disappear for good. imtiaz tyab at the safafir market in central baghdad. >> reminder you can keep up to date with our website, the address aljazeera.com. and can you watch us by clicking on the watch now icon, aljazeera.com. >> both afghanistan and pakistan are hit by an earthquake. more than 200 people are dead, and that number is expected to rise. a health scare, ham, sausage and processed plates could lead to cancer crisis. homes and cars underwater from dangerous flooding.

this is al jazeera america, live from new york city i'm tony harris. the death toll is climbing in afghanistan at this hours. 7.4 mooutiond earthquak magnitue city near the northern city of jarm. nearly 270 people died across the region. the earthquake felt in pakistan and india, and in kabul, jennifer glasse. >> reporter: the injured and dead here in afghanistan are in 11 provinces. almost a third of the country really a sign of how strong and powerful this earthquake was. and its reach across the country, we felt it here in kabul, 150 miles south of the epicenter, deep underneath the hindu kush mountain range. that is a real concern because

villages closer to that epicenter which may have been affected are very remote and could be very difficult to get to. and so we may not see the true extent of the damage, the casualties in afghanistan, for some time. as officials try oget to those villages. afghanistan's chief executive, abdalla abdalla has called on medical officials to head to anywhere they can in hospitals and clinics to help those who are injured and called on nongovernmental organization he and businessmen here to donate what they can to help. it comes at a very difficult time. we've just started to have a cold snap in kabul as winter descends. it's snowing in some parts of the country. for the thousands that will be displaced by this more than 2,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed. anybody who feels like their building isn't safe won't be going inside. it could be a very, very cold

night for them. also there's also always the concern of aftershocks. we haven't felt any of those thus far but certainly, it's a concern when the quake has been this good, this large, this big. the largest really earthquake in afghanistan in recent history, perhaps since 1949. >> jennifer glasse reporting from kabul. now comma hyder is in pakistan where more than 50 people are confirmed dead. >> a powerful earthquake was felt over a large area of pakistan all the way to the provincial capital of peshawar. death toll is mounting, hundreds injured and the report still coming in from the more remote locations. we also have reports of major

landslides which has blocked access to many cities in that area. so the expectation that the death toll likely to mount even further. emergency situation in the hospitals and of course, emergency services also trying to put an accurate number on the number of people killed and wounded. >> kamal hyder reporting in islamabad. now to the flood of refugees on the european continent. leaders there have announced a new plan to deal with the problem. the 17-point plan includes more humanitarian help and more guards to the border. more migrants are making their way through the mountains. 17,000 landed in croatia and arriving from serbia. david chater reports.

>> chilling words from the president of the european commission, jean claude juncker, about the refugee crisis. a 17-point action plan was approved, first and foremost, the delivery of humanitarian aid, for those seeking sanctuary inside the european union. the commission agreed to speeding up of refugees, no longer being speedthrough to the next country. >> if we do not deliver some immediate and concrete actions on the ground in the next few days and weeks, i do believe that european union and europe as a whole will start to falling apart. >> reporter: that action is now underway.

action that might begin to restore the image of the eu, as a beacon of humanitarian values and prevent the erection of any more razor wire on the borders of europe. >> translator: we have all signed the geneva convention on refugees and what is happening does not correspond to the values which we have signed up to. >> the immediate imperative is to provide shelter and to ensure refugees and migrants along the western balkans route are treated in a human manner. it cannot be that, in view of the 2015, people are left to fend for themselves, sleeping in needs, wading chest deep through rivers in freezing temperatures. >> fresh from the greek crisis angela merkel is now trying to guide the european union through an even bigger test. tens of thousands of lives are still at stake.

it's a test she's determined she will not fail. david chater, al jazeera, brussels. >> two turkish police men are dead after a shootout with i.s.i.l. fighters. turkish officials say the shooting happened during a raid, seven i.s.i.l. members were killed and another three were captured alive. more deadly violence in the occupied west bank today pnl palestinian man stabbed an israeli in the neck north of hebron. the attacker was shot and killed. 59 palestine yankees and 11 israelis were killed since a wave of violence last month. revoking social benefits and travel rights within israel for palestinians living in east jerusalem. treated jerusalem as a united

city. mlbians in the occupied west bank do not enjoy those rights. a new warning about red meat ang cancer. the world health organization have you seen this, processed meats like bacon and sausage are likely carcinogenic. as al jazeera's mifs mif says, that could change the way we eat. >> we have been hearing messages like this for years. >> eat more biography it's amazing. >> but today, the world health organization's cancer research organization is taking the most dangerous stand against bacon sausages and other meats such as beef pork and lamb probably cause cancer too. on average, americans eat anywhere from about four to 7 ounces of meat per day. 55% of that is red meat and the american institute for cancer research says for years we have

