>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour i'm in do what and coming up, in the next 60 minutes. >> we have not seen a catastrophe like this since world war ii. >> the u.s. secretary of state describes the deplorable situation in syria pushing the warring sides to talk. a blow for donald trump and nail-biting result for hillary clinton in the first vote for the long race to the white house. the world health organization declares an emergency over the

zika virus but brazil says the olympics will go ahead and google's parent company over takes apple as the world's most valuable company. >> i'll have all your sport including. >> i can guaranty this investigation what it will find is a bit fat nothing. >> ahead of super bowl 50 denial from quick payton mondaying in response to a nfl drugs probe. ♪ first to the war against i.s.i.l. and the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is describing a catastrophe not seen since world war ii. he has spoken at a conference in rome involving 23 nations and highlighted iraq and libya but he reserved his strongest words for the conflict in syria. >> the situation on the ground for the syrian people is

unfathomable and have not seen a catastrophe like this since world war ii and it's unfolding before our eyes. people in madaya eating leaves and grass or animals of one kind or another that they managed to capture, people who have not had a resupply for months. 113 request for the united nations to provide supply and only 13 have been granted by the assad regime and starvation is a tactic of war is against the laws of war and it is being used every single day as a tactic by the assad regime so we need to speak out powerfully about the urgent need of geneva to deliver a ceasefire, to deliver humanitarian assistance and to get civilians from stopping being bombed on a daily basis.

>> we are live in rome and we just heard there john kerry highlighting the suffering of civilians who are under threat and talk to us about the coalition likely strategy when it comes to taking on i.s.i.l. in iraq and syria. >> reporter: basically the international coalition since it started in 2014 were aiming to take action against i.s.i.l. and under mine its financing and also military capability and ideology but despite the fact that they have launched intensified military campaign, air strikes targeting i.s.i.l. in syria and iraq they remain intack in some areas in aleppo and the northern part and the international community is looking for political stability and a way out of the crisis in syria so that it can continue

the fight against i.s.i.l. and also they are seeing a more inclusive government in iraq to be able to encourage the sunnis to be more active in the fight against i.s.i.l. there is also an element of the strategy which they have seen by expanding i.s.i.l. is threatening to further destabilize the region with attacks in turkey, with further risks to women and children and exactly why they are calling for more momentum and more international build up to try to capture aspects and politics on one hand and also military campaigns so they can defeat i.s.i.l. in its stronghold in iraq and syria. >> all right let's turn our attention now to libya hashem and realistically what can this coalition achieve in their bottle against i.s.i.l. given that libya is still under going a lot of upheaval politically and in terms of security?

>> all indications now suggest that libya could potentially top the agenda of the international coalition against i.s.i.l. for different reasons. the americans have in the past sent a team to libya for potentially trying to team up with allies in the international recognized government of tobrook to see players on the ground and see intelligence of presence of i.s.i.l. in the coastal area and this is all the way west towards the city of misrata but their biggest problem so far is there is no unified government in libya. john kerry is hoping the president council of libya is going to suggest an international unity or government of national accord in the coming days that can start operating on the ground and forming a national army that can

take on i.s.i.l. but i think for the time being they are going to opt for option b and be targets of i.s.i.l. and which areas are likely to be targeted and potentially start a military campaign similar to the one that has been launched against i.s.i.l., syria and iraq. >> thank you hashem on that coalition summit against i.s.i.l. currently taking place in rome. let's turn our attention now to syria and government forces there have launched a major offensive in aleppo province and have taken the strategically independent town where hundreds of families are leaving their homes because of the heavy russian air strikes on the area there. let's cross live to dana who is on the turkish side of the border with syria and just get us up to date on what is happening on the ground there dana. >> reporter: well, like you mentioned a major offensive, the syrian government and its allies

backed by russian air power, they are advancing in the northern aleppo countryside and they are capturing town after town. now, the objective of this military operation is to reach two loyalist villages further north the shia town of noble and once the government and their allies do this they will be able to cut the last remaining supply root, the last road that links turkey to opposition-controlled areas inside aleppo city. so this is a major blow to the opposition if the government is able to reach noble. now the government has tried on numerous occasions over the past few years to reach this area but they failed but this time around they are being backed by russian air power. we understand that you know civilians are leaving their homes but this area is really a strategic area in syria, why it borders turkey and the rebels they use turkey as a supply and

