♪ iran in iraq as forces fight i.s.i.l. for control of tikrit uses is keeping a close eye on iran allies and secretary of state john kerry is reassuring that a nuclear deal is a good thing. crisis in venezuela. >> the crisis we are living right now is the resignation. >> reporter: the president under fire two years after the death of former president

chavez. and the evolution of gaming the way technology that allows you to take your games on the go no matter where you are in the world. ♪ good evening and welcome to al jazeera america, i'm antonia, stephanie is off tonight, we begin in iraq where government forces trying to take tick tikrit and shielded themselves from attack by military headquarters, at the same time the u.n. says iraqi military offensive forced 28,000 people from their homes. in a week after i.s.i.l. fighters destroyed artifacts at a mosul museum the rebels today used a bulldozer to start destroying the ancient assyrian city including a 3,000-year-old

palace 10s of thousands of troop are working along malitia to take back tikrit to defend saddam hussein's town and hoping it will loosen the grip on the city and we have more from baghdad. >> reporter: for hussein is a battle cry for fighter, this is the base of operations for the theshythe shiaa malitia and the players are hezbollah and interior minister leader of the malitia confirmed with the one given control of the hezbollah brigades and combined with police, special forces and army units for the biggest event since i.s.i.l. seized it last

june. backed by iraqi air strikes but slow advantage to tikrit. this is a trip wire for a roadside bomb laid by i.s.i.l. explosives team detonates this one of hundreds they found along the road. 30 kilometers they go past abandon fields. >> translator: we are still advancing, we have reached 50 kilometers through the reference terrain and desert going to tikrit and by the help of god we expelled i.s.i.l. from 15 agriculture villages behind me farmland and desert and exposed i.s.i.l. from there. >> reporter: houses and schools are empty here and civilians fled months ago and left their crops in the fields. security forces here too have detonated more than 200 roadside bombs, sometimes by shooting at them.

i.s.i.l. built sand brooms to block advance by security forces. the bulldozers are dismantling them. it's been four days since the start of offensive and fighters are still clearing villages along the way to tikrit. it's clear that i.s.i.l. is on the defensive but the main battle won't begin until troops reach the city. jane with al jazeera, baghdad. the role in iraq is not sitting well with saudi arabia saudi foreign minister expressed his concerns at a meeting with u.s. secretary of state john kerry today and warned kerry about iran destabilizing the region. >> situation in tikrit is a prime example of what we are worried about. iran is taking over the country. >> reporter: they called on the coalition to commit ground forces to fight i.s.i.l. meanwhile many in washington from capitol hill to the white house and the pentagon are

keeping a close eye on iran's seemingly growing influence in iraq and we have more on the fears of a united front between the former enemies. >> we seated most of the governance of iraq to iran. >> reporter: he finished his opening statement before the house appropriations committee did the chairman launch into a grilling over a newspaper headline this week talking about the prominent role in the ongoing tikrit offensive. >> trained and equipped and motivated thousands of people and there is a strong likelihood as they move on to tikrit and perhaps on mosul that you could have a total disintegration of the entire country. mr. chairman let me say that i absolutely share your concern about the role of iran in iraq and the wider region. >> reporter: the pentagon has

been forced to admit there is not much it can do as iran at the invitation provides air power and weapons and advice to shia malitia taking back the sunni area north of baghdad, the day before it was administration critic john mccain outraged by the lead role played by the iranians. >> are you concerned that iran is basically taking over the fight? >> reporter: while the u.s. wants i.s.i.l. out of tikrit it is worried that the shia malitia backed by iran may inflamed the sunni shia tensioned that fueled the rise of i.s.i.l. in the first place. >> secretaryism brought us to the points where we are so i do look at it with concern. we are watching it very closely. >> reporter: watching is about all the u.s. can do because the iraqi government of hider abadi

