from doha. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome, you are watching the news hour live from our headquarters here in doha. north korea says it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. but the experts aren't convinced. homeless and freezing, the refugees trying to survive in winter weather. and we'll have the latest on

the armed takeover of a federal building in oregon in the u.s. find out what the protesters want from the government before they agree to leave. and in sport tennis's world number 2 suffers an unexpected reverse. andy murray taken by surprise as he loses his first match of 2016. ♪ north korea says it has detonated a hydrogen bomb. the body which monitors testing describes it as a grave threat to peace. japan and south korea have expressed doubt over the claims from north korea. the test was announced on north korean television. >> reporter: people stood to watch what they had been told would be an important announcement. [ applause ]

>> reporter: on queue, they cheered, the country's latest military success. state media showed north korean leader signing off on the order. he's a man who likes attention, particularly close to his birthday, which falls on january 8th. so this may have been his way of celebrating early. but it could take months or even years to prove if north korea really has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. it says it deserves to possess nuclear weapons to counter threats from the united states. around the region, leaders responded with familiar alarm. it was north korea's fourth nuclear test in ten years. >> translator: our government has to take decisive measures against any additional provocations by north korea, and

work with the international community to make sure the isolated country says the price for its latest nuclear test. >> reporter: japan's government is also promising a firm but as yet unspecified response. >> translator: north korea's nuclear test is a serious threat to our nation's security and cannot be tolerated. >> reporter: here in china there is also deepening concern. china is just about the only friend north korea has, but it is a friendship going through testing times. at the daily foreign ministry news conference, an official spokeswoman admitted that its old ally had not notified china before the test and issued a strong rebuke. >> translator: the chinese government has always tried to keep stability and peace in northeast asia. we strongly urge north korea to stop taking further actions to make the situation worse.

>> reporter: the test happened close to a chinese city. whatever was tested, it was felt here. fearing an earthquake, many local residents were evacuated. al jazeera visited this tense border area three months ago, where a series of recent murders and robberies have been blamed on hungry north korean solders. china's leadership has supported sanctions against north korea in the past, now it could be under pressure to do so again. let's take you live now to the other end of the story, james bayes joining us from the u.n. headquarters. so there is a slight feeling of consternation there? >> reporter: absolutely any u.n. security council will be meeting one hour from now. they are deeply concerned about that. that's why we have a meeting. that's why in the next half hour, you are going to see comments from the u.n. secretary

general ban ki-moon. worth remembers, ban ki-moon just a few months ago was planning to visit north korea to try to start a new peace initiative where things look very different today as a rut of what has happened in north korea. the first thing the security council must work out is what has happened, whether this was some sort of hydrogen bomb test as the north koreans say. most experts think that is unlikely, was it some other sort of nuclear test or a nuclear test that failed. in terms of the actions by the u.n. security council, i think in the end it doesn't matter that much what it was, because whatever it was was something that clearly was an attempt to breach the strict provisions of u.n. security council resolutions, which say that north korea shouldn't even have a nuclear program and certainly shouldn't be carrying out nuclear tests. >> i assume here particularly for the permanent members of the u.n. security council, they may be looking in on this and

thinking how do we work with this leadership, given the country is almost a failed state. he can't feed his people as we know. how do we work with somebody who is so indy you sin cattic. >> absolutely and remember there were only very limited tools that the u.n. has at its disposal. unless you want to launch some sort of military operation, and i don't think anyone would want to do that, given the volatility of north korea and the fact that they have some sort of nuclear capability, no one really is quite clear exactly what that is, as is clear from the reaction to the represents of the last few hours, but given you have a leader that acts in an unpredictable, some would say rash way, what do you do? the only answer really is ang shuns. the u.k. ambassador saying yes, we can strengthen sanctions

