 people have died since fighting began in ukraine and new u.n. report says there have been heavy casualties since the start of 2015 with

hundreds of lives lost around donetsk and debaltseve in the last few weeks alone. the russian foreign minister lavrov said ukraine needs to do more, although there have been gains from the must not ask peace accord. >> the gave situation in donebar should be given the highest priority. the ukrainian government must lift the de facto blockade of the region, restore historic ties payment of social benefits, bank, inc. and the freedom of movement to other parts of the country. these provisions were set out in the minsk agreements and the implementation must not be delayed. >> sergey lavrov met earlier with u.s. secretary of state john kerry. he said he told the russian foreign minister there would be consequences for russia if the minsk accord isn't fully implemented. >> i reiterated the urgency of

russia's leaders and separatists that they back the implementing the full measure of the commitments under the minsk agreements everywhere, including debaltseve outside mariupol and other key strategic areas. i underscored this morning that if that does not happen, if there continue to be these broad swaths of non-compliance or there continues to be a cherry picking as to where heavy equipment will be moved back from without knowing where it's been moved to, or if the o oh sce is not adequately able to gain the access necessary, then there would be inevitably further consequences that will place added strain on russia's already troubled economy. >> barnaby phillips joins us live from geneva. the relationship between sergey

lavrov and john kerry has been strained because of the crisis in ukraine and both continue to interpret the conflict very differently. >> they see it completely different, yes and john kerry speaking to the american senate on wednesday of last week spoke essentially about russian lies, i quote saying russia was not honest about what it was doing about russias military involvement in terms of people and personnel in eastern ukraine. sergey lavrov has a completely different interpretation and the gist of his speech as you were hearing in that little clip you saw was that responsibility lies with the ukrainian government, which or the current ukrainian government, which is responsible for what the russians believe was a coup d'etat last year and he spoke about pro nazi can be neonazi far right groups fighting with the ukrainian side responsible for human rights abuses going on at the moment.

it's a differ situation where you have these two great powers who interpret this crucial conflict so very differently. if you were looking for any glimmers of optimism, i suppose there are to believe two. the first is that both men are stressing the importance of the minsk accord and the second point, i suppose and this is looking beyond ukraine and talking more about global cooperation in other areas have conflict, john kerry said that he believed that both the united states and russia were being responsible in the sense that they were able to put their differences in ukraine on one side and still able to carry on with very important negotiations on syria and the of course on the iranian nuclear program. he felt that in those areas the russians had been from the american point of view constructive. >> just briefly, all of this comes against the backdrop of the murder of the opposition activist boris nemtsov. presumably john kerry will continue to push the russians for a full and robust investigation into the killing.

>> yes. the americans will do that, but if you heard what mr. lavrov said in his speech to the u.n. human rights council, he greed with the americans to the extend that he, too calls it a heinous crime, but was clear saying nobody from outside should try and politicize this. we are in charge of finding out who was responsible, and countries in the west shouldn't seek to make political capitol out of this or interpret more out of this crime than may be actually weighted to it, if you like so even a few days after mr. nemtsov was killed i think we're seeing those very different interpretations from moscow and washington as to what happened outside the walls of the kremlin the other night. >> thank you. >> now a drone strike in yemen overnight killed three suspected al quaeda members and wounded three more. it's the second drone strike in the last two days. mean while president hadi spoke

publicly for the first time sunday since he fled the capitol, sanna. we have a report. >> adou rabbo mansour hadi is a president who's role has become unclear. he was forced to flee the capitol, sanna last month after his rival shia houthi's put him under house arrest. now he's conducting business in the southern port city of aden. on sunday, hadi met with supportive leaders from several provinces. >> we came carrying a message of peace to all yemen. >> the president asked the houthis to help unite the country, accusing them of conspiring with iran to scuttle a democratic transition. >> we called them for dialogue. we don't know if the dialogue will bring relief to those oh oppressed for years. >> houthi leaders appear to be focused on the relationship with iran. the first direct flight from

tehran arrived in sanna this week, with it aid workers bringing medical supplies. the houthis signed and agreement to iran to ever 14 direct flights a week between the two countries. >> these flights come in the context of breaking the international isolation and posed specifically by saudi arabia and america on yemen. iran russia and other countries are opening spheres for yemen. >> critics say the flights may bring weapons to arm the houthis. international allies are split along religious lines leaving the countries path forward as sun certain as ever. >> some are threatening to boycott benjamin netanyahu's speech to the u.s. congress. he arrived in washington sunday. he's expected to argue against any nuclear deal with iran. let's get more from washington d.c. from tom ackermann.