has not offered to help but in a separate hearing a commander battling i.s.i.l. denied that the pentagon was out of the loop. >> we have good overhead imagery and those types of things so you know there activity in tikrit was no surprise. i saw this coming many days leading up to this. >> reporter: pentagon officials privately say iran has some advantages over the u.s. when it offers military assistance and air strikes not as constrained by strict rules to prevents civilian casualties and no self imposed limit on boots on the ground and pentagon is watching to see what happens and will it be successful and if it is will control of the area be returned to iraq's sunni minority. some in congress are talking about the perception and while the u.s. is slowly trying to get iraqi army brigades battle ready the iran are moving nimble and

has a presence in the iraq of the future al jazeera washington. the u.n. human rights chief is calling on pawsful muslims to shun i.s.i.l. and propaganda and hussein made a play in geneva and say majority of the victims are muslims and that has not been publicized enough and encouraging muslims to reclaim and talk about their faith. a court sentenced a science teacher to six years in prison to planning to fight in syria and he had plans to join i.s.i.l. when he was arrested in december of 2013. and his family hid his passport to keep him from traveling and says his only goal was to help rebels fight bashar al-assad and the top story and fighting in iraq near the city of tikrit we are joined from washington d.c. from a retired general who served assist and secretary of state for military affairs and

good to see you and you traveled there and the u.s. is not involved in the first major offense against aisle and who is running the war, is it the iranians? >> they are working with iranians in this case but let's be clear, majority of air strikes that are going on in side of iraq right now are being run by the coalition forces and general the u.s. in particular. the fact that the united states is now part of this particular ground offensive while in some cases disappointing does not say we seed in the fight. >> how good is the iran military and what cannot the iraqi army on its own do? >> let's also be clear iraqi forces are no where near the levels they were 3-4 years ago, when we left in 2011 their capabilities have slowly degraded. what the iranians are doing is

working with shia malitia and hezbollah and providing assistance and material support and providing aid and advice. that is pretty powerful combination and thus far it has been quite successful in this campaign heading to tikrit. >> reporter: according to the chairman of the joint chiefs martin dempsy two thirds of forces in tikrit are shia malitia supported by iran and has problems with the sunnis and is this all going to fuel the sectarianism that keeps tearing iraq apart? >> it could and that is what we have to be concerned about and that is what the gulf arab nations are most concerned about. if, in fact, we continue to focus on the objectives which are a unified iraq and defeat of dash i think we can be part of strengthening the abadi government so this does not

become a sectarian conflict but it's a conflict that supports iraq, the warning that came out of the white house today that this can't turn into a sectarian conflict may help as well the worse thing we can have is replace dash with an evil even worse than dash which is more sectarian conflict inside of iraq. >> reporter: dash another name for i.s.i.l. so how concerned are you then that iraq could split, something that has been talked about before in three states, one shia under iran and one kurd and one sunni. >> i'm not that concerned. i think that you still have a strong sense of iraqi nationalism in the country and the fact is iraqi security forces are getting their feet back underneath them. there also is not a lot of love lost between iran and iraq when it comes to the influence of iran inside of iraq iraq wants to be a free and independent and sovereign nation and doesn't want to be a proxy of iran.

they are using assistance of the iranians at this point but i doesn't correlate to them having an overwhelming influence and this becoming an iran proxy any time soon. >> reporter: if there is a way of retaining a united iraq under an inclusive government do you think though that iran will at least be a major player in the future of iraq if not the major player? >> geographically you cannot separate the fact they are on the border with iraq and cannot say the majority in the country shares a similar faith with iran. but i don't necessarily think that that means that they even though they may be allies that doesn't necessarily mean that iran is necessarily going to fall under the sway of iraq will fall under the sway of iran which is a concern of the gulf arab neighbors. what iraq wants to be is a free independent and sovereign