further. the real question is whether the sanctions regime has been properly applied by all of the countries in the region. and i think that in itself is a difficult thing for the u.n. security council to take on. it's quite hard then to check that every single country is applying those sanctions, so i think a difficulty for the u.n. security council. they want to condemn this, and stop this sort of action by north korea, but they don't want to do anything that is counterproductive and further provokes the north korean regime. >> thank you very much. we are joined by a specialist on north korean affairs. good to have you here. what does this tell us about the leadership in north korea? >> it tells us a number of things. like anybody [ inaudible ] defiance of the world. you have testing, you have

technical progress that is credible, and secondly, in a quite different sphere it tells you [ inaudible ] son of his father and the grandson of his grandfather. [ inaudible ] the whole regime is geared to loyalty to [ inaudible ] grandfather who founded the regime, they went down the nuclear path and also decided [ inaudible ] and so you have got to be loyal. you have got to be faithful. you can have the imagination or courage to choose a different path [ inaudible ] it's really politically impossible [ inaudible ]. >> if one accepts that it doesn't really matter what kind of weapon it is they have been working with, scary enough it would be, in his world, what is the message he is sending

outside of the country. >> well, i would put it this way. perhaps slightly contrarian, it is just a decade [ inaudible ] condoleezza rice, and others were saying, north korea why don't you follow that nice sensible [ inaudible ], and he has realized that having weapons of mass destruction [ inaudible ] and he comes in from the cold. well, kim ki-jong knows very well how that personally ended up, and he [ inaudible ] and he knows what state libya is in now. either way, i find myself saying they are not wrong? of course i don't say that. but [ inaudible ] all americans [ inaudible ] the world is a dangerous place. people are hostile [ inaudible ] so we're just going on down the

same old path. >> is he more dangerous now than before this missile was fired. >> yes, indeed, whatever it was, something on the ground. yes, because in a great failure of the international defense here for the past what is it 20 years, north korea did succeed in the [ inaudible ] breakout, it has been a decade, and we just assume therefore, that the sanctions may slow them and delay them a bit. but how far have they actually got? we have to assume they are getting further and further. you know they have been testing submarine [ inaudible ] in theory north korea can go anywhere in the world and it's a game changer. but i do think the attention

that the u.s. and others have given to the north korean case, really hasn't paid off. sooner or later, you have got to engage with them again to find out what the hell it is they want. >> aiden foster carter, thank you. >> thank you. we love on. harsh winter weather has hit a refugee camp covering it in snow. many refugees have been living in basic accommodation. they have appealed for extra help. >> translator: we have been here for four years. the councils are lacking. we have many shortages. we don't have wood. we don't have any heaters. we ask those concerned to look into the refugees rights. >> translator: it was displaced from the kurd's mountain.

it took a couple of days until we secured ourselves here. it's too cold. we are unable to get firewood or relief. >> sue has this update now from the turkey-syria border. >> reporter: these arctic conditions that have fallen here are having a grave impact on displaced people and refugees who are trying to live in very harsh conditions. one family who had taken refuge in a tent in the southeast of turkey, their four-month-old son couldn't cope with the freezing temperatures and he died on monday of hyperthermia. this is just one family in the thousands that have taken shelter outside of syria. those living in a tented refugee

camp are struggling to keep their tents warm enough to keep their children alive. in the mountains they are talking of a lot of snow and freezing-cold conditions and many of them don't have the money or the resource to find fuel to keep warm. in idlib, though, they are demonstrating for the people further south of the country. 40 kilometers south of damascus, 40,000 people have been desieged in that town for over 170 days by the syrian forces and hezbollah, that town being very close to the lebanese border. one activist told me they have managed to get some money through to try to get food for people, but the prices have been really heightened. a kilo of rice used to be costing just a few cents, now as much as 250 usd.