this is a controversial trip by the israeli prime minister to the u.s. tell us his plans over the next days. >> in a few minutes he'll be speaking before 14,000 delegates to the annual apac conference, the pro zeal advocacy group here and is will tell what he is expected to say to the u.s. congress. vice president joe biden as well as administration officials will not be attending that. at the same time, netanyahu has been telling israeli reporters on the way here that he is not against any deal with iran, only against a bad deal, specifically the israelis are opposed to any indication of and continuation of uranium enrichment, and want details of supervision of any agreement, the extents of agreement, the length of the agreement and, of course, the

how the allies will respond in case iran breaks the agreement. secretary of state john kerry earlier said that he was concerned that netanyahu might be disclosing some details of the actual terms of the negotiations now underway in his speech before the congress on tuesday, and that would endanger the progress of the negotiations. of course, netanyahu's speech here is not just to an audience of americans. it's an audience of israelis, a huge audience of israelis will be watching him virtually live on israeli television, both this speech and of course the speech before the u.s. congress just two weeks before the israeli elections, and of course, netanyahu is in a neck and neck race there, and the value of the domestically of this speech is

something that the netanyahu camp certainly is not discounting. this is definitely part of domestic politics in israel, and the opposition has said he should not have come here. >> all right, thank you for that. let's cross to west emand gauge reaction there. many analysts say this speech by netanyahu to the u.s. congress is perhaps the most speech of his life. he said it himself. what do people of israel make of all this and the state of tensions in the relationship with washington? >> indeed, mr. netanyahu describing it as a historic mission on his part. >> here the you. >> seems to be quite mixed divided. you have the support of the prime minister that believes that any opportunity an israeli leader has to address u.s. lawmakers, one should take it, and some have publicly said that or even privately, i should add

ever hinted that the tensions between the obama administration isn't necessarily such a bad thing, either, reaffirming israel's strong relationship with the u.s., a relationship which is perhaps in their view stronger than the relationship between the prime minister and the president. whatever the case, you also have those here in israel who are very angry and concerned about this speech. you have some lawmakers who have said that mr. netanyahu is willing to damage the relationship between washington and the israeli government so that he can keep his job. in the background of all of that, you have the middle, if you will. you have your average israeli voter who is going to be going to the polls in around two weeks time and for they will, at least from what we've seen from the polling, the issues that matter to them are not iran. security is important but not the key issue, the issue for them are social and economic

issues. many believe that mr. netanyahu has historically been weak on those issues so he's trying to readjust the lens, if you will and try and focus it on security, and that is perhaps why he's really pushed to be there in washington, despite all the criticism. >> thank you. >> lots more still to come here on the al jazeera news hour. >> tensions rise on the korean peninsula. protests in south korea as military drills begin with the. [. >> nigeria president good luck jonathan said there's nothing wrong with his government's strategy against boko haram. >> after winning his 46th 46th title nadal says they can learn lessons from his year. details coming up later.

>> isil has freed 21 syrian christian, but the armed group is still holding more than 200 people from the minority community in syria. they were abducted in syria's northeast. some freed were welcomed at the church. >> the plans of the u.s. coalition to train moderate syrian release ever suffered a setback. the movement, which was the first rebel group selected to receive training have now disbanded. the group's ranks collapsed after days of fighting against the al-qaeda linked al-nusra front in syria. >> they lost many men in the fight and the movement appears to have collapsed but these syrian release were not killed by the syrian government. they died fighting al-qaeda's affiliates in aleppo. a few days ago the nusra front declared all-out war on the