nation, not be holding to any country iran or for that matter the united states. >> reporter: we will talk more of the concerns of the arab nations in the context of secretary ker's visit later in the show and good to see you, thank you. a war of words between russia and nato over u.s. troops in ukraine, russia deputy defense minister said today the arrival of american forces in western ukraine is a provocation and troops are there to train ukrainian soldiers on how to use military commitment, a nato called russia angry and revisionist and earlier this year pentagon announced 300 soldiers would be used as trainers in ukraine. meanwhile russia has increased troop levels on ukraine's border as part of ongoing military exercises and that is sparking new fears in the region the exercise is said to test russia ability to funds off large scale air and missile attacks, some 2000 troops are taking part in the drills which are expected to

end next month. nato commander phillip breeklove spoke to us in russells about the role in eastern ukraine. >> reporter: no question in your mind putin is lying, that there are russian troops there, that these are not volunteers that he has sent and organized them and it's the russian army? >> no question in my mind at all. >> reporter: is that continuing even with the ceasefire. >> today. >> reporter: based on how can you say that? >> there are still russian air defense systems, russian command and control, today more supplies entered ukraine from russia russia is involved in eastern ukraine, no doubt in my mind. >> reporter: and the death toll after a cole mine explosion in ukraine is 33 and happened in the eastern city of donetsk where pro-russian rebels have been battling ukraining forces and joe reports from the site of the blast. >> reporter: rescue workers entered the mine once again hoping to find survivors and

emerged black faced with only the dead. >> translator: we sent four bodies, one was crushed, another one was still can't find the men are still searching. >> reporter: the grim toll all 33 missing miners dead. >> everything deformed mangled and crushed by the blast and hard to get there, the debris is spread out and why it's a problem. >> reporter: survivors entered day to of recovery some of them hopefully. we have the best doctors in the world, he says. they will put everyone back on their feet. with that optimism is the seriousness of their injuries. >> translator: they suffered really badly, when they arrived they were seriously wounded because the explosion was so deep under ground. one had 100% burns, two had 70-80% and all five miners airways were badly damaged.

i always admired their courage everyday they go in the mine not sure that they will come back. >> reporter: this is the mine and ukraine's biggest and because of the naturally high levels of methane gas the deadliest and 7 accidents since 1999 killing more than 300 miners and questions are asked about how safe it is and each time afterwards hundreds of miners return to the shaft. once again as rescue workers return the bodies of lost miners the local government and the people's committee has a committee to investigate, donetsk, eastern ukraine. the legacy of chavez and reality of an uncertain future. later british charities stop short of helping people buy the banks many of them have come to rely on.

in context tonight venezuela marked the second anniversary of chaves death and he ruled the country from 1999 until his death in 2013. with his so called revolution he profoundly shifted venezuela towards a more social system but now with growing political unrest many venezuela remember him and oppose the chosen successor and we report from caracus. >> reporter: it's been two years since venezuela chavez died of cancer and absence is keenly felt for some taking on a religious ferver. but for others even in the stronghold of chevez support

sadness has given away the oil-rich nation has the highest inflation in the world and chronic food sort and shortages and the sense that the revolution is over. and continuing shortages of anything from milk to auto parts hit her twice as hard. her livelihood depends on finding hair dyes and nail polish to stock her parlor and often returns empty handed. >> if he had not died maybe things in the country would be working better and not like now. our situation is critical and we cannot find basic products and it's too much to bear and effects all venezuela. >> reporter: another shop owner says life here is still business as usual. >> translator: the revolution is still chavez and some are unhappy because they are not seeing things clearly, i imagine

that is what is happening to them and are unhappy and think nicolas maduro is not doing things well. >> reporter: as people gear up to celebrate two years of chavez death many feel the leader has wavered under the successor and he had popular support thanks to state run grocery stores and clinics staffed by cuban doctors and cash handouts but this cannot be handed down and unlick nicolas maduro does the message they fear his support base will continue to weaken. >> translator: there is a weakening in the support that president nicolas maduro once had, the revolution is no longer giving answers to economic needs. 8 out of 10 people think the country is heading in the wrong direction and even so chavez is a strong cultural and political force and weak ens in president

