only on al jazeera america. tunisia's president urges the country to respect a curfew put in place following a wave of protests over unemployment. you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up, in the u.s. where the southern and eastern states get ready for what could be a monster white out. haiti postponed its presidential run off vote for the second time over security concerns. oscar organisers bow to pressure pledging to double membership of women and ethnic minorities

we begin in tunisia where the president has urged the country to respect a nation-wide curfew that has been put in place following a wave of protests. the unrest started after the death of a 28-year-old on saturday. he was electrcuted after climbing a transition tower in protest after missing out on a job. the prime minister has cut short a trip to you're to deal with the unrest. he says the situation is under control and that the government has started to implement a job creation program. the unemployment rate is 15% but it is as high as 30% among young people. the president addressed the nation just a few hours ago. he acknowledged the high unemployment rate is a factor for the protest, but says the

countries stability is being deliberately targeted. >> translation: we have more than 700,000 unemployed, among them 300,000 youth who have qualifications and cannot find a job. they are being targeted by outside forces. i.s.i.l. and others. somebody who is hungry, poor and marginalised, we should not tell him to be patient if he cannot have something to eat, but they will find in these protests there are dirty hands getting involved with them it is the worst unrelevant tunisia has seen since the 2010 uprising that led to the arab spring. our correspondent has more now from the city of kasserine where the protests began >> reporter: a family mourning its son. he was frustrated over lack of job opportunities. he climbed an electricity pole and threatened to commit suicide. he was electrocuted. his death sparked anger

nation-wide and he has become the symbol of a younger generation that feels increasingly let down by his government. >> translation: my son died. the government is responsible. it breaks my heart. those responsible for his death should be held accountable. they destroyed a whole family. >> reporter: he was relentlessly looking for a job to look after his parents and sech brothers and sister. his father is a retiree and struggles to make ends meet >> translation: my brother was put on the role for jobs. then his name was taken off the lists. he ended up in a graveyard. >> reporter: this neighborhood is called carmar. it is one of the poorest areas here and is where he spent most of his life. after the revolution that ended the regime five years ago this month, he was hopeful.

life would improve and the poor and unemployed would get a better chance. here anti-government sentiment is on the rise. many areas have become the focal point of spontaneous mass protests. anger spread through this week with unemployed young people protesting in major towns and cities. they all say the government breaks its promises. the government is under growing pressure to show it is on top of the situation and shows the people it cares about their problems, but at the same time it runs on a tight budget and may not be able to fund programs for jobs across the country millions of people across the east coast of the u.s. are

bracing for a huge blizzard which is expected to dump near record levels of snow. washington dc and the surrounding area is expected to be worst hit. about 60 centimeters is forecast to fall. >> reporter: the snow started to fall in the carolinas. the storm is expected to sweep up along the eastern course of the u.s. likely to be worst hit is washington dc. they had been preparing the trucks to keep the roads open. it is going to be a tough job >> we're going to have to live through it. we appreciate our citizens' patience, but we're not going to have that luxry to push neighborhood streets. >> reporter: stores have been stripped bare as people get ready to hunker down for a few days. >> fruits salad, cheese and wine. >> milk, bread and all those

things. >> reporter: some stores say it is buzzer than the day before thanksgiving. states of emergency have been declared in virginia, washington dc and in merryland >> we see this as a major storm. it has life and death implications. >> reporter: the cold and the snow is forcing the homeless to take shelter. this man has lived on the streets for 20 years. tonight he is taking cover. >> i suggest you go on in because you can die out here. i know a few that have. >> reporter: the big concern for many along the eastern seaboard is the snow will be wet and heavy and whipped by gail force winds. that could bring down power lines leaving tens of thousands, maybe more, without power. many workers have been told to stay at home. on friday the metro rail will