so desperately the picture, saying to those diplomats and politicians who are charged with trying to get all parties around the negotiating table later in january, the lifting of the blockades, and the humanitarian aid cannot come soon enough. saudi arabia says the break down of relations with iran will not effect the peace talks on syria later this month. its foreign minister met the u.n. special envoy to syria in riyadh. he will meet with several leaders in coming days toing a agree on conditions. saudi arabia and iran support opposing sides in the conflict. iraq has made an offer to immediate the row between saudi arabia and iran. >> translator: iraq is at the

heart of the region and we have sought to use our brood relations with arab countries so that iraq can play a role in alleviating tensions between saudi arabia and iran to prevent a disaster from happening that could effect the entire region. >> a political and security analyst in riyadh says saudi arabia does not want help from iraq. it wants iran to start working with the international community. >> i don't really see any value of iraq trying to be a mediator between saudi arabia and iran. what saudi arabia needs from iran is a change of action, change of heart, start working more towards the international community to have a stabilized region. this is what saudi arabia is trying to get out of iran. i think saudi arabia is not

looking for anybody to -- to immediate anything or a political statement that has no value to it. saudi arabia made their decision by cutting diplomatic relation with iran. i don't think saudi arabia will look into that anymore unless, as i mentioned they really see a change of actions in the region. as far as iraq, i don't see any necessarily for the iraq mediation between iran and saudi arabia. as you know most of the iraqis government or -- were appointed by the iranian, or been blessed by the iranian regime, so also that will act as an obstacle a little bit. the only thing saudi arabia is going to continue to do is to go by their own worldwide policies and being part of the international community and be an active member of this global. a suicide bomb blast has

killed 18 people. 18 iraqi soldiers were killed, several others were injured. coming up a little later for you here on the news hour. >> every time i think about those kids, it gets me mad. >> an emotional barack obama reveals tighter regulations on guns in the united states. and tight security at a university in kenya, as staff and students head back to the campus following last year's attack. and in sports news we'll tell you about the barcelona players ready to make their debut six months after joining the club. ♪ the u.n. is investigating new allegations that its peace keepers sexually abused girls in the central african republic. it is alleged four underage girls were assaulted in the capitol city. victoria gatenby reports.

>> reporter: there are around 11,000 u.n. peace keepers in central african republic. their job is to protect people in a country that has been mired in religious violence. but new allegations suggest that some soldiers may have failed in that mission. four underage girls say they were sexually abused by u.n. peace keepers. the u.n. has launched an an ininvestigation. >> the staff have undertaken four visits to meet with the four alleged victims. unicef is working with local partners to help the girls receive medical care. >> reporter: this follows a series of sexual abuse allegations made against u.n. peace keepers. in december last year, an independent report criticized the u.n. report to accusations of child abuse in the capitol bangui in 2013 and 2014. the report said the u.n. has failed to carry out proper background checks on peace

keepers, and needed to do more to protect children. >> there are certainly many things that can be done to prevent this type of abuse. troops can be vetted. the abuse can be investigated properly, and as much as anything, probably most importantly of all, those deemed responsible for those kind of crimes can be prosecuted -- or should be prosecuted. >> reporter: thousands of foreign peace keepers were sent to central african republic after a coup in 2013. in april last year a peace agreement was signed between the mostly muslim seleka, and the mainly christian anti-balaka groups. but divisions run deep. votes from last month's presidential election are still being counted, but two thirds of the candidates want the process suspended because they there are irregularities. the u.n. says it has zero

tolerance for peace keepers who abuse civilians. victoria gatenby, al jazeera. at least 24 boko haram fighters have been killed in the far north of cameroon. the fighters were killed by cameroonian soldiers after they attacked a village there according to the country's an ter terrorism unit. they also attacked another area where they killed three people including the son and friend of a local muslim leader. kenya's university has today reopened nine months after al-shabab gunmen stormed the area. security was tight across the campus with the police carrying automatic weapons and patrolling the university grounds. the majority of staff have now returned to work and classes will begin next week. >> reporter: the first students since the attack in last april have come here and registered at this desk just by this gate at the university. and it's through the same gate