nicolas maduro nicolas maduro leadership has to do with policy and the absence of a new message. >> reporter: this year this is destruction from violence and escalating tensions with the united states but this is temporary in face of soaring inflation and lack of goods on the shelves, lopez with al jazeera in caracus. the highest inflation rate in the world according to the central bank and ended 2014 at 68.5 and up from 56 in 2013 and expected to get worse this year after a major evaluation of the currency and it jumped 5.3% just in the month of december, food and nonalcoholic beverages up 7.5 and hotel and restaurant services rose 7.4% international monetary fund says the gross domestic product is going to contract by 7% in 2015 because of the drop in oil prices for context in 2009 the

worst year of the recession the u.s. economy contracted 2.8%. discontent grows and so does the government's harsh response to opponent's with dozens of opposition leaders jailed and other critics of president nicolas maduro fled the country and was recently forced from her seat in the national assembly just for speaking out about human rights at the organization of american states in washington and faces arrest accused in an alleged plot to kill nicolas maduro and joined us earlier today and i asked about her choice to stay and fight. >> in fact, all of the people of venezuela are here fighting for a country and to achieve a position to democracy in peace and clear of the dangers and risks we are facing and also know we have the strength after so much and so many years of democratic fight to achieve our

goal and achieve venezuela that is free-for-all. >> reporter: hoping to get that kind of transition you have be a proponent of massive protests against the government that began last february and dozens have died the government has now authorized the use of lethal force against protesters last week a 14-year-old was killed. are the protests worth it? >> well nothing is worth life. absolutely. last saturday i was with a family with the young boy who was killed and i walked a march along with his dad and oldest brother as well as thousands of venezuela mothers, many of those have lost their children or have seen them hurt. the spirit in the streets has the need for a profound change in order for children to have a future of freedom and peace in

the country. we realize it is our duty we are facing a dictatorship that it's cruel and it has demonstrated that it's willing to violate a systematically and massive human right and we want to do that and achieve that. >> reporter: they documented human rights violations there and called for nicolas maduro to resign but the government is re retrenching and cracking down more on the opposition. >> a sign of weakness. this is a time where the regime has reached the highest level of legitimacy and also of confrontation within itself within the groups of the regime. and the approval for the regime has been growing days after day and 85% so it's a matter of how you can channel the energy in

order to have a transition in the framework of a constitution and the solution for a political crisis such as the one we are living right now is resignation of nicolas maduro. >> do you have any realistic hope despite the negative opinion polls for the government you mentioned, that the opposition will win the upcoming national assembly elections because most of the media in venezuela is directly or indirectly controlled by the government? >> directly. absolutely. it is true. and also as you have mentioned there is these illegal and unconstitutional resolution allowing the military to use weapons in the pacific projects and of course that has created a huge threat and fear in the population but at the same time the profound consciousness that is our duty to work and to move ahead now so there is no doubt that any under any just

conditions nicolas maduro would lose any election in venezuela, a huge part of the venezuela position realizes that the urgency of the change is immense. today minimum wage in venezuela is less than a dollar a day, when a mother finds a kilogram of milk if she finds it it would cost equivalent of three days of minimum wage that means that a huge part of the population is demanding a strong change and realizes that nicolas maduro is not able near willing to make the changes, political, economic and social the country we acquires. >> reporter: selling a deal with iran to the arab neighbors and secretary of state john kerry is hoping to ease minds about the country's ability to build a nuclear weapon. the public backlash that forced ringling brothers to stop using

elephants in its circus act.