lifeline really to get food and weapons and it's not just that aleppo really has a lot of importance for the opposition, for the revolution because it is the last remaining stronghold of groups who fight under the banner of the free syrian army in northern syria. >> of course zaina throughout all this it's the civilians that bear the brunt, take us through the suffering that these civilians are suffering not only on the on going civil war but under i.s.i.l. >> reporter: well, true, what we understand hundreds of families are on the move in the northern countryside because of the fierce clashes on the ground and because of the russian air strikes and they are moving further north towards the turkey border. we also understand there are conflicting numbers on how many people are left inside aleppo city between tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands and will be virtually under siege if the government is able to cut that road but mass displacement

is not just happening in aleppo countryside but other countryside in the west of the country. we understand from the turkish disaster agency over the past four days alone almost 4,000 people turkmen have crossed into turkey escaping the government offensive so you have people mass displacement underway in the north of the country but in another corner of syria what many activists call the forgotten corner of syria activists have told us that people are starving and living under fear. >> they are from here but the young men came to southern turkey to escape the powers on the ground, i.s.i.l. and the syrian government and hide their identities to protect activists back home who help them broadcast to the world what otherwise would not be seen. activist from a group that calls itself mazour are slaughtered with images and information from the mainly aisles controlled providence and al jazeera is not

able to verify the videos and i.s.i.l. is known for harsh rule and here it's particularly brutal because it's facing resistance. >> translator: don't feel safe because people are fighting back and there are sleeper cells that target i.s.i.l. members and many syrians joined i.s.i.l. they are not loyal and they joined out of fear to get a salary. >> reporter: it's just as hard in the capitol and people are poor and hungry. i.s.i.l. has besieged areas where some 200,000 people live and food is scarce and expensive and u.n. says there have been deaths from starvation but activists say they are facing a double blockade because the government prevents aid from bringing supplies to the military airport. >> people have two realities and are starving, if they leave the only way out is through i.s.i.l. territories and no guaranty they won't be killed by i.s.i.l.

>> reporter: need permission to leave and need to pay money which many don't have, those close to the government are able to travel from a military air base. the other way out is by foot through i.s.i.l. territory and that is a risk because activists say the armed group has harassed and killed people accusing them of working with the government. much of this place is in i.s.i.l.'s hands, the province links the capitol to iraq allowing the group to move freely between strong holds in the country and rich in oil and u.s. led coalition targeting fields in the area to cut i.s.i.l.'s main source of revenue new but activists says it has only caused more suffering for the people. >> translator: yes, the strikes have cut i.s.i.l. revenues but they are still selling oil and the price has increased, civilians suffer because they need oil especially during the winter. >> reporter: it's dangerous to get messages out from i.s.i.l. or government held areas but those who manage to do so they want to remind the world about

what they call the forgotten corner of syria, al jazeera, southern turkey. so we have seen the situation on the ground in syria, what about efforts to end the conflict and for that we go to geneva for the latest on the talks that is happening there and mohamed is standing by and mohamed now we know what we are hearing now the russians are soft fending the position on some opposition groups they had been against earlier on, is this a compromise on the russian-syrian regime side? >> well, it certainly looks as though it could be. this is clearly a softening of a stance that the russians had taken toward two particular armed rebel groups and the groups are islam and then hara-asham and it was always difficult to have the negotiations if the russians continue to object to the presence of these groups. number one because the chief negotiator for the high

negotiations committee that is the main opposition body here of negotiators the chief negotiator of the group is the political leader of islam and now today you had russian foreign minister sergei fedorov coming up, with a statement saying they are aware of the presence of both of them. he said that they are here in an individual capacity and that russia still considers them to better risk groups and let's try to break that down a little bit. the fact that the russians are now at least saying they are aware of their presence and not objecting to their presence here that is a clear softening of stance and whether they will be part of a negotiating committee here that is another complication that will be dealt with down the road. >> mohamed we have also seen and heard the latest developments in syria, the regime forces are on the march to the rebel-held city of aleppo, how much of what is