nine months before that five armed again from al-shabab entered the university and 142 students were killed. they say they have now finally got the security they were asking for all along, even before the attack happened. they said they wrote to the government on numerous occasions requesting that arm police be deployed here. now the attack happened, dozens were killed and nine months later they finally got what they were asking for. the students are registering today, and they say they think it's secure to, and they are willing to continue their studies here. hundreds of people in germany are protesting against violence against women. an investigation is underway to try to find out if men are part of a criminal network in a nearby city. police have identified three suspects, but no arrests have

been made yet. >> translator: i came here today because i think it's important to show a reaction, that we do not accept this atmosphere in this country or city. we need changes. we don't want to give our rights away. >> translator: it's unacceptable in a city like cologne, and in every part of the world there should be no violence against women. >> translator: it's not only new year's eve. i am a young woman. i often go out at night, and there are assaults taking place. so it's important for women to stand together no matter what nationality. a 48 hour strike is now underway in belgium. train workers walked out late on tuesday. it is in protest to government reforms which means thousands of jobs lost. the vatican newspaper has criticized the french satirical

magazine, charlie hebdo for a front cover marking god as an assassin. a million copies of the paper hit france's news standings on wednesday. the director of the foundation for ethnic understanding says france needs to address the core issues that muslims are facing. >> we have many, many causes and roots of this phenomenon. one has to be looked into the social political landscape. we have a generation of people who have been unemployed, who feel completely at a loss what to do in this country, and who see -- who sees, the islamic state has the answer, has the new utopia that they are looking for, and we have [ inaudible ] civil society, the government and each one of us in this

country, and in europe, because it is also european issue. we have to deal with all of these roots and tackle them all together, and i think that we have been putting millions of euros, the mayor of paris is putting 11 million euros into security for schools and mosques, but it's not enough. we can put millions and millions of euro into security, but at the end of the day, it won't prevent people from killing. israeli forces have demolished two palestinian homes in the occupied west bank. the houses are part of the bedouin community, situated next to an israeli settlement. the residents say they weren't notified of the demolition as the homes are currently involved in a legal case. >> translator: at 9:00 in the morning, the army came in and demolished over there, and then

came here. they want us to get out of here. they want to transfer the bedouins from here. the funeral of a palestinianteen teenager took place on wednesday. the israeli army said he stabbed a soldier injuring him. at least 145 palestinians and 21 israelis have been killed in an up surge of violence since the beginning of october. the president of the palestinian authority has responded to claims made by benjamin netenyahu that the authority is on the verge of collapse. he says he is not going anywhere. >> translator: i have heard in the last few days some things about the destruction of the palestinian authority. we're not going to allow it to be destroyed. i will not leave. and we will not give up from

here. but we will also not allow for the situation to remain the same. we want to live in two countries. an emotional u.s. president has unveiled plans to curve gun violence in the united states. the executive action will require more gun buyers to undergo background checks. armed men in the u.s. state of oregon are occupying several government buildings for a fifth day now. they want the government to hand over land used for ranching. it's a challenge that many local officials feel will end badly. >> reporter: you can see they still have it blocked, that suv you see behind me, and you might see a couple of guys milling around there. that's the main entrance to the refuge. that truck is completely blocking it. you will also see this watchtower over my shoulder. that is where park rangers are

normally stationed, but now they have armed anti-government protesters there. this press conference that they held there, what they really gave the message of is they do not plan to leave any time soon. this is cattle ranching country, where cattle outnumber people 14-1, but where nearly 70% of grazing land is owned or managed by a federal government, many here deeply distrust. steve sympathizes with the ranchers. he says the government intrudes on their livelihoods and way of life. >> i do think they are overreaching and doing things they are not supposed to do. >> reporter: in town at the supply store, most view the federal government with suspicion. but they are divided on whether the protesters are helping or hurting their efforts. >> i support what they are trying to get done, not how they

are doing it. >> i think they are causing a lot more chaos than what needs to be brought into this town right now. i don't believe it's necessary. >> reporter: some people like this man are too scared to show their face or give their name. >> i don't agree with what they are doing. >> reporter: you think it's bringing badded a tension to the community? >> i think most of the community is scared, and that's not a good thing at all. let's take you live now to the u.n. there in new york. the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon with his thoughts on the potential consequences for that north korean testing of the hyde again device. >> this test once again violates numerous council resolutions despite the united call by the international community to cease such activities. it is also grave contravention of the international norm against nuclear testing.

