north korean excitement of the launch of a long-range rocket but there are swift condemnations from around the world. hello. live from al jazeera's headquarters in doha. also on the program marco rubio under fire as presidential hopefuls go head to head in the new hampshire primary. signs of life in the rubble of an aapartment block after

taiwan's earthquake, but more than 100 people are still feared trapped. >> you could not even try planting seeds. it has been dryer than ever disaster zones are declared as south africa remains in the grip of a severe drought north korea has defied international warnings and launched a long-range rocket. it was fired from a base in the north-west and passed over japan's island. there has been widespread condemnation from many. they say the launch is a cover for the testing of a new missile technology. north korea state media made the announcement saying a rocket carrying an earth observation satellite was successfully launched into orbit. the u.s. secretary general ban ki-moon has called pyongyang's

actions deplorable. he says it is a violation of the security rulingss. a meeting has been called for later on sunday. the security council needs to respond quickly with strong punitive measures. they say they will continue talks with u.s. on a new missile defense system. we will have the latest reaction from beijing with our correspondent, but first going to harry faucet who is in seoul for us. there has been, i understand, a briefly in the last hour of the south korean defense ministry and u.s. officials. what has come out of it? >> reporter: what has come out of it is something that south korea states have been just sort of entering into talks. now they're confirming that they will go into full consultations on the deployment, possible deployment, of the u.s. anti missile system, the system that could be deployed here on south korean territory.

it is designed to knock out incoming high altitude - incoming missiles at a high altitude. it is something that south korea says might be necessary in order to increase its defensive capabilities against north korea as it continues to develop what south korea says is a missile program as evidenced by today's launch. it is something not just a warning to north korea but also ups the pressure on beijing because china has been very much against the idea of the u.s. deploying this missile system on south korean soil so close to its oun territory. obviously there is pressure on china to act more decisively and punitively against its ally in pyongyang we will get the view from china in a moment, but what has been the reaction of ordinary south koreans some in do they feel threatened by this launch or are they used to this type of behaviour now from north korea? >> reporter: they're very used to it. this is the start of the lunar

new year holiday. i think most people are more concerned about their own travel plans and all the rest of it to do with that holiday than they are looking at this rocket launch. obviously, there is some level of concern that north korea is continuing this action. we've just had the fourth nuclear test just a few weeks ago at the beginning of january. now we have this rocket launch which, obviously, the south korean government, u.s., japan and others say it is for a missile test. however, the vast majority of south koreans, i think, do become used to north korea going through with these actions. it is a signal that it is very difficult to try and pressure north korea to change this kind of course from outside north korea. whatever the international community has thrown at it and whatever china may or may not do in the coming weeks, north korea is determined to pursue both its nuclear program and its missile

program. it says so openly and so far no amount of international pressure has dissuaded it from that course of action thank you very much. over to beijing and adrian brown. even china, one of north korea's only allies, has expressed regret at this latest launch, but china not likely to be happy with this decision by the u.s. and south koreans to discuss the possibility of deploying high altitude miss ilinterceptor system >> reporter: yes. i think china would regard that as happening as almost as series as what north korea has done today. china has urged restraint and calm. it says what south korea is now proposing would possibly destabilize things even more. china today issued a fairly measured statement. the ministry of foreign affairs

on its website said that north korea had the right to carry out tests in outer space, but those tests were somewhat limited by united nations security council resolutions. it also said that north korea had acted in defiance of the international community but it stressed again and again the only way to resolve this is through dialogue. its message, i think, to the outside world is this. you know, north korea basically is the only country that will talk to us. so you have to give us more time to work with north korea. now, of course, the united nations security council is going to meet. china, of course, is a permanent member of that council, it has a powerful veto. the question now is whether china is going to sign up to tougher sanctions against north korea. certainly china doesn't believe that sanctions are an end to themselves, the great fear here in china is that tougher

sanctions could lead to the regime imploding and eventually the hundreds of thousands refugees will power into china. it is not north korea that is the most immediate concern for china right now, strange as it might seen. they're more concerned about what is happening in the south china sea where it has been busy building islands. in recent days the u.s. has been sailing its warships close to those islands and chin says that-- china says that's a severe provocation. their under lying message is, if you could crease those operations in waters that we claim, we might help give you what you want when it comes to north korea. because it knows it has a pivotal role to play, but what we don't know is whether china has any influence over north

korea any more thank you for that. the u.n. security council will be holding an emergency meeting later on sunday following requests by the u.s. and china. here is our correspondent now. >> reporter: u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon called the missiles launch "deeply deplorable". that was the first statement coming out of u.n. headquarters here in new york. the council will be holding an emergency meeting on sunday, 16 gmt, around 11am local time here. i can tell you that the secretary general ban ki-moon had warned north korea before this launch not to go forward with it. also diplomats here at the u.n. told al jazeera that they also warned north korea as well not to pursue this missile launch.