been recommending that americans reduce the amount of red meat in their diets and avoid processed meats like bacon sausage hot dogs and cold cuts. but this new research is expected to rock the multimillion dollar you livestock industry in this country. but even before this was released, producers were pushing back. >> it's really interesting to note, if people were meant to be vegetarians why is it critical b-12 so important for brain development and brain function throughout the lifetime is only found in animal products? >> reporter: the world health organization has already found alcohol, asbestos, arsenic and cigarettes are all carcinogenic to heums. ines ferre, al jazeera. >> the university of virginia took down the state flag, it was taken down because it contains a confederate symbol.

calling it a painful reminder of slavery and segregation. torrential waters are starting to recede a bit throughout texas. emergency cruise in texas were forced to respond to dozens of rescue calls over the weekend. al jazeera's jonathan martin is in houston for the latest. >> no significant rain in the forecast today, none tomorrow, certainly good news here in the houston area about nine inches of rain fell over the weekend, really flooding a lot of streets. crews are keeping an eye on the san jacinto river, and worse in other areas, about 45 miles south of dallas where 21 inches of rain fell. that's also the community we saw a freight train derail on saturday morning, more than 50

cars toppled over. good news in that no one was hurt but the two men involved did have to swim to safety. 30 to 40 water rescues took place but officials say that's a small number all things considered. considering there are really big storm systems that dumped a lot of rain but did not cause the flooding and damage some people had predicted. people seemed to heed the warnings, back during the memorial day holiday there was significant flooding, more than 20 people lost their lives and thousands of homes damaged. of course flooding wasn't that bad this time but people seemed to take heed and really take caution when it came to the rain. >> fighting for votes and with each other. donald trump and ben carson trade barbs and a chinese government is taking steps to restart the economy but can a big meeting stop a slow down?

>> gm workers are on the job today after narrowly avoiding a strike. a tentative contract agreement was reached just before the midnight deadline. the union says the deal will mean significant job security for workers. the uaw last week approved a contract with fiat chrysler. donald trump is trying to hold

on to his front runner status in new hampshire. he held a rally in atkinson this morning. in iowa he trails ben carson. trump quickly dismissthose reports. >> i have one poll, i'm winning every single state. i'm winning nationally by a lot. cbs just came out with these monster polls. and for days, they're covering one poll in iowa, they just keep hitting me with it. and if i would have won it like i have been doing and i have other polls in iowa where we are leading, and big! but they keep hitting me with the one poll. >> well, ben carson has other problems stemming from controversial comments he made this weekend. carson said all abortion should be outlawed regardless of the circumstances. he also said he wants to see roe versus wade overturned. he combined the practice of abortion to slavery comparing those who back abortions to

slave rnz. slave. we spoke with james warren who said carson would be under the microscope. >> carson hasn't been taken very seriously, seen as a nice guy, caricatured as a quiet thoughtful doctor but even marginal and negligible figure. as of now, today, he's going to start paying the price of success via tremendously greater media scrutiny and going to see what's going to happen to him. but it is this sort of remark that if not in the very short term, particularly among that strong evangelical vote that you alluded to in iowa, perhaps it won't hurt him among them in the short term but in the long run you don't want the general election candidate with that sort of views. that will be a killer. most polls want to see an

outsider as a nominee but warren says by the time we get to the iowa caucus, carson and trump may no longer be at the top. paul beban reports. >> vermont senator bernie sanders is pushing back after hillary clinton suggested sanders was actually talking about her gender when he said there was too much shouting about guns during the democratic debate. >> well first of all i'm not shouting. it's just when women talk some people think we're shouting. >> you're the one who's quoting, senator sanders. >> i certainly don't have a problem with women speaking out and i think what the secretary is doing there and taking words and misapplying them. >> reporter: for her part, hillary clinton is taking a short break from the campaign trail to celebrate her 68th birthday on monday. her husband and her will be

together for a fund raiser tomorrow night. he announced thursday john biden would not be jumping into the race. polls show surging past him in south carolina. clinton may also be getting a bounce in battle ground states in the wake of her marathon testimony before the house benghazi committee. >> i've lost more sleep than all of you put together. >> house will meet behind closed doors to select the man to replace john boehner as speaker of the house. paul ryan is expected to come out on top. sunday ryan played a little bit of ordinance by hiring a chief of staff with strong conservative credentials. insiders say david hoppe, former aid to house conservatives is expected to give ryan a boost with the conservative wing of his party. paul beban, al jazeera.