happening on the ground in syria affect the talks in geneva? >> well, some of this goes back directly to russia. you know, yesterday there were some very strong comments by the uk foreign secretary phillip hammond which he was very critical of the russian position basically saying it was hypocritical for the russians to be part of the peace plan and yet continuing aerial bombardment in syria, that needs to stop as a condition for these talks to move forward so the russians are very much in the spotlight today. as for what is happening right now the syrian regime negotiators should be arriving here and may already have actually arrived but they are scheduled to arrive here any minute to start meeting with staffan de mistura the special envoy from syria and we know from what mr. staffan de mistura said last night he plans to push humanitarian case with the syrian regime this morning and wants to try to get guarantees that humanitarian corridors are open, that bombardment stops and

perhaps prisoners are released and it becomes another complication because we heard the last few days the syrian opposition say again and again they want to see a list of prisoners and they have submitted to mr. staffan de mistura to be released as a sign of good faith on the part of the regime that these negotiations are in earnest and mr. staffan de mistura said he has not received a final list but the opposition today says they have, in fact, submitted the names and that is a complication and they are saying they could potentially walk out and don't trust the syrian regime and are worried about this and also upset at least some members of the opposition told us they are upset that mr. staffan de mistura last night said the talks officially started when the opposition maintained they don't believe these proximity talks have actually begun yet in earnest so it's very complicated and the hours ahead will hold a lot of clues as to how this process will move forward from here. >> thank you for that, mohamed reporting for us from geneva. we turn our attention now to

iraq where a car bomb has been set off as a military headquarters north of the city of ramadi where they are pushing i.s.i.l. fighters out of that city. let's go to our correspondent who is in baghdad for us and ramadi was supposed to have been largely secure by the iraqi army are we now seeing a resurgence of i.s.i.l. in the town? >> well, it's too early to see if there is resurgence of i.s.i.l. on the ground and bring you up to date on what happened in the attack and sent three suicide car bombers ramadi just to the north of the city. i.s.i.l. was able to get one of those suicide bombers into the perimeter of the compound that killed 18 soldiers however the iraqi army fought back and managed they say to neutralize two car bombs and they long said they are in control of 95% of ramadi and they are

concentrating on the east whether are pockets of i.s.i.l. fighters and attack on the north will come as a blow to them and to be expected and there are several parts of the ramadi countryside and and bar countryside that i.s.i.l. still controls and are able to mount attacks like this and have an eastern corridor that leads into ramadi city and although it's 95% secured by the iraqi army we are expecting more of these isolated attacks from i.s.i.l. to take place. >> thank you for the update and speaking to us from baghdad. still to come here on the news hour destination yemen, how the war-torn country is becoming a transit point for human trafficking. plus. i'm in south africa, the land appropriation bill is controversial and find out why it's not just the farmers who consent. barcelona star is due in a spanish court to answer questions about the 2013 transfer but could his legal

battle push him to manchester city? ♪ hillary clinton campaign team declared victory in an extremely close u.s. presidential nominations contest, republicans and democrats in the state of iowa chose their preferred candidates for the november election on the republican side senator ted cruz beat frontrunner donald trump and kimberly has the round up. >> reporter: for hours it was a race too close to call. >> tonight while the results are still not known it looks like we are in a virtual tie. >> polling behind democratic rival hillary clinton for months and senator bernie sanders closed the gap with his antiestablishment muskegon adjust essentially shifting the tone and dynamic of the democratic campaign. >> it is rare that we have the

opportunity we do now, to have a real contest of ideas, to really think hard about what the democratic party stands for and what we want the future of our country to look like. >> reporter: on the republican side the results of the iowa caucus were more definitive. >> god bless the great state of iowa. >> reporter: after spending millions of dollars and months of campaigning republican candidate ted cruz was celebrating. >> tonight is a victory for courageous conservatives across iowa and all across this great nation. >> reporter: less impressive and still strong finish for donald trump who went to the caucus polling in first place and he was uncharacteristically humble as he thanked his supporters. >> there were 17 candidates and i was told by everybody do not go to iowa, you could never