group, accusing it of killing and kidnapping its fighters, a charge the u.s. backed group denies. the movement has decided to disband. in a statement a spokesman said the syrian military began to advance on several front lines because of the opposition's in-fighting, as long as it remained, it would be a target for al-nusra. >> the fighting in aleppo was not the first confrontation. al-nusra pushed the movement out. it is based in the north. it was the first group to receive sophisticated weapons with the u.s. but links with the west only earned it enemies on the ground. >> the fact that the movement no longer exists is a setback to u.s. you plans to arm and train a rebel force. this is not the only obstacle,

for the opposition, the priority should be fighting the government. syrians in opposition controlled areas are worried. the rebel ine fighting coincides with government effort to control aleppo city and cut off opposition fly lines to turkey. >> we call on the rebels to stop fighting each other. al-nusra should go to the front lines and fight the regime instead. we are being attacked by militias from iran and other shiites, they are trying to lay siege to aleppo. >> it was one of the few rebel groups obama trusted in syria. some of its individual members may still join, but if and when that u.s. force is ready it will face opposition not just from the government and isil, but from within rebel ranks. al jazeera beirut. >> north korea warned of merciless strikes against its enemies. it made the threat after

launching two short range missiles in defiance of u.s. sanctions. they flew for 500 kilometers before falling into the sea. there are joint military drills with the u.s. beginning monday. >> when two countries technically still at war any show of force makes people nervous. every year, south korea he i can't's military and u.s. troops show off their fire power in joint drills. every year, north korea responds. this time, it fired two short range missiles before the south korean drills even began. >> this is a deliberate provocation, seen as an armed protest. we are ready to respond immediately. if it takes provocative actions our military will react firmly and strongly so north korea will regret bitterly. >> afraid things could escalate, a group of peace activists

gathered within hours. they are part of a south korean organization campaigning for both koreas to be reunited as one country. >> we are against all military actions taking place in the korean members la. if the exercise continue and north korea retaliates, a stage of war will once again be a reality. >> we've heard all this before. analysts from the international crisis group isn't worried. >> kim jong-un has called them to be ready for war. it's all in the context of deterrence. they are trying to gauge the reaction of the south and its allies and to see if they can coerce the south into thanking its behavior and cans celling its exercises. >> this may be another case of posturing, however history has taught us that the standoff on the korean peninsula is

unpredictable. >> >> nigeria's president is vowing to win the war against boko haram as he prepares for elections later this month. goodluck jonathan denies mishandling the campaign against the armed group that has killed thousands. he gave an exclusive interview to our correspondent in legos. >> with less than four weeks to go until nigeria's presidential election, president goodluck jonathan promised voters he will defeat boko haram. >> we must end it. they want to take over our territories. we will begin to pick them and of course frustrate the activities. >> the president denied accusations his government has mishandled the boko haram crisis

president jonathan is standing for reelection. the vote was postponed for six weeks because of violence in the northeast where boko haram has been most active. we asked him whether the election date could be moved again. >> i don't think so. i believe the elections will be conducted. national elections will be this month. i don't see why we should postpone again because i'm quite impressed with -- i will win the election. >> but if you don't will you step aside? >> huh? >> i said if you don't win the election, will you bow out gracefully. >> if somebody wins the elections, of course, i will go to my village. the country's not -- >> there could be election related violence. more than 800 people were killed

during the 2011 election. >> i'm worried too and i'm not happy. we are doing everything to reduce it. we need to recalibrate our architecture to handle elections, otherwise some parts of this country could go into unnecessary crisis. nobody's ambition is this. >> they want a fair and peaceful vote and end to the boko haram attacks. al jazeera legos. >> the prize for african leadership has gone to the out going president of in namibia. the $5 million prize has only been given out three times in eight years. >> the founder of that

foundation and sponsor of the prize explained why the award has not been given every year. >> our prize was given four times in the last seven or eight years. now, it is a prize for excellence in leadership, and we are not lowering our standards. it is for people who come and do an extraordinary job. that is a tough benchmark and i speak to our friends in you're, for example and they say isn't prize offer to european leaders. how many leaders you think have won this prize in the last eight years? africa is not doing badly to find four extraordinary leaders in eight years. this is a measure of excellence. it's not common. now, i accept that we have some challenges in africa. i don't have issues, but we are moving forward. 95% of african people today live

under better governed societies than 10 years ago. it's not perfect and it's not by wide margin, but it's a movement forward. we continue the scrutiny and we move forward one step at a time. >> let's check on the global weather now with rob. >> yes you say global. we've got to concentrate on the area badly hit by snow and unusual rain, as well. india, pakistan, and afghanistan, now just recently, rain fell in new delhi. it's not normal, but we are getting the right area for rain this time of the year in the foothills of the himalaya. we go north a little bit to the satellite picture. you get rain or snow, dependency on the height. that's well above the average. further north to senegal, that would be falling as snow. we have had a bit of snow there not a huge amount.