close. plane fights have been cancelled. >> to prevent people from sitting in the airport all day tomorrow, we wanted to cancel those flights for tomorrow. >> reporter: it is estimated 50 million people are in the path of the storm. the next 48 hours could be rough and challenging. everyone has to dig themselves out there are reports that two people have been killed in a shooting at a school. police have only confirmed that they were responsibleding to a serious incident, they say, at the school in the remote village of la lache. a newspaper quotes at least two people are dead and a suspect is in custody. a number of people have been left injured. a post on facebook said the school was in lock down. people have taken to the streets in haiti after its much criticized presidential run off

election was postponed for a second time. it was due to take place on saturday as andy gallagmer reports. >> reporter: at the studios of magic 9 radio there is only one thing on the amind of listeners and broadcasters. haiti's troubled election is the sole topic of conversation. the entire process has faced years of delays over the terms and timing of the poll. many here say those disagreements have dire consequences >> we have a high rate of unemployment, we have social situation and we are deep in social economic crisis. we don't want a political crisis to put situation in dangerous path. >> reporter: that sense has been spilling onto the street for days, many claiming the election is rigged in favor of the

hand-picked successor. >> i think we should come to some agreement. >> reporter: this man was part of a committee designed to clear the way for the election to take place. he has been at the heart of what has been a turbulent process. while acknowledging the difficulties, he said the democracy is steadily maturing >> it takes time for an elector alsystem to be set up, to be installed and to function properly. i think one thing which is also missing is the fact that we do not have strong political parties. >> reporter: in many ways haiti remains a politically divided nation, but there is one thing here that unites everybody, thanked is the desire fof a transparent election that will give people here good leadership, leadership that will tackle issues like poverty, security and the economy. in the busy markets, voter apathy seems to be the norm.

they see a lack of transparency and they're angry over a lack of action on the countries's issue >> translation: there is no other country in the world where people don't have access to things like education, health care and housing. in haiti nobody is there. so why asking me to go and vote? nothing for us. this elections are going to help the rich get richer. >> reporter: haiti's democratic process is no stranger to controversy, but this is avital election. the president has to leave office by february and the successor will need to have legitimacy to lead and that may be the biggest challenge andy joins us on the phone now. difficult to see how an election could have been held in these circumstances in haiti at the moment. did it announcement come as much of a surprise? -- did the announcement.

>> reporter: it didn't. dozenss of senators had asked-- okay. apologies for that. we will try to reestablish &y. this is after a presidential run off that was meant to take place in haiti has now been postponed because of protests that have erupted around the capital. that is postponed because of security concerns. lots more still to come to you. we will tell you why the government is under the pressure to tell you the number of soldiers killed in al-shabab attack. we will tell you who is making the news and who is bidding to win at the sun dance film festival. festival.

welcome back. you're watching al jazeera. a reminder of our top stories. tunisia's president is urging the company to respect a nationwide curfew that has been put in place following widespread protests over a lack of jobs. protesters have taken to the streets of the capital as the country's much criticized rough off election has been postponed again. in washington dc up to 60 centimeters of snow is forecast. in other stories at least 45 people, including 17 children,

have died trying to cross the sea to greece. greek and turkish ships have been involved in a search and rescue submission. boats capsized close to two greek islands. greece has become a major gateway for people fleeing war and poverty as they make their way to europe. how to stem that flow has been the subject of a meeting between the turkish minister and angela merkel. germany's government is under pressure to limit the number. >> reporter: the fresh may not shown as she ewelcomes her counterpart but she is treading a lonely path at the moment. as the german and turkish cabinet held talks on growing terrorism. >> translation: we have once again heard about terrible numbers of people dying in the

assess between turkey and the e.u., children as well. we just cannot allow the illegal traffickers to have supremecy here and that people endanger their lives and people earn money who they do not have the best interests of these human beings in their minds. that's why we have to make sure that this illegal immigration is changed into legal immigration. >> reporter: on friday a reminder of the risks people are still taking to reach europe. despite scenes like this on the greek island of lesbos, some of merkel's allies are saying it is time to place a limit. the u.n. agreed a $3 billion to help the country with refugees. obama has offered to contribute substantially to help ease europe's refugee crisis. even if new money is forthcoming, some experts warn it might not make a huge