finish even in the top ten. we finished second and i want to tell you something i'm just honored, i'm really honored. >> so this is the moment they said would never happen. >> reporter: most surprising was the show by rubio who promised if he is the presidential nominee he would rebuild the u.s. military and defend gun rights that have been eroded after a democratic white house. >> after 7 years of barack obama we are not waiting any longer to take our country back. >> reporter: but the snowstorm looming pollsters predicted low voter turn out and it wasn't the case thousands lined up to declare support for their candidates. >> tonight i have to tell you i'm suspending this presidential bid. >> reporter: a few did not survive the iowa caucus, democratic martin o'malley and mike huckabee ended their campaigns after finishing with less than 2% support. hillary clinton had the most to lose in iowa falling from her position as frontrunner she now trails bernie sanders as she

heads to new hampshire and signals the once clear victory for clinton, for the democratic presidential nomination is now distant and instead ahead is a grueling fight. kimberly with al jazeera, des moines, iowa. let's break down what this all means with john brooks a professor of law and government in duram university in the uk and joins us from there and we know that iowa is the first in the process to select the presidential candidate but just how much does iowa shape this direction of the race? >> well, it shapes things as the official launch of the actual votes so until the iowa vote all we have are polls and guesswork to go on. iowa is important as the first real test of organization and which candidates are best able to get out the vote rather than you know we do well on poll

numbers and one of the things we saw here is that trump might have been doing well at commanding the air waves but ted cruz was actually better at getting votes on the ground. >> let's talk about you know the surprised win shall we say, there were two main surprises of the iowa caucuses and two outside suddenly came in the spotlight and we are talking sanders and rubio and what does this mean for them going forward? >> it means everything to them. so bernie sanders was able to show he had organization in iowa that could match the incredible clinton machine and it has to be said that hillary clinton must be having nightmares of 2008 when she ran against barack obama where she was the clear frontrunner, she was said to be ready to walk it, that she was definitely going to be the democratic candidate and then had a very long and grueling campaign against obama that she lost and now she is having it

again and i think that for bernie sanders and his supporters they are going to have a lot of wind this their sails and a lot of greater enthusiasm for his campaign now that he has shown that he really can take her on and he really has a possibility of winning the nomination from her. on the other hand with rubio he also has been remarkable. what has been remarkable about coming third? well he came pretty close to pitting trump whereas cruz and trump are very much maverick candidates who have campaigned and who have separated themselves from the republican party, rubio is the establishment candidate of the republicans and what i expect is that the other candidates who didn't do as well for the republicans are going to drop out and support rubio and now it's between him and cruz. >> shaping up to be a very

interesting race and thank you for being with us tom brooks professor of law at duram university. who has an emergency and what does the alert mean and how will it help people in the region. and we explain. >> reporter: the world health organization the u.n. health body declares an emergency when the situation is serious, unusual or unexpected and most also have regional or global implications and may require immediate international action. in this case the w.h.o. has responded to a spike in the number of suspected cases of a birth defect called micro encephaly and strongly suspected that zika virus is the reason. >> detection of infections,

congenital malformations, detection of neurological complications. >> reporter: it's these babies born with birth defects over the last few months in northern brazil who are at the center of the emergency. initially 4180 suspected cases of micro encephaly are reported and only 270 confirmed but there are fears these numbers will grow. >> there are two major questions need to be answered why outbreak in brazil is so big and is the link the possible link between the zika infection and microencephaly and will data support that and this is what declaring an emergency will allow and it releases resources so that people can study and answer these questions. >> reporter: until i have those answers governments in the region are stepping up fumigation and ee ee eer ---er

ratification and governments are also helping to create the problem. >> in 1970 that mosquito had been wiped out of brazil but the brazil people let down their guard, the mosquito came back and they created a tinder box for which zika was just a match. it really is their own fault this has come about. >> reporter: the w.h.o. declared emergencies of this type before in response to spine flu, polio and ebola but the last time when ebola swept through west africa it was criticized for being slow and ineffective possibly costing thousands of lives and since then the w.h.o. has made changes it says makes it more responsive and it has now acted swiftly in declaring an emergency but it will be its handling of the situation in brazil and the wider americas over the coming months that will be the real test. >> joining me live from geneva