this is probably good news. equally, until you get into the foothills, this is rain. toward kashmir now but these trees are not used to great disparity, we get rain and snow here. the rain still falls. we're taking it through 24 hours, and then it dice out. you are up in the hindu cush here. there is a line beyond the snow, potential there for at least the cloud to be a low ceiling does exist. beyond that, it's a little bit better but it's not quite perfect yet. >> thank you. still ahead on the news hour, h.iv numbers in africa help to decriminalize the sex trade. >> hundreds of thousands of

activists in buenos aires have come to show their support to president kirchner as she plaintiffs her last state of the nation address. >> in sport chelsea secured a first trophy of the english football season.

>> taking sadaam hussein's

hometown from isil. >> john kerry says there will be consequences for russia if the minsk peace accord is not implement fully. sergey lavrov has said there's been tangible progress since the deal was signed, but ukraine needs to do more. the u.n. estimates over 6,000 have been killed since the conflict began last year. >> egypt, two people have been killed in an explosion in cairo according to state media. the blast happened near the high court building in the center of the city. these pictures show crowds gathering near the scene. at least four are said to have been wounded. >> nato's deputy secretary general criticized russia saying it's violating commitments and stoking fear in neighboring countries. he said by doing so, russia is diminishing its own security. we have a report.

>> united against weapons of mass destruction, put that toe members and partners say they are eager to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and i will as i say elicit arms trafficking. >> what's very concerning about ukraine is that the russian federation has taken a step backwards from its international commitments by violating the sovereignty of a neighbor, by undermining all the basis of the post war peace in you're, and that raises concerns as to whether they will sustain their commitments against the use of weapons of mass destruction. >> this could be nato's biggest concern, isil fighters taking over more territory in syria and iraq and spreading their ideologies in the muslim world. the international military

alliance said it's determined to take on isil. a coalition led by the u.s. is carrying out airstrikes against the armed group. nato release on important regional partners, including qatar, setting up the committee for the prevention of weapons. the first body in the region responsible for ensuring chemical materials do not fall into the wrong hands. >> we play a significant role in international peace and security. in 2004, we created the prevention of chemical weapons training countries in international disarmament conventions. >> nato's main goal is to limit nuclear weapons a divisive issue here in the medal east. iran is negotiating a deal with the international community. if there's an agreement iran would be allowed to develop nuclear energy for peaceful

purposes. the general sentiment in the region is that the whole middle east, including israel, should be free of weapons of mass destruction. >> libya no longer has now member of the chemical weapons convention syria has so you already have a better basis to start from, but on the other hand you still have israel not being a member, and you have egypt not being a member. >> if syria and libya are seen as a success story for international peace by renouncing their weapons of mass destruction ambitions, efforts continue to convince countries like north korea to reverse it's 2003 decision to pull out from the non-proliferation treaty. >> the nato conference comes at a time of growing challenges facing the international community, including the conflict in libya syria and yemen, as well as the rising influence of isil in the middle

east. challenges nato wants its partners in this region to tackle aggressively to prevent further instability. al jazeera doha. >> hashem joins us live from that conference. over to you. >> this is basically a conference to try to raise international awareness, and different partners in the region to tackle issues like weapons of mass destruction, arms control and non-proliferation. it comes against the backdrop of growing challenges, like the rise of isil in the region, struggle in yemen conflicts in libya and syria and crisis in ukraine. joining me to talk about these issues is ambassador alexander. you've been very critical of

russia today in the crisis. how do you see the crisis unfolding there? >> of course the crisis seems at least in the short term to have eased a bit with the ceasefire reached in minsk recently, although it's not holding completely. i have to say that most people are pessimistic that this is anything more than a pause. we fear russia may be push forego more territory or fundamental political changes in kiev. on the subject of today's conference, i was very critical of russia, because there was a very key agreement in 1994 whereby ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in return for guarantees. last year, russia annexed cry my he i can't and now threatening to further change the borders by force, so russia's a problem. >> nato is very active in the airstrikes targeting muammar gaddafi in libya in 2011.