america, i'm antonio and coming up, in the half hour of international news seeking out middle age moms to become spies and also the attack north korea is calling the knife of justice, but first boko haram latest attack in northeast nigeria killed as many as 70 people one witness says it seems children were the target of the attack. the northeastern part of nigeria has been the focus of boko haram violence and government delayed election until march 28 trying to stabilize the area. at least 20 people are reported dead after barrel bomb explosions in the syrian city of aleppo, this dramatic video is believed to show the attacks as emergency crews fight flames and recover bodies of the victims, some human rights activists are

blaming the syrian government for the explosions. egypt president has ousted 8 cabinet ministers including the head of the interior in charge of the nation's police general mohamed abrihim accused of ordering deadly vieless against protesters in 2013 and follows an increase in bomb attacks in cairo, president sisi replaced the minister of culture, tour and agriculture. mitch mcconnell delaying a vote due to overwhelming dissents from democrats and he made them mad on tuesday to bypass order and very the bill reach the senate floor next week and require president obama to submit any nuclear agreement with iran for approval. secretary of state john kerry arrived in saudi arabia to

reassure that any nuclear agreement would not prevent the u.s. from defending against iran. >> reporter: they had to re reassure the united states regional allies about this dialog with iran and we obviously heard already about the concerns that israel has about the talks about iran's nuclear program but it's equally fair to say that saudi arabia and other gulf countries are also very concerned. they are concerned about anything which could see iran their rival growing in influence in the region so john kerry has been saying this is specifically a process about getting a deal on the iran program and trying to reassure regional allies and saying any deal to prevent iran from gaining a nuclear weapon has to be a good thing for countries in the region and trying to reassure them this doesn't mean that the u.s. and iran are going through some kind

of general problem, this is not any kind of grand bargain and doesn't mean the u.s. is going to become complacent about iranian policy in the region because not only the israelis but gulf arabs are concerned about activity and saudi arabia and other countries will want to be sure that any agreement with iran is not going to enhance its ability to increase its influence in the region where countries feel it's being expansion and even aggressive. >> reporter: let's bring in director of the institute for gulf affairs and joins us via skype tonight from dc and it's good to have you with us the prime minister of israel received a lot of attention this week for controversial speech on capitol hill and saudis and gulf states are also concerned about iran growing influence in the region because it's going from lebanon and syria to iraq and yemen. >> oh, yes, absolutely.

i think the gulf monarchys are absolutely horrified at the iranian gain and the fact is the negotiation with the united states and the west has not really ensured them yet that the iranian march will stop so i mean this is the nuclear question is not the only question that the gulf monarchys are concerned about, they are concerned about the iranian increasing influence in the region which they in a way enable by their supporting the war on iran many years ago. >> reporter: earlier we showed saudi foreign minister saying the situation in tikrit is a prime example of what we are worried about, iran is taking over the country. speaking about iraq. can john kerry reassure them?

>> it's very hard i think for the united states to assure them for the united states does not have control in iraq or yemen and iran has the upper hand and again it's the same old policy that created this the saudis for example and other gulf countries enabled the iranians but not supporting a unified government in iraq and that created concern for iranians. so to say they are alone in their expansion and aggressive policy is wrong. i think the gulf countries are also guilty of that themselves and americans and israelis as well. so this situation is really more complex than somebody would like. >> reporter: extremely complex, what do you think is the biggest concern for the saudis at this point, is it that growing influence in the region for iran

or possiblyility of nuclear capability? >> these go hand in hand but if iran tomorrow says no nuclear weapon or nuclear program even the saudis will not stop there, they will say we don't want iranians even to have any power. we have to clip their wings. and that is the iranian sort of the saudi goal saudi goal really is even greater than the israelis israelis are more concerned about the nuclear portion, saudis are concerned with more than that with the iran capacity to be a major power and don't want to lose the number one ally for the united states and don't want the time to come back. >> reporter: saudis do put money where their mouth is but they are calling for ground troops and the coalition to put combat troops to fight i.s.i.l. are the saudis you know