is the world health organization spokesman gregory how and declaring them si allows the w.h.o. to fast track a medical response but just what would be the priority response now? >> so basically just to say that we cannot force anyone to do anything and fast tracking perhapses is not the right word. what we are doing really is calling the international communities attention to the fact that this is an issue, it's a concern which goes across national boundaries, it is international. we've seen microencephaly case in brazil and two years ago in fren french polanesia and both cases of microencephaly was linked to zika outbreaks and we need everyone to work together to

establish once and for all if this link does exist between zika and microencephaly or if there is another link we need to know what that link is, what is causing the microencephaly is our biggest concern. >> the fact that a vaccine for the zika virus is years away in the interim what solutions are available to local governments and the populations that are affected by the virus? >> yes, the most important thing at any time and what we recommended again when the emergency was declared yesterday are basic public health measures for controlling mosquito populations and controlling your personal exposure to mosquitos so we would want to do what is called vector and mosquito control so getting rid of mosquitos where they breed, where they live and then also you as an individual should wear the proper type of clothing,

should use mosquito repellants and sleep under bed nets if you sleep in the afternoon, these measures are extremely important. >> we have to leave it there and thank you so much for taking the time to join us gregory there from the w.h.o. let's take a check on the weather now with richard and there is a snowstorm unfolding across the america. >> a big one and of course today is groundhog day and it's 2011 when the u.s. was hit but affected a slightly different area and look at the weather map and you can see the desperate area of cloud across the west which is producing a lot of heavy snowfall across the sierra nevada and it's great for skiers and snow pack that will serve this to melt and used as drinking water and certainly blizzard conditions developing as the jet stream drops down and interacts with the surface and it's a nasty storm impacting

from new mexico up to the great lakes in the northeast so this is the current situation we have with heavy snowfall across significant parts of the west and temperatures minus four in denver, colorado but the risk is there of blizzard conditions extending from kansas, nebraska up to minnesota and at the same time also this frontal system further towards the south is giving very heavy rain and risk of severe storms and even tornados, that is born in mind across alabama, mississippi, louisiana as it moves through and to get to wednesday there is heavy snow across the great lakes and across the sea board and the west another storm developing over the next few days. >> richard thank you, still lots more to come here in the news hour including a new twist this an alleged corruption scandal involving the malaysia prime minister and we hear from tour

de france chris broom about mechanical doping and we will be here to explain all of that in sport. ♪

welcome back you are watching the al jazeera news hour and reminder now of our top stories and the syrian government has made gains during a major offensive in aleppo as talks in geneva to resolve the conflict continue and russia is now accepting islam at the talks, this is despite describing them as terrorist groups. and the race for the white house has begun and ballots were cast

at the iowa caucus, hillary clinton campaign declared victory in an extremely close presidential contest and cruz edged past trump for the vote. emergency because of growing number of birth defects in brazil expected to be linked to the zika virus and pro-government forces in yemen say they made gains in the northeast mountains to the capitol sanaa and backed by a saudi-led military campaign trying to take control from houthi rebels and despite the conflict refugees from the horn of africa are using yemen to get to countries including saudi arabia and we went to djibouti and says they have nothing to lose. >> reporter: this is the trafficking hub and wanting to cross the gulf of aiden and on

ward to the rich golf neighbors arrive here everyday and it has been a popular departure point and they are resting in the shapes of the houses waiting. so he is one of them. >> translator: my dream is to get to saudi arabia, i'm waiting for the smugglers here, about 300 of us will be taken by boat this evening. >> reporter: at the town's main market business is brisk, smugglers and men and negotiators can be seen haggling over prices with traders and four-wheel drive vehicles are never far away. outside the town a big group of migrants just arrived and carrying more than a bottle of water and the hope they are heading towards a better life. this is just one leg of a journey that for most started in ethiopia or araratria and this