now there is a crisis in libya a problem in syria with a spectacular rise of isil in syria and iraq. the two key players, the saudis and qatari's, how do you see a way forward tackling groups like isil? >> for nato, the challenge posed by isil is one of the many threats that we have to reckon with on our southern frontiers. even though the coalition is led by the united states, just about all allies are participating in some way. it's very important for us to get the perspectives of our partners in the region, to consult with them, to see whether there's ways that we can discourage the rise of isil by providing alternatives, providing the means for countries to protect their own security, by providing a path towards closer cooperation with europe and with the west that can help in staunching the expansion of these terrible

threats. >> this conference is about non-proliferation, and aim is basically to have a middle east free of weapon was mass destruction. here's the concern. many countries say that is a double standard by the international community. if you want this region to be free of weapons of mass destruction, all should be onboard, the iranians and israelis, as well. how do you respond to that concern. >> that is indeed one of the subjects that's being discussed today. i think that everyone agreed, including those who could describe the israeli position that israel seems ready to participate, but of course, the weapons of mass destruction is just one of the many issues that are dividing israel from the rest of the arab world. while the conference may have a narrow focus there has to be a broader pros to address the issues. the forum is a good opportunity to air some of the issues. i hope that some advice given about quiet diplomacy overcoming procedural obstacles accounted at least start the process and

then a dynamic might emerge that could tackle the underlying issues that stand in the way. >> thank you for joining us. this region in particular in 2011 has been described as potentially a beacon for hope and all the talk about freedom democracy and prosperity ever started to fade away and there are huge concerns about the ramifications of violence in places like libya yemen syria and iraq. this is exactly why the international community is concerned, willing to ever everybody onboard to try to find a stable political solution to the problems that it faces in this part of the world. >> thank you. >> now the argentinean president kirchner has given her last state of the union address. she is stepping down and her popularity tarnished after the mysterious death of a prosecutor that accused her of a cover up.

as we report, all was going well in her speech until she was heckled. >> as she prepared to address congress for the very last time, not a visible limit of the stress that christina kirchner and her government have been you had. this since the mysterious death of the prosecutor who accused her of trying to cover up iran's alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing of the jewish community center. >> three he hours into her speech, she lost her composure when opposition deputies held up signs alluding to the bombing. >> i have always talked about it and asked for justice. i have accused the intelligence services of trying to cover it up. i don't need anyone to come here and talk to me about the incident. >> in response to last months massive march honoring the dead prosecutor, hundred was thousands of government activists surrounded the

congress building to show their support for their president accused of undo interference in the justice system. >> activists from pro government trade unions, political parties and grassroots organizations were brought by bus from all over argentina. >> in the late 1990's, i had no job. my family was hungry. after 2003, the arrival of christina kirchner gave me back my dignity at the table. >> she knows her legacy is at stake. her popularity has been plummeting. years of double digit inflation rising crime and corruption charges against her her closest business partners and her vice president have taken their toll. yet, she made no mention of her government shortcomings, boasting instead at politicians do of her achievements. opinion polls indicate that more than half of argentines

especially the middle class reject her handling of the economy and her confrontational style. reporters see her as the champion of the have owe notes. >> she cannot run for president again, but her political party and coalition can. this demonstration is a way of saying we are more, we are the majority, a kind of opening shot for this year's election campaign. >> kirchner claims she leaves her country in better shape than it's ever been. in eight months, citizens will say whether they agree at the polls. al jazeera, buenos aires. >> a coo indicate opposition leader has been imprisoned for two years seen her surrounded by supporters was convicted of insulting kuwait and the legal system. he was a former member of the kuwait parliament. >> a small rebel force in myanmar is on high alert after renewed fighting between government groups and ethnic