this act is a profoundly destabilizing for regional security, and seriously undermines international non-proliferation efforts. i condemn it unequivocally. i demand the [ inaudible ] cease any further nuclear activities and meet its obligations for verifiable denuclearization. we are monitoring and assessing developments in close coordination with the international organizations, including the ctbto, the comprehensionive test event treaty organization and interested parties. i thank you. >> thank you very much. >> ban ki-moon there, not taking any questions from the assembled

reporters there at the u.n. building in new york. just to get you right up to speed with what he was saying. he was saying north korea violated numerous u.n. resolutions. it is a grave act which profoundly destabilizes the entire region. he condemned it, and he is demanding that north korea standing by itself previous commitments. let's get more on that from our expert, joining us from london. what do you make of what north korea has done? >> well i don't think it's a huge surprise. i think those -- those of us who have been watching north korea to see if it could be a when rather than an if, and we still don't really have enough information to determine what exactly it was that north korea has tested. and does this really change things strategically? not necessarily. the fact that they have nuclear

weapons is the primary concern, rather than the actual level of those nuclear weapons. >> almost habitually north korea does this, where it does something that is perceived as being grave, and very dangerous, but the left of the world is left second-guessing what it has actually done as opposed to what it has apparently done. what does that tell us about the mind set of the regime at the very top? >> well, i mean, i think the actual test is both an international audience, and a domestic audience. it demonstrates kim ki-jong power, the fact that he is creating a greater capability of defense against the u.s. as you said, we are left guessing, as is the case with north korea, we are just in the dark on a lot of the information, and we can only estimate what may have happened at the test.

it may have been a full hydrogen bomb, as claimed by the north koreans, but a claim doesn't necessarily equate to an actual test of a hydrogen bomb. >> we can anticipate and almost script what the u.n. have will say about this in new york. particularly japan has traction now at the u.n. security council, but beyond that, what can the rest of the world realistically do? >> this is the -- the problem. there is very little that can be done at this particular stage. the six a parties, the u.s., russia, china, japan, south korea, have all tried to reach out to north korea, but it's very, very set in its ways in terms of isolation. so sanctions in all likelihood will be enhanced, but beyond that, with north korea not really wanting to talk to anyone diplomatically, there is very

little that can actually be done. >> is this what the north korean leadership wants. he wants all of the national news channels around the world talking about him, how powerful he is, and how powerful his military is. >> of course, it ties into the north korean rhetoric, demonstrating both the leaders power, but the fact that they won't back down to u.s. or international pressure, and i think in particular the bilateral relationship with china is interesting here. china has reacted angerly to the test, so north korea's only real ally if it can be classed as that, not now very happy with it either. >> his behavior seems to lack consistencies. do you think we can expect more of the same if they have enough technology to have staged what we think this might have been?

>> well, i think the actual feasibility of the test, or the technology used in the test, it's difficult to assume. i think the worry for the international community is the fact that north korea is able to develop both its nuclear capability, and more importantly its missile capability. so it's very much -- this demonstration of power, but there are patterns in the behavior here. this wasn't, as i mentioned completely unexpected. the north koreans can be talking about the use of nuclear fusion and mastering the technology in a nuclear weapon for a few weeks now, so it was just the case of waiting and seeing when exactly this would occur. >> matthew thank you very much. >> thank you. the mystery of the disappearance of a hong kong book seller has deepened with china refusing to see if it is