is outside the town away from the glare of the djibouti police and say they are fleeing prosecution from their governments. >> translator: we were protesting the grabbing of our land by the government. we were arrested and beaten. i was released on a thousand dollar bail and decided to leave immediately. >> reporter: migrants are undeterred by the conflict in yemen. the people smugglers kept them and informed them about the war there. some young men here were told it is improved access between yemen and neighboring gulf countries. officials from the international migration are discouraging them from taking the boat trips and send back a few wishing to return home but some like this

man and eritrea say they have no where to go back to and he is in a refugee camp from the war in their country and he says he will remain here for as long as possible. mohamed, al jazeera, djibouti. former malaysia minister filed a lawsuit challenging a decision to clear the prime minister of corruption, last month he avoided prosecution over a financial scandal in which he received almost $700 million from the saudi royal family and attorney general said the money was a donation and most of it was returned but the new lawsuit says there is strong evidence of wrongdoing by the prime minister. and we have more on the man leading this new lawsuit against the decision to clear the prime minister. >> he is a respected lawyer having founded one of the largest legal firms in this country and was part of the

government in 2008 and fell out with the government then when he criticized them for arrested three high profile individuals and a blogger and a journalist urn der the security act a way that many human rights activists believe is a way of stifling or criticism of the government and he joined opposition and watching events from the sidelines during the past 18 months, the corruption scandal embroiling the prime minister and government and apparently he is going to file this lawsuit against the attorney general who cleared the prime minister last week of any wrongdoing saying that the 600 plus million dollars that was in the prime minister's account had been received illegally by a donation from the saudi royal family, it has all been returned but there are millions more missing and adding to the weight of the swiss attorney general who also wants to question the government about missing money from swiss

bank accounts that belonged to malaysia companies and it will be interesting to see how far this lawsuit gets within the course of how much traction it actually manages to gain and how much more pressure this will add to the prime minister and to the incumbent government. >> south africa's government is pushing through a series of controversial land reforms at readdressing the ownership between black and white citizens and proposed changes to the law are now being m daed by parliamentary committee and harry reports now from johannesburg and what is at stake. >> reporter: this community has been living illegally on private land for nearly 20 years and used to be a part of a form in joe hand es -- johannesburg. >> they will build other houses. >> reporter: but the government says some land owners don't want to sell or their asking price is too high so it set up apparel menry committee for an ex appropriation bill and if it

becomes law it will give the state the power to buy land without paying the market price and they have to say why they need the property and agree on a price but if negotiations fail a notice of intention to take over the land is issued. >> it takes place and the final compensation that had been offered by government if you are not accepting it would then be paid to you on appropriation and you still have the rights to go to court and say the way in which the government is proceeding is administered of the unjust. >> reporter: land is a sensitive issue and part of the racial tensions here and apartheid leaves the hand in the small mainly white minority and some op six party feel black people should take back their land. >> the land is everything. it's identity and it's for industrial purposes, it's for agricultural and it's for visible purposes.

africans are still treated light pigs. >> reporter: it must be in the public interest and used for public purposes such as billing a school. some people feel the definition of the term property is too broad. they feel it gives government the power to take virtually any kind of business or property, not just land. some south africa people worry it could take over homes and businesses to build houses and other facilities for the poor. >> to think about the home land as business owners and ex appropriated in these circumstances and would find it very difficult to find an alternative if they get market value for example. >> reporter: government officials insist the land will not be arbitrarily ceased and no state sponsored land like zimbabwe and they want the ownership between black and white south africans, al jazeera. let's get more on this who is a law and policy analyst and

joins us live now from johannesburg and this deal seems to right the imbalance of land ownership between black and white south africans and on the surface seems justified, is it? >> well, at this stage i must confess to you that the incentive of saying this is might be true but the fact of the matter is that the large majority of land owned by south africans are the farmers and farmers are the ones who produce the food in south africa so the fact you say that they should be deprived of land for the sake of redistributing land to the black majority does not make economic sense because america's economy is suffering at this stage quite drastically due to jay sob

zuma's decisions and minister of finance and pushing through the bill will just create more uncertainty for foreign bases trying to invest in south africa and it's just detrimental to our economy. >> you can't escape there is a major income and wealth gap between black and white south africans as well and many blamed the policies of past white minority governments and says this is what jacob zuma has to deal with and are you in favor of addressing this economic imbalance? >> well, the fact of the matter is when you talk about ex appropriating land for public interest and public benefit and so forth you still need to in effect consider what impact you will have on other sectors within your society you can't just go about taking land from people just because you feel that there were indifferences which now need to be corrected.