difference >> it has to do with refugee flows themselves. they're not all syrians. we have significant portion of afghans, iraqis, iranians, kurds. a stay in turkey is not attractive to them. they will continue to move towards europe. >> reporter: the talks here are a sign of just how much, angela merkel, who is under pressure like never before, needs turkey's help. it's not certain if ankara has the means or will to deliver. before friday's meeting the prime minister warned that the e.u. money wouldn't be enough, but he insists he has already acted to slow the migrant flow. >> translation: turkey has declared a number of plans and i will put them into action. we're determined to make refugees' lives easier. we've passed legislation to allow refugees to gain employment in turkey and we're also working on visa requirements for refugees to prevent them being exploited. >> reporter: ahead of next month's e.u. summit angela

merkel has already worried her colleagues. the calls to get tougher are getting louder all the time more than 30 civilians have been killed in russian air strikes on two villages under the control of the so-called islamic state in iraq and the levant in syria. the air strikes targeted two villages in the country's east. the u.k.-based organization said at least 13 children are among the dead. it says many more have been wounded and the death toll could rise. the u.s. military headquarters has issued new reports for air strikes in syria and iraq. the human rights groups are saying the numbers are likely to be higher. >> reporter: the u.s. military said on friday that since the start of coalition air strikes against i.s.i.l. in iraq and in syria back in august 2014, 16 civilians have been killed in

those strikes. nine more have been injured. that's a far cry from the estimate of number of anti war groups that say as many as 2400 civilians may have been killed in those air strikes during the same period in those countries. the u.s. military says that it has a very low incident rate when it comes to killing or injuring civilians in this conflict because of the use of precision-guided munitions: hoifr, the activist groups say that they are not certain that-- however-- that these strikes were as nonlethal as the u.s. military is suggesting that they were. by contrast, there are estimates that russian air strikes which started just in september of the past year may have killed more than a thousand civilians inside syria alone. as for killing the number of i.s.i.l. fighters which was the whole purpose of the coalition air strikes, the estimate is in the thousands of those who were

fighting on behalf of the i.s.i.l. whereas for the russians who were conducting air strikes only inside syria, more than 1100 of the people killed may have been fighting on behalf of the syrian opposition or so-called islamist groups. just under 900 are thought to have been i.s.i.l. fighters. if nothing else, all of these numbers suggest that in the middle of war it seems no-one is safe let's get more on the huge blizzard heading towards the u.s. our correspondent alan fisher is in the thick of the wind and snow in washington dc which is expected to be hardest hit as a huge blizzard is forecast to hit the eastern united states. of course, you can imagine people there getting ready to hunker down. what have you been seeing over

the past hour? >> reporter: you're talking about the wind and the snow, but you've got to add in the freezing temperatures as well. it's probably fallen about two more centers just in the last hour alone. this is wet, heavy snow which is a real problem for power lines because if it gets on there and begins to freeze, then tens of thousands are going to be without power. this road here behind my is normally busy at this time on a friday evening. that's because it's one of the main roads out of town with people heading away for the weekend. you can see it's almost decertified. -- desserted. they're trying to keep the main routes open. the federal government sent their employees home, to get them off the roads, as the local government here as well, and the whole idea is that people went

home for the weekend and saw this storm out because they're talking about somewhere lots of snow. if it gets really bad they can call in the local state troopers to help distribute aid and get to people who are stuck in those remote areas. they're essentially wanting the government to act the way it should in this sort of thing. we saw the snow starting to fall in the area on friday. how far is it going to go? it will sweep up into virginia. snow has been going here three or four hours. it will go up to as far as boston. we're told that the snow now is probably another 24 hours. it's also impacting the presidential race. chris christie of new jersey, the governor, was in new hampshire. no plans to go back, but he is going back because he realises