holding him. rob mcbride has more. >> reporter: protesters take their demands for international intervention to foreign consulates in hong kong after it was revealed a local book seller who disappeared recently holds a british passport. they say they reject china's position that hong kong matters are its internal affair. >> it is a matter for all of the citizens worldwide to have concern about china. >> reporter: lee is one of five book sellers to go missing from a company specializing in titles about the chinese leadership. despite demands for information, china's failure to confirm lee is being held has lead to conspiracy theories. some say he could have made his way to china for reasons varying

from troubled business relationships, even to being involved to sex relationships. many lawmakers in hong kong are not convinced. >> until and unless he appear before us to be safe and absolutely safe, then we must utilize all of our resources to locate him and to save him. >> reporter: with lee's bookstore now closed, others seem to be taking precautions. local media says this chain has taken banned titles off of his shelves. at another bookstore, the owner continues to receive messages of support and has no plans to remove controversial titles. >> i'm a bookstore owner, so what happens next, if it will happen on me? >> reporter: as a seller of books rather than a publisher,

he believes he is safe for now at least. [ inaudible ] suspending boxsite mining. most of it comes from a state where income from the mining has surged to to $10.7 million last year. our correspondent has more now from the state capitol. >> reporter: waves of anxiety hit this community a few days ago when their water turned red. mining seems to have leaked into the local rivers. the residue remains on this stretch of waterway. 150 deep sea fishermen depend on the catch from the surrounding waters, including this man. but he says he is not concerned. >> translator: this community of fishermen is not worried. the water turned red for two

days last week. we have asked authorities to take control of the situation. >> reporter: but the rest of the community is worried. their concerns is further heightened when this on line video shows the spread in the water. 15 million tons of boxite makes its way to the border annually where it is exported. hundreds of trucks are sent to the port each day. the dust that is kicked up, remains in the atmosphere and travels for miles. >> i suggested to the minister that the only way to put a halt to all of the activities to suspend the export license, and with that, it will cut off the supply chain and put a stop to the activities for a while, while we look into the regulations. >> translator: the cabinet have

planned a three-month temporary ban from the 15th of january onward. >> everything will stand still. >> reporter: the government says it will be removed from the area. but that may not be sufficient for the people that live here. they still have questions about the long term effects of boxite in the air and the water. landslides in bolivia have caused major car jams. venezuela now has a parliament that will be at -- controlled rather, by the center right opposition for the first time in years.

virginia now. >> reporter: songs about change and new beginning. supporters of the opposition joined the 112 new legislators as they made their way to the national assembly in the capitol. last december a sweeping victory gave them a two-third's super majority, paving a way for a transformation. >> translator: venezuela needed a change. we are fed up with so many shortages and so much violence. i want my children to grow up with freedom and without all of this hatred. >> reporter: a few blocks away there is a rival rally backing the president. they are worried about the makeup of the new national assembly. >> translator: the opposition hates this country. they offended commander chavez, and president maduro.

>> reporter: street clashes between both groups have been feared especially after three opposition deputies were prevented from being sworn in by a recent supreme court ruling. >> reporter: but it was at the ceremony itself that the tensions were most evident. a sign of the challenge legislatures face as they prepare to share power over the coming five years. a particularly sore subject has been efforts by the opposition to free political prisoners. the government blames them for the death of more than 40 people during a month-long wave of violence in 2014. >> translator: the assassins can't pardon themselves. only the victims could forgive them. >> reporter: in the end. pro-government legislatures walked out. the frustration making it too great for them to say. the government has passed a series of laws that seems to undermine the supermajority that

the opposition gained. analysts here have warned that the continuing of this political gridlock will only exacerbate the possibility of social conflict. birthrates in cuba are falling faster than anywhere else. in part two of al jazeera's look at global falling birthrates. daniel meets a young couple in havana. >> reporter: these two were married three months ago. they are living with his grandparents in a tiny apartment, dreaming of their own home where they can one day bring up children. >> translator: the economy here makes it hard for us to fulfill our dream of getting our own home. children to fill the house, a car. they are our dreams. unfortunately in this country, it's only a dream when we have to keep fighting, studying, and