>> let me just stop you there, how then would you address this imbalance of land ownership, business ownership and income inequality? >> well, the fact of the matter is if this bill does get passed and get signed into law by president zuma we feel the definition of property is far too wide. at this stage if you apply the bull as it stands the government can even seize intellectual property and shares as property and ownership and that just won't suffice and with respect to the constitution of south africa i do not think that the constitution's aim to entitle everyone to have access to land and so forth justifies this bull's definition of how the issues should be accomplished. >> thank you so much for speaking to much, armand grreyling and apple is no longer

the world's valuable company it's alphabet who owns google and alphabet topped the list after it released a fourth quarter earnings report that showed huge growth and alphabet is worth $568 billion and apple currently has a value of $535 billion and joining me now is michael the chief of cnc market in london and alphabet is the parent company of google, what else does it do? >> yeah, well i think one of the things that google has made most of its money from is essentially what we know of google, google maps, google search, youtube but what it did a few months ago was it split out its research and development business, its other best part and looks at drivable cars and google glass in order

to give investors more transparency about where an awful lot of r and d money was actually going and i think it's this new transparency giving investors a lot more confidence on how google is spending its money and posted much better revenues for the fourth quarter and profits of 16.3 billion dollars overall. what it also shown is the other best business has lost $3.6 billion but i think it's the transparency that encouraged investors that it's heading in the right direction and it's continuing to innovate. >> so is this a lesson in restructuring your business or business diversification and that is how one gets to the top in business? >> i certainly think that is part of it and if you compare it with apple and if early indications are a guide google will open higher this morning or alphabet will open higher and

surpass apple in terms of market value but apple share prices recently has been coming off and that is not to say that apple has hit a bit of a plateau, it's got profits in access of google around $50 billion and googles are $16.3 but there is a perception apple is not being totally transparent in the way it reports its numbers and there is a significant slow down in some of the iphone sales. i think there is an awful lot what i would call innovation log jam with respect to apple in that some of the upgrades they are bringing forward for the iphone are very minor and very small and as a result you see the upgrade cycle is starting to run out of business and i think furthermore the apple watch, they are not being transparent about the numbers that they are selling there and i think it's giving the impression that the innovation cycle is starting to

run out of steam in contrast to what is happening with google, they are still plowing money in r and d and transparent about where it's being spent. >> michael thank you so much for explaining this to us for r and d in london. news hour orlando lose their magic while san antonio live up as the number two ranked team in the nba, details coming up. ♪

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time for sport now. >> thanks and love the shoes and the pin caand denies links to performance enhancing drug banned by the league and payton manning being investigated by the nfl after a report by al jazeera saying a human growth hormone was sent to his home. >> i can't speak for anybody else and i've addressed this before and why i welcome this nfl investigation because i know the rules of the nfl and i respect the rules and they are important to me and so what this report alleges that i did is simply not true and fabricated and it's junk and garbage, i can give you a long list of other words for it and i can guaranty you this investigation what it will find is absolutely a big fat nothing so that is how i

feel about it. >> reporter: brazilian football will give evidence in a spanish court later this tuesday of allegations of tax fraud following his transfer to barcelona three years ago and star and parents will be questioned over the deal, barcelona and top officials are accused of failing to pay the correct amount of tax on the transaction. now the legal troubles began when he moved from the club to barsa in 2013 and at the time barcelona paid $74 million for the striker but allegations in spain showed that figure to be more like $90 million. that was barcelona pays less tax than it should on the transaction about $12 1/2 million less than a spanish court is saying and his predecessor are all being investigated and if found guilty they could face millions in fines and jail time and his