minority groups. the liberation army is also on a mission to wipe out opium farms along the border with china. we have a report. >> it's a time for extra vigilance, according to the knoll liberation army. its fighters patrol the township in the northern state. they are an ethnic minority and one of several armed grooms fighting for more you a you to know my. the heightened security comes as sporadic fighting in the region, home to another ethnic minority of the same name, continues. >> we are part of the federal union army. we're connected with the other ethnic groups, because we people the same. we can't leave under the pressure of myanmar's military. >> they admit to an alliance with cocaine fighters and have come under attack in recent weeks. they believe that another reason why they're being targeted,

poppy fields flourish here, under the control of militia groups, which they accuse the army of aiding and protecting. >> this morning the militia troops attacked us with artillery five times. within three days, we've already destroyed about 1,000 acres of opium fields. >> they had agreed to stop fighting nearly a decade ago in exchange for a several administered zone, but they say things only got worse including a growing drug addiction rate among the local population and took up arms again four years ago. their story indicates how complex negotiating a nationwide ceasefire deal is. >> we have this very rooted, you know deep-rooted conflict. the conflict started in 1948, along with the independence, so you cannot or one cannot simply undo almost 70 years of

conflict, 70 years of distrust overnight. >> several deadlines to sign a peace deal passed, but negotiations continue. >> another round of talks is scheduled to begin later this month. the president still wants a ceasefire agreement before elections are held at the end of the year, but despite the many meetings that have taken place the government and more than a dozen armed ethnic groups remain divided. al jazeera. >> in south africa, 60% of sex worker are h.i.v. positive, according to rights groups using those numbers to persuade the government to decriminalize the industry. they say a law change will give sex workers more rights. we have more from johannesburg. >> a sex worker's services costs about $2.50 but some men pay more so they don't have to wear a condom. 60% of african sex workers are h.i.v. positive, but many don't get help, because their trade is

illegal. human rights groups want sex work decriminalized. they argue the law isn't incident tune with reality. the government encourages condom use, but some police use them as proof of criminality, and brings their use to an abrupt end. >> some sex workers fear carrying condoms because that means you are saying i am a prostitute and i risk being arrested. >> this woman didn't report ping raped to the police because she didn't think they'd take her seriously. she's h.i.v. positive, but fears the ghost's aids prevention program for sex workers won't work. >> the health program will only work when sex work has been decriminalized, because we are he took afraid of the stigma and discrimination from nurses. >> the law reform committee is due to make rem mendation soon

on whether the law should be changed. south africa is a largely conservative society, but it's taken a more liberal stance in other african countries both abortion and same-sex marriage is legal here. >> the deputy minister of justice accepts that the current situation doesn't work. >> it's criminal in south africa already, but it's happening. that criminalization hasn't stopped it, so there's a variety of factors that need to be looked at and we will ultimately have to do what is right. >> many people may take some convincing but south africas status as having the highest prevalence of h.i.v. in the world may be the deciding factor. that alone may convince the government the only answer is to decriminalize the oldest profession in the world. tanya page, al jazeera johannesburg. >> time for another short break. we'll have all the sport and tennis star nadal known as the king of clay, in a moment.

>> the sport that's lifting the pacific within sight of an olympic medal.

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to your money real. >> "real money with ali velshi". tonight at 10:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> the new al jazeera america primetime. get the real news you've been looking for. at 7:00, a thorough wrapup of the day's events. then at 8:00, john seigenthaler digs deeper into the stories of the day. and at 9:00, get a global perspective on the news. weeknights, on al jazeera america . >> welcome back. now the duke of came brain has met the chinese president in the highest profile u.k. royal visit to china in nearly 30 years. they met in the great haul of the people where the president praised the royal family's past interest in china saying they contributed greatly to china and the u.k. the prince extended an

invitation from the queen to visit britain later this year. >> time for the sport now. here's jo. >> rafael nadal is king of clay after winning a record equaling 46 career title on his favorite surface. he beat in straight sets president argentina open for his first trophy of the season. he's called on tournament organizers to protect the true additional service warn that go a switch to harder, faster court would increase the injury of players after they finish their careers. >> we are playing more and more hard court tournaments so what's clear is that players are going to finish careers more worn out and in worse physical shape. life after tennis is long in theory. personally speaking, when i finish playing tennis, i'd like to play a game of football and play different sports with friends and family. in all truth playing so many years on hard courts, makes our lives more and more difficult.