preparing to get there. hopefully we'll get there. >> reporter: they are typical of many young cuban couples who are delaying having children or deciding not to have them at all. >> translator: i would like to have my own house and the conditions to do that, but i have got to work three more years at the basic salary, so we won't be able to fulfill our dreams in that time. >> reporter: in 1970, 30% of the population was under 40 years old. now it's just 17%, and decreasing. with less births, and long life expectancy, the elderly population is growing. it's normally wealthier countries where birthrates fall. cuba has what they have, including education and health systems. but cuba is not a wealthy country, and many young couples

either leave of decide not to bring up children here. a good education system means that more women are aware of their options, and are choosing to pursue a career. with a difficult economic situation, and an uncertain political future, some leave, while others choose to wait and see. >> this is a challenge for cuba, because it has a very uneven age structure. if you look at the age structure, instead of a nice pyramid, which a developing country has, cuba has this bulge. >> reporter: young cuban couples continue to fall in love and marry, but until the economic and political situation changes, many will choose to put their dreams on hold. al jazeera, havana, cuba. volkswagen unveiling its new and futuristic cars recently.

vw of course fighting to regain credibility and trust after the emissions scandal involving millions of cars. rob reynolds has more. >> reporter: volkswagen rolled out a new electric car, a vehicle executives compare to a smartphone on wheels. >> these new technologies will provide customers with new levels of convenience, comfort and freedom. >> reporter: vw's consumer vehicle's chief demonstrated what he said was the car's intuitively designed dashboard. >> there's no need to keep switching back and forth between menus. that's my idea of simple, safe, and fun. [ applause ] >> reporter: the company also presented a futuristic take on the old vw bus. with a host of interactive features like voice recognition.

>> please open the passenger door. >> okay. the passenger door is opening. >> reporter: but there was no ignoring the elephant in the room. the vw pollution cheating scandal revealed last year, which effected 11 million diesel vehicles implanted with software designed to defeat emissions testing. >> we disappointed our customers and the american people, for which i am truly sorry. we are doing everything we can to make things right. >> reporter: the unveiling came just days after the u.s. justice department announced it was suing the german car maker in civil court. the government alleges that more than 600,000 vw diesel engine vehicles sold in the u.s. violated environmental laws, and it is seeking damages of up to $37,000 per car. vw is fighting to regain consumer trust and that won't

happen overnight. >> if you look at how corporate crises are resolved, it takes billions of dollars, years of time, and it takes eventually introducing new products that people are excited about. so you can't judge a patient mid-surgery. >> reporter: how do you convince consumers once again that volkswagen is really a trust-worthy company, how do you do that? >> yeah, this will be a lengthy process. we have to stick to what we say. we have to deliver, and it starts with fixing the problem. >> reporter: the car will be in showrooms later this year. the bude probably won't be for sale until the end of the decade. before then they hope they will have repaired credibility with governments and consumers. plenty more still to come for you here on the news hour,

including -- >> i'm tarek basely in spain where a new generation of hot air balloons are taking flight. ♪

♪ >> a company in spain is working on ways to make ballooning greener. our technology editor visited their factory near barcelona.

>> reporter: it's dawn in the hills near barcelona, and in the still-morning air, a newly completed hot air balloon is inflated for the first time. the team inspects the rigging and stitching on all of the seams. it's a standard check performed before new balloons are shipped to customers. the spanish company is the world's largest maker of hot air balloons, producing around 200 each year. the design, color scheming of each balloon is customized. >> translator: >> [ inaudible ] just to check -- or double check, because our supplier already checks it, that is good. but we also check it when we receive them. >> reporter: hot air balloons use propane gas to heat the air. a typical hour-long flight can