father who is his agent will also appear in court and that is not all, tax inspectors in brazil also investigating the players finances and claims tax havens are used to avoid payments in the home country. now one myanmar is one of the many players being linked to manchester city and they will take over in july, the players father entered the legal battle we are talking about and could see him leave spain and speaking two weeks ago the captain said he was the fan of the former barsa coach. >> translator: yes, there is, it's a guy i admire a lot and would like to work with him. it's hard to say if i would like to play other countries, nobody knows what will happen tomorrow, i'm very happy where i am at barcelona. >> reporter: cutoff funding to the two confederations in the americas following corruption scandals that blighted the game

and fight against corruption was the center of this man's manifesto on monday and he told al jazeera he still has the blessing of his boss and the chief michelle as he tries to land the top job in football but is he totally willing and he insists he is more than a stand in for his boss. >> reporter: the boss was ban from futbol and step forward johnny and friends including these two and london and the europe government body released the manifesto to be the president of fifa and is he the heir to the fifa throne? he is seriously a contender and why should you be president? >> how many hours do i have? >> reporter: you have one minute maximum. >> i'm the right man for this

job for fifa president because i'm the man who can bring futbol back to fifa. >> reporter: one of five candidates confirmed to be standing but the favorite for the presidency is a man from bahrain and london has become the epicenter for world sport and if you want a message out to the 209 voting associations then really this is the place to be and it will help of course if you have a few famous friends with you but he had been everywhere in resent weeks busy making friends and trying to influence voters in africa, asia, the caribbean, there have been pledges of support in central and south america and for mother but not all nations from his own patch in europe. but as i listen to his manifest to i wonder if he has the support he needs in asia and africa. >> i think so. i'm very confident i already came out publically and in

support. >> but not in asia or africa. >> not yet asia or africa and this will follow certainly for anybody else by the way, nobody came out public for anyone else. >> reporter: this is all entirely comfortable and he is standi standing. for the moment he is ban from futbol. >> reporter: still have his blessing? >> of course, i have a great relationship with him over many years. >> reporter: he enjoyed the big european spotlight or the secret ballot later this month make him a permanent fixture in charge of futbol and english futbol the end of the road you have achieved your goal. in the fifa presidential election there is still plenty of work for the candidates to do over the next few weeks, lee wellings, al jazeera london. he says he had authority a few years ago of possibility of motorized bikes being used in the sport and comes after the

belgium had a motor in her bike frame at the world cycling championships on saturday and the tour de france called for increase in bike testing to root out what some are calling motorized or mechanical doping. >> well, for the last few years now there have been rumors about motors being concealed within the bikes and it's a concern i've had and something i've brought up with the independent commission when i sat down with them and said listen from my point of view there are these rumors and it's my advice that they implement control and start checking bikes more regularly. >> the number two ranked team in the nba the san antonio spurs beat the or orlando magic and the win is the spurs 26th successive victory on home court and scored 28 points and getting

back to winning ways after resent losses to the cavs and the warriors on the road. now the weather hit farmers open without hitting a single shot and american completed three under par and sunday before play was halted because of bad weather. other players did have to finish on this monday including jimmy walker and he was leading but struggled in the windy conditions, south korea could have forced a playoff but he missed a long birdie put on 18 and he won by a single shot declaring his 8th pga tour victory. now messi an idol for children around the world but a fan from afghanistan who became an internet star for using a plastic bag will get to met him

and it went viral pictured wearing a blue and white bag with messi's name only it and the management contacted the boy who lives in eastern afghanistan to discuss a meeting between the two and you will find out in the next few days if he will be able to make a dream trip to barcelona. >> translator: he became an messi by watching television and he asked me to find an messi shirt with his name only it but i couldn't find the jersey because we live far from the bizarre and his brother made a jersey for him and posted it on facebook. >> reporter: that boy has skills and offer you back. >> dreams do come true, thanks very much. stay with us here on al jazeera, we have more news for you right at the top of the hour, don't forget the latest news on our website al jazeera.com.

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we have not seen a catastrophe like this since world war ii. >> the u.s. secretary of state describes the deplorable situation in syria pushing the warring sides to talk. ♪ we have the latest news on al jazeera and coming up, a blow for donald trump and nail-biting result for hillary clinton in a vote for the long race to the white house. w.h.o. has a global emergency over the zika virus but brazil says the olympics will