this is a big bad storm thank you very much for that. moving to kenya now. a memorial service was held to honor their soldiers killed in somalia last week. al-shabab said it was responsible for the attack. the kenyan government has yet to release an official death toll. >> reporter: the military honoured its soldiers killed in southern somalia. they had just been deployed to the base when the gunmen attacked using vehicles that had been fitted with explosives. >> we commit to you our country in this moment. >> reporter: many soldiers are said to have died in the blast. their remains have been difficult to identify. it has been a week since the african union peace keeping base was over run by al-shabab

fighters. several families were at this me more yale service. some inkon solable. this man's brother is still missing. >> we were told that there were a group of soldiers that are still missing over there. maybe they ran away. they got to the bush and hide. >> reporter: military commanders say that special forces are carrying out a search and rescue region and have killed the man who have led the attack. we still don't know how many soldiers were killed or may still be missing. the government is facing heavy criticism for its silence as for details of the attack. the fact that the troops seemed to have been caught slightly by surprise is particularly embarrassing for the military, but the focus here was on unity and a renewed resolve to fight al-shabab >> every kenyan must understand that this is a war that requires

that we all be united as a nation and that we stand shoulder to shoulder to face the enemy of humanity. that we should not be deterred no matter the challenge that they try to push our way. >> reporter: the injured are at this military hospital. some walked for days before being rescued. they all say the death of their colleagues must not be in vain myanmar has released 20 more political prisoners as it winds down its time in office. wayne hay is following the story from neighboring thailand. >> reporter: there were emotional reunions in myanmar as inmates walk free from prison. some had been held for years. their joy at freedom was mixed with sadness for the political prisoner left behind. >> translation: i'm not fully happy as the government is

releasing prisoner separately. i want all the activists, political prisoners, students, farmers and workerss still left in the prison freed. >> reporter: the government is made up largely as generals. they brutally crushed descent and kept aung san suu kyi under house arrest. after an election in 2010 the government embarked on a series of reforms, including a gradual release of political prisoners. aung san suu kyi's party won last year's election and will form the next government on 1 february. after campaigning for democracy and human rights for so long, there is hope that she will finally be able to help myanmar move on from its dark past. >> translation: i highly believe that our problems will be all right because our country is now under our mother aung san suu kyi. this will be different as our mother is in power now

>> reporter: there are still more political prisoner to be freed and problems for myanmar to overcome. the army will be power but it seems the government wants to set some things right the committee of the oscars are to increase the minorities members. directors and others had threatened to boycott the events. the largest independent film festival sundance is underway. >> reporter: the rocky mountain air in this small resort town is full of expectation. independent film makers from 37 countries are showing after their artistic creations to an estimated 45,000 eager cinema fans and prospective film studio buyers >> it's a bucket list idea for me. >> translation: i think people are pulled here because they

know this is where the best content in the world for film is. >> reporter: 120 feature films will be screened at sundance this year called for more than 4,000 submissions. the focus says festival founder robert redford is on narrative >> to me the most important thing is the story, and story telling is what it should be about. >> reporter: among the most talked about films this year, christine by director alex campos, starring rebecca hall. it is a dark draum about a female journalist trying to break into the male world dominated news. sandstorm tells the story of a bedwin family and its struggle to reconcile its traditions and religious beliefs with contemporary sexual relationships. birth of a nation directed by and star example nate parker takes its name from dw griffiths

blatantly racist 1915 silent epic. in the documentary division there's buzz about newtown by kim zchneider. it is gun violence focusing on grieving family that lost children in the massacre in 2012. another is back with lo and behold, a typically look at the daughter-in-lawing tiesd-- digitised movie. people are waiting to see when the grand prize winner ner will be a hit in the public. you can be sure that many of the film makers walking on these

snowy side walks are hoping their labor of love will be the next little miss sunshine, whiplash or bricklayer witch project the latest on that story an everything else, this is where you need to go. aljazeera.com >> the land was wide. no dust. nothing but green grass, tall green grass, so pretty. it used to start freezing, beginning last part of october, from the edges.