federal reserve leaders will hold meetings that could end interest rates lower. globaling economic uncertainty, janet yellen says rates are expected to rise before the end of the year. a plan to jump start the economy hoping to transition away from relying so much on foreign trade. al jazeera rob mcbride has more. >> reporter: it may seem out of place, a vestige of early communism. but this comes at a time of china's development. most important, people will be waiting to see what china sets as its gdp targets in the next five years. with slowing figures, people are anticipating well below the current 7%, coming at an important time investment in large infrastructure projects more into consumerism.

that obviously depends on people having more money to spend as an important aspect of this five year plan is how the government delivers a higher income society where people have a greater share in the nation's wealth. >> translator: i don't think the policy is going to change my life. >> translator: i think some industries might do better. like my business, real estate. >> translator: of course, if we have more money, we will spend more. >> reporter: apart from the economic targets are the important social goals of the five year plan such as greater welfare help for some of the 70 million people in china who are officially below the poverty line here. and also, possibly further relaxations of the one child policy with the country facing all the problems with a graying population. in a society where sometimes the decision-making is not very transparent or even opaque, the five-year plan gives one of the clearest indicators of just the kind of society china wants to see itself become in the future.

>> rob mcbride in beijing for us. an age-old industry in iraq may be coming to an end. up next on the program they've been in the market for generations but recent facts may put copper workers out of work. of work.

of. >> internet users upset by slow speeds are getting some help. the new york attorney general is

investigating three internet service providers to see if they failed to deliver service at promised speeds. the three companies are verizon, cable vision and time-warner cable. officials in indonesia are battling a different kind of pollution. a thick poisonous haze linked with many deaths. .step vaessen reports. >> many have been forced to breathe toxic smoke for nearly five months now because of fires continuously burning in big plantations. fires containing carbon monoxide and ammonia. just in the latest time, many babies have been dying, one was 15 month old latifa. her parents are angry at

companies who continue to burn forest and vegetation to clear their land. >> those who are burning are not using their brain. otherwise they would think about the impact on people and know it is creating this haze. clearly they are greedy. >> across the entire united states every day, patients in this hospital are suffering from a four fold increase in respiratory disease. >> it is not enough to wait for the rain to come and douse the fires. there should be more sense of emergency. >> reporter: there's anger among the millions who have been forced to breathe boys onous air for five months now. the parents of baby latifa have yet to receive government support. those in the affected area say their polite is bein plight is .

after losing her baby sister latifa, 13-year-old erin won't take her mask off. >> those who have been responsible should be brought to justice. it is the only thing can i hang onto. >> police have named 17 companies suspect ed of causing the fire. three have lost their licenses but an environmental group says they're a small part of a much larger problem. with fire still spreading out of control latifa's family hopes that others will be spared losing a loved one because of this man-made disaster. step vaessen, al jazeera, south su math rah. sumatra. >> artisans have made their living making hand made copper

goods. but now the industry's dying out. imtiaz tyab has the story. >> for 40 years, madek has hammered sheets of copper into intricate pieces of art. it was taught to him by his father, who learned from his father. he's afraid he's the last one. >> translator: my sons are not going to follow my footsteps. unfortunately, they believe this profession is going to be ex extinct. there is just a handful of us artisans due to the poor security and economic conditions of the country as well as the lack of foreign tourists. >> reporter: baghdad's safafir market has been around for generations, it was the place for traders across the middle east looking for highly prized copper handicrafts.

that only changed with the u.s. golf war in the 1990s. now only around 15 shops remain with just five still crafting new pieces. the artisans of the safafir copper market say it's not just successfullivsuccessive changese growing popularity of cheaply made factory goods that are produced in a similar style. this coffee pot was imported from india. safar says goods like these are roughly assembled by machines and are made out of inexpensive materials but the replicas cost less than a quarter of his hand made creations so he says he's left with little choice to sell them in order to keep his business afloat. >> when i sell one of my hand made items it feels like parting with a piece of my body, would you believe, it's because i

spend so many hours making each piece, i eat shart detail o sha. >> investing in the industry, few have much hope it will and all but uncertain that the craftsmanship will soon disappear for good. imtiaz tyab, al jazeera, at the safafir market in baghdad. an amazing transformation we're going to show you. it used to be thing sculpture of lenin. but now it's darth vader. they turned his vision into a

star wars legend. that's all our time. we are followed by the news live from london. >> this is al jazeera. >> hello i'm lauren taylor. this is the newshour live from london. coming up in the next 60 minutes, an earthquake in afghanistan kills hundreds of people and turns shock waves as far away as new delhi. al jazeera uncovers evidence of genocide, allegedly coordinated by myanmar's government against rohingya. the world health organization says red meat is risk yeah. also the serious work ahead for a