pulling their weight in the fight against i.s.i.l.? >> i think that saudis are not, against i.s.i.l. and one of the reasons that i.s.i.l. is powerful and gain territories. but they are really after clipping the wings of iran and syria. they want the western troops and this is ironic when you call, when the saudis foreign minister says iran is occupying iraq but at the same time they are asking for the americans to occupy syria so they are really after bashar al-assad's government and that is not about i.s.i.s. is excuse for such intervention. >> reporter: so many different issues and geo political message director of the institute for gulf affairs good to have you with us thank you. violence rocked libya today hours before u.n. brokered peace talks were set to begin, the

u.n. recognized government sent war planes to drop bombs on the airport in libya capitol city ruled by a rival faction, libya rocked by violence split in two governments and countless other armed groups and peace efforts are underway in morocco but there is still a long way to go. >> reporter: they are walking to the meeting hall but libya's feuding factions are not yet ready to sit together to talk about a way out of the conflict. this is the go between. u.n. representative leon is meeting here with members of the tripoli based government recognized as legitimate by the country's institutional court. >> translator: we came here because there is a crisis in libya, the others don't want to talk to us they want chaos to continue, they continue to bomb

our cities but we want this round of talks to succeed. >> reporter: the u.n. envoy moves to another room to talk with members of the internationally recognized government of tobruk. libya has two governments and two armies, they have been tight fighting each other for control. >> translator: we are building trust and has not been the case in the past and all parties want to solve the problem and implement a ceasefire and form a national unity government and appoint a new prime minister. >> reporter: rival factions in the past brushed aside course for dialog each laying its claim as the legitimate authority in libya. >> so far i can tell you that there is a sense of if not optimism at least a sense that it is possible to make a deal

and this is something very important because in the last months this was not the case. >> reporter: for years violence in the country has claimed the lives of thousands of people and forced many others to flee for safety. it has also played into the hands of groups claiming allegiance to the islamic state of iraq and levante, raising concerns that libya civil war could destabilize the region and made it clear they will not opt for military option in libya and it's up to the bitterly divided government in tobruk and tripoli to agree on a roadmap and end the civil war. u.n. security council voted to extend the mission in libya through the end of the month calling it a high priority. meanwhile libya state run operation declared 11 oil fields

nonoperational after attacks by rebels believed to be linked to i.s.i.l. in a statement officials said if the security situation continues to deteriorate they will be forced to close all oil fields and ports. in britain a muslim charity say fear of terrorism is hurting those who need help the most and british authorities track donation to see if money end up in the hands of groups the government considers terrorists and lawrence lee explains. >> reporter: this is the image of traditional charity shop and second hand cloths and small donations for big problems and no one raises questions where the money end up be in the uk the muslim charities are under the microsoft. one office of a big charity which raises millions every year for victims of the world trouble spots and they like other charities delayed by the banks

or blocked completely and can cost lives. >> it's very critical a month delay on a three-month payment can actually bring it to a grinding halt and where you work in emergency zones and the money is destined for parcel and basic medicines, refugee camps what have you can actually cost lives. >> reporter: argument for authorities pushed by much of the british media is the charity they can end up funding terrorism either deliberately or by accident so the banks have to prove they are not channelling money that way or can risk fines and reputational damage. the program is instituting the due diligence checks demanded by the financial industry would cripple many charities and say their requests for help are being met by silence. the charity under the suspicion of guilt until they can prove their own innocence, the banks insist they are doing what the government is telling them to the government says it has to stop the money trail to terrorism but the charities say

neither the governor the banks is bothering to explain to them how they can prove the money is going to good rather than bad causes. so a group of muslim charities commissioned the report into exactly how much money from certainly well-known charitable donations have been blocked by the banks in the last 12 months there is no clear answer but it is certainly in the millions. >> if the banks wanted to they could roll up sleeves and say we understand there is good we should be doing here using our banking capabilities. i think in general they don't take that attitude these clients are not profitable and present potential headaches and actually perhaps the banks will prefer if they went somewhere else. >> reporter: in is not the first time this problem arisen and barclays pulled the plug on the money transfer service from u k to somalia and couldn't send money home and banks accused of