use up to 100 liters. enough to drive a car more than a thousand kilometers. this means it's a gas-gus ling sport, that's why this company has developed an eco friendly model. using two layers of fabric instead of one, makes the balloon stronger and longer lasting, and it's better insulated which means it is cheaper to fly and uses about half as much gas. >> the main benefit is the fuel saving. you can save fuel up to 50%. so this gives you options to spend less fuel, so you fly cheaper. you spending less money in a single flight, or you have can have more capacity for a flight, so you can have extra time to go to another place to land. >> reporter: the company has also been working on technology to make hot air ballooning safer. it has developed a smartphone

app to track and log flights in real time and also a monitor that alerts a pilot if the balloon comes to close to power lines. for some it's the simplicity of the sport that makes it attachtive. >> you see the world in very different way, and it is very quiet and you can feel yourself. as you need to fly following the wins, you cannot control too much the direction, so it gives you the feeling that you are allow to nature, and you can enjoy it. >> reporter: the eco balloon is more expensive to make, but the company says because it lasts longer and is cheaper to fly, it is a cost-effective alternative, and one that developers hope ensures that hot air ballooning will be a sustainable sport in the future. okay. time for the sports nows. >> we have got some breaking

news in the world of international cricket, in the last hour, south africa's test cap pain has resigned. he did hit a double century in his game, and he has said he will carry on in a playing capacity. the team recently suffered a heavy series defeat in india, and they are one down now in this series. he did almost go out with a famous victory, england finding itself in a pretty difficult position. bad weather brought an early end to the match, the third test of this four-match series. later on wednesday, manchester city play everton. tuesday saw liverpool taking a

1-0 lead. city manager won his trophy with the club in 2014. >> it is always important to win a title, and very beautiful when you finish and [ inaudible ] full of people seeing the game. so it's very important for us to win. >> we're going to get far in this competition, and when you do that, you have to face a team like manchester city. they are expected to win any competition that they go into. but i feel playing at home with our fans, that are very, very intimidating at best, we can face anyone. barcelona are expected to [ inaudible ] later on. they are playing city rivals espanol. the players joined the club six months ago, but are only allowed to play now. they had breached fifa rules on

the youth transfer. the first leg of this round comes just days after these two teams played out a goalless draw in the league. clay thompson stored 36 points. demarcus cousins scored on the buzzer to send this game against the dallas mavericks into overtime. at the end of the second period of overtime, darren william gave them a 117-116 victory. the world's top two golfers are in hawaii for the start of the pga season at the tournament of champions. the event is only open to tournament winners in the previous year. jordan spieth won the top of the rankings. he also won more than $12 million in prize money. >> i'm not thinking of this as

anything different. this is just -- we're just continuing -- the month changed, the year changed, when you write the date. that's about it. in my mind, we just had a little bit of a break, and i have had plenty of playing and practice to be plenty ready to try to win this game, and then take our game over to asia in a couple of weeks, and then i'll come back here and get back to my regular schedule. >> the australia briefly held the top spot after winning the championship. >> i play 72 holes here before the actual event starts. it's just trying to get the sharpness back in the mind knowing and going through the process of hitting an actual golf shot at a target, instead of hitting a lot of shots on the range, and thinking about the golf swing, so that is one thing

that will be a little bit rusty. in tennis, andy murray has lost his first match of the year. it's its opponent first win. murray there on the receiving end of all sorts of unexpected shots during his defeat. and an outbreak of sportsmanship in a match. the australia serve here called out, but he told his rival to challenge the call as he thought it was in. indeed it was. so huet won the match. do not give your opponent a break seems to be the point of that story. >> andy thank you. out of doha for you usual times

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north korea announces that it has tested a hydrogen bomb, experts not convinced the device was that powerful. >> this act is a profoundly destabilizing for regional security. ♪ good to have your company. i'm david foster, and you are watching al jazeera live from london. also in the next 30 minutes, syrians displaced by the fighting appeal for help as