>> speaking of returns from injury skier lyndsey vonn is continuing her comeback to the slopes after two seasons out with serious knee problems. the american has complained of dangerous conditions in bulgaria. when the competition rescheduled for monday under clear skies the former olympic champion finished third overall in the super g. the current chan in champion anna was in to the top of the podium. >> winning his first piece of silverware since returning to the london club, chelsea won in the lead cup final on sunday. john tarry put chelsea ahead. the victory seems to have satisfied his appetite for now. >> it is important for me to

teal that i feel myself with titles difficult for me to leave, even knowing -- being stale for many years i need to fill myself with titles. >> gibraltar sacked its coach. it's only officially recognized pi the football governing body. >> the former head of the international cricket council has returned after a decade as the man in charge of cricket in india. he was the only candidate for the position of president of the bcci after a judge roomed the

previous incumbent was not allowed to stand. he holds a stake in the indian premier league team. he currently faces a court case for conflict of interest. >> a the nba the portland trailblazers recorded their third straight win beating the sacramento kings. the blazers held the lead for the best part of the first three quarters. the kings weren't going down without a fight though. within a point at the beginning of the fourth, but the blazers pulled ahead. closing out the match to finish with a game-high 31 points. >> the countdown to the new formula one season that begun as testing officially ended. the team once again dominated the pace. finishing sixth fastest in spain, the defending champions have been quick throughout testing.

suffering a crash slowest overall. the new season starts with the australian grand prix march 13. >> champion athletes often talk of the extreme measures taken to achieve success. across the pacific i'ds, weight lifters are isolating themselves from their families as they hone their skills to olympic standards. we visit a training center known as alcatraz. >> it's another day for the weight lifter, pushing his body just far enough to get a bit closer to the dream of an olympic medal and doing everything his coach tells him. this is the oceanic weight lifting ins tuesday a.k.a., alcatraz. they train eat go to bed and do it again with thousands of miles of pacific ocean separating them from their homes. for david it's worth it. last summer web won the first

major sporting honor for the far flung collection of islands taking cold at the commonwealth games in glasgow. the entire pacific had only a couple of weight lifters until italian australian coach arrived in the 1990's. now the sport is a crazy and the institute a production line for athletes from is a know i can't and fiji to become national heroes. >> it means a lot. it's like going to visit obama that's what it means to the people in the pacific. they know that this is the best place to train and he is the best coach. >> athletes do their own cooking and cleaning and there's a one strike out rule on drinking, smoking and relationships but few ever leave. >> i don't think other countries can cope with the pressure that we apply here. discipline is very, very important. and today winning gold medals

comes with -- >> islanders have taken events like the commonwealth games by storm, but the best pacific lifter at the olympics best is a fourth place finish. the coach can smell a medal. >> the most likely to achieve olympic bronze, helped by unique transferable skills, as they use native strength and discipline to climb toward the level of olympic athletes in asia. it would be just the second time one of the islanders won any olympic medal only 17 months of lifting to go. al jazeera caledonia. >> that's all the sport for now. >> thank you very much indeed. stay with us here on al jazeera. i'll be back at the top of the hour with another full bulletin of news. bye for now. see you in a minute.

>> tonight a climate emergency. >> so a species could not be here in ten years. >> nasa steps in to help protect the future of the planet. >> the tropics regulate our climate. >> "techknow" heads to costa rica to see how one rainforest is fighting back. >> wow! some of these are amazing. >> "techknow's" team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is my selfie, what can you tell me about my future? >> can affect and surprise us. >> don't try this at home. >> "techknow" where technology meets humanity. tonight, 5:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

>> the iraqi army begins a major offensive to retake sadaam hussein's hometown from isil. >> you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also on the program the u.s. asks meets his russian counterpart for the first time since accusing russia of lying about its role in ukraine's water. >> benjamin netanyahu arrives in the u.s. to give a controversial address which has hanged the white house. >> the outgoing president is awarded the prize for excellence infringe ken