things like money laundering would perhaps want to help charities prove innocence but as of now it appears the financial district prefers to keep its distance from compassionate expressions of islam, lawrence lee london. british lawmakers say it's time to ditch james bond in favor of regular moms. apparelment intelligence report says spy agencies should start recruiting middle aged months because they know about building trusts and relationships, critical skills for skies and women hold 19% of senior intelligence positions and makeup 37% of the entire british intelligence workforce, a mystery in argentina deepens and the family of tell prosecutor nisman says they have proof he was murdered and off the radar, one town in columbia where residents are living on the edge and living in fear.

high level columbia officials joined peace talks with rebel chandlers in havana on thursday

the armed forces of columbia known as farc are trying to negotiate a ceasefire with the government, talks under way since 2012 with little progress and major issue is taking responsibility for human rights abuses as well as demobilizing and disarming farc fighters and has been involved this the conflict for 50 years and we look at columbia, a new human rights report paints terrifying pictures for some residents of the country's biggest port city on the pacific ocean and thousands of residents fleed in the last year because of violent street gangs and the violence is happening despite a government crack down and we have more on what is fast become agree day-to-day struggle just to live. >> reporter: digging for body parts, investigators in columbia's port town found a hidden grave in this poor neighborhood ironically called the progress and in it were

remains of two young men who disappeared months earlier and para military groups terrorized the city fighting to control territory in the population. so a year ago the government announced special measures doubling the number of police and investigators and also sent in the army but a year later areas still gripped with either fear or colusion and many have homes for sale and the ones who remain are silent. >> translator: mass graves and dismembered bodies but we have not seen anything. >> translator: no we don't know anything about that. >> reporter: nobody feels safe enough to talk to us truthfully on camera and that is because despite the government measures gang control over many areas remains fundamentally unchanged. a new report from human rights watch draws a horrifying snapshot of the situation, while

the government had some results extortion disappear and killings continue and often go unreported. >> i mean there is no question that more resources have been brought to bear. there is now at least one prosecutor dedicated to pursuing these most heinous crimes and no convictions and no one formally charged. >> reporter: lives in the progress neighborhood, her father was killed for helping the police. she spoke with us but in a different part of town. >> translator: there are so many people like me who don't have any answer about what happened to their loved ones and i reach out to people with information and ask them to please talk but they are too afraid and tell me to leave. >> reporter: prosecutors insist they are slowly getting results. since the beginning of 2015 no new cases of dismembererment have been reported and they promise that the first

convictions will come this year. for those who survive in this city justice can not come soon enough i'm with al jazeera. in argentina family of nisman who was investigating the country's president says the prosecutor was assassinated an independent forensic team the family hired said nisman did not have gun powder on his hands making it unlikely he killed himself and he was found dead the night before he was to address congress and expected to accuse kirchner of covering up the bombing of a jewish center in 1994. today north korea said attack on a u.s. diplomate was deserved on wednesday a man with a knife cut the face and arm of the ambassador of the u.s. ambassador to south korea, mike lippert and today he tweeted he is in good spirits and recovering and north korea government said the attack was punishment for joint military

operations between them and the u.s. and it's an activist with a history of attacking diplomates and arrested at the scene. a florida man is waiting trial in the united emirites because of facebook and faces five years in prison after calling his employers back stabbers on social media. pate arrested last month soon after arriving where he works and they have a law against slandering organizations online and the helicopter megic made it while on vacation in the u.s. and he is on bail awaiting a march 17 court date. coming up, next on al jazeera america artists in mexico calling attention to the violence gripping their country and using murals to remember the 43 students who disappeared after being abducted last year and show you how smartphones are creating a new again again rakes of -- generation of games

and designers.

>> former klansman david duke. >> america has been taken over. >> defending his controversial past. >> i did what i thought was right. >> that was then... what about now? >> i believe the zionists control the country. >> "talk to al jazeera". only on al jazeera america.

this may look like the northeastern united states right now but it's bosnia dealing with intense snow this winter much of the country facing storms that will last through the weekend and emergency services in the capitol are on high alert and isolated villages in the country lost power. greatest show on earth getting rid of the elephants and ringling sites growing concern over how the animals are treated and tom ackerman reports. >> reporter: for more than a century in america the elephant parade is the sign the circus has come to town and star attractions was the rigingly circus with 1,000 shows across the country but 13 are headed for retirement after the company's announcement that elephants will no longer be part of the act by 2018. their permanent home will be ringling breeding conservation center in florida where they

will join 40 others who are too old or too resistant to the travel. that is not what animal rights champions say about ringling in these under cover videos from 2009 the organization peta says handlers can be seen beating the animals and sinking bull hooks in the sensitive skin of baby elephants which cry out in pain. in 2011 this video of an elderly elephant being beaten prompted the british government to ban wild animals from circuses and followed china decision to end all circus perform andances in zoos but elephants hear will be big circus draws. ringling says the decision was partly the result of more local laws restricting animal acts but critics say they are losing popularity as the treatment becomes controversial, another factor is 65,000 a year

maintenance cost per animal which is not exactly peanuts. tom ackerman al jazeera. in our global view segment we look at how news outlets across the globe react to various stories, brazil former foreign minister compares venezuela president nicolas maduro to macbeth and says it's broken and says brazil's ambiguous position on political crack down in venezuela is a mistake that effects the credibility of traditional defense on human rights and democratic values and the post weighs on benjamin netanyahu address before the u.s. congress saying the speech was damaging and humiliating and distrust between muslim nations and hindu has controversy over a documentary which a convicted rapist was interviewed about his crime under the headline ban is not the solution the newspaper says the documentary should be

seen as holding a mirror on to a society that is far from being sensitive to gender issues. the computer game industry is worth more than $55 billion a year traditionally games are played on high-priced specialized consols but as al jazeera explains smartphones are changing the future of gaming and he reports from the mobile world congress in barcelona. >> reporter: age of computer gaming is the arcade to play games like pac-man but soon consoles took over bringing them in the home and them with the games themselves have become a $55 billion a year industry but now that is changing, the gaming on the smartphones is becoming increasingly popular. >> so the mobility devices have enough capability to do games that can compete with consoles and modern day there are games to go with you anywhere and can

be connected to any other device. >> mobile games and apps you download on your hand set or your tablet used to be a bit of an after thought for gaming industry but becoming a main stay and this particular app allows you to design your car to race in a virtual world and you can order it for $20 and with a 3d printer in your home. mobile games are now reaching millions of users. consider themselves gamers and the mainstream popularity is making it as lucrative as the old console business and some stay it will top $30 billion and study growth in the united states and south asia and china. >> there is a mass hit that you take and everyone around the world plays angry birds but you get in genre games from specific territories that resonate well but a problem adapting to the

global scale. >> reporter: as it rises from around 2 billion people today to more than 4 billion by 2020 so too will demand for entertainment on these devices. mobile gaming community, will make the games even more popular and profitable. i'm with al jazeera, the mobile world congress in barcelona. new mutuals started to appear on buildings across mexico capitol city with the purpose of inspiring an end to violence throughout the country, artists from all over the world began painting them last month and show images relayed to violence, education and peace, the painters are part of the protest movement manetesto and inspired by the case of 43 students that disappeared last year in mexico. two decades after they adopted a roadmap for women's rights is seeing what has been achieved and what is left to accomplish. plus why afghan women afraid of losing the gains they made in

the political world. that is it for this edition of al jazeera international hour thanks for watching and i'll see you back in an hour america tonight is up next. >> on "america tonight" date day. >> man shot woman shot child shot - accidentally shot 16 months in the new york blog, jennifer documented every shooting in america - or at least every shooting publicly reported. >> people shoot each other over the donest things a -- dumbest