clearly those warnings fell on deaf ears. now, what we can expect at the security council is it's the first chance that the members can all get together in one room to discuss where they go from here, what new measures or resolutions they might pursue, but i can tell you that it is slow moving here oftentimes at the u.n. already china and the u.s. had been discussing new security council resolutions based on a north korea nuclear test last month, but those new resolutions were moving very slowly, but now the security council is faced with this new issue that has fallen right in their lap that they now have to deal with. on sunday it's going to be very interesting to see how all sides position themselves, especially china. historically north korea's strongest ally u.s. republican presidential

hopefuls have squared off. donald trump was back on stage. seven candidates took part in the debate. our correspondent has the latest from new hampshire >> reporter: the big story coming in this debate was marco rubio and the momentum he generated from his third place finish in iowa. that made him the first of attacks. donald trump is ahead of the polls and believes he will top the polls come tuesday. ted cruz is trying to build on the momentum of his win in iowa. jeb bush, john kasich, they all did well, chris christie had a goodnight, but the story will be marco rubio and how badly he faired. they all believe they will do welcome tuesday, but if you don't finish in the top four

you're in trouble. marco rubio will be watching the polls over the next 72 hours to see how much damage was done here in southern taiwan rescue workers say they've found signs of life under the debris of a high-rise building which collapsed after saturday's earthquake. more than 130 are feared to be trapped. 20 people have been killed. an update from there. >> reporter: rescue teams are now working deeper into this mountain of rubble in the continuing search for survivors. it is thought most people found so far have been from the upper reaches, the more accessible parts of the building. those still missing are thought to be done in the more damaged part of this mound of rubble where conditions are a lot more difficult, it's inaccessible. we've seen teams going in with equipment to cut through masonry and steel, but it is only small hand-held kwim.

they have to-- equipment. they have to work very carefully in this area. it is thought that most of the people that are in the building will have died, but they are still finding survivors given rescuers hope that more people will still be found alive still ahead here on al jazeera, staying the course, why greek farmers protesting against government austerity measures are refusing to back down. bringing in the lunar new year, we will find what the monkey is expected to bring for the chinese economy. just stay with us. stay with us.

welcome back. you're watching al jazeera live from doha. north korea has defied international warnings and launched a long rage rocket. south korea has condemned the action and said it will start talking with the u.s. on a new system. u.n. will hold an emergency meeting on sunday. in southern taiwan government officials say at least 24 people have died in saturday's earthquake. more than 130 people are still feared tracked under buildings. rescue workers say they found signs of life in tainan city. u.s. republican presidential hopefuls have squared off in another debate ahead of the new hampshire primary. this time done amend trump was-- donald trump was back on stage. seven republican candidates took part in the debate.

to our main story, north korea has been widely condemned after the rocket launch earlier. joining us from seoul, a professor of international relations. before we talk about the international condemnation and what the international community might do next, please explain to us what the thinking is behind these launches. it's not the first time we've been here before, of course. this is the sixth launch. what is the thinking behind this? is it about prestige, about security, and also why now? >> i think it's about three things. one is for national security, the second thing is prestige, as you mentioned, and the third thing, which is counter intuitive, is economic development and prosperity. most of us in the rest of the world think of these programs as having an opportunity cost. it puts north korea under economic sanctions, we see the

condemnation, but from the state ideological perspective in north korea, they believe that this enhances the power of the state in a stronger stayed-- and a stronger state will mean they could achieve greater profits how is it able to continue building these weapons. where do they get the technology and the resources from? >> the state has tight controls over the economy. they can squeeze resources and allocate it to sectors of their choice. we see the choices that are made there. in terms of consumer economy, food security and elsewhere, they have shortages and a number of problems, but they've been dedicated to developing his aisles, nuclear weapons for-- missiles, nuclear weapons for deck apdz. they have a core-- decades.

they have a core of engineers. they're provided with the materials, the finances to work on these programs over a long period of time. so far as the technology, materials and components, some of that they produced themselves, some import, some smuggle. they have an advanced worldwide network to get components, many of which are dual use items. they can be used for civilian applications as well as military applications let's talk about the international reactions now. we have the south koreans and americans saying that they're going to be discussing the possibility of launching high altitude missile interceptor, but, of course, this is going to anger the chi cheese in-- chinese if they do ahead with this. will they do that or is this just a message to send the north koreans? >> i think what we see going on in the region, this instability

and insecurity on a number of sides from a number of different sources. there is an overall dissatisfaction. so it is moving into more of this arms racing, security dilemma, dynamics whereby everyone is responding to the actions of the other. people will be complaining about different things in the region as far as the missile defense system. now in washington have begun talks it will probably be deployed at some point. i think it makes it easier for south korea to make that decision, regardless of how unhappy china might be about it even china has expressed regret after this launch today, but do you think the chinese will go so far as supporting stronger sanctions against north korea at the u.n. security council? >> possibly on the margins, but i don't expect china to take any action that will be destabilizing. my personal view is that the

only way you could stop these actions or behaviours of north korea is through force, which probably means war or you would need some kind of revolution inside north korea whereby the regime changes its thinking, it's development strategy, its national security policy and its world view and that would mean abandoning the state ideology, the identity of the regime and so forth. either of those two tracts would be very destabilizing and that's something china is it not want to see. they will not take strong punitive actions thank you very much for that. syrian government forces are continuing to advance as they try to cut off rebel fighters in the northern city aleppo. they have captured a number of villages and towns nearby. thousands of people who have fled the fighting are still stranded on the border with

turkey. the turkish government has not allowed them to cross but have provided supplies to them. refugees are having to sleep out in the open. in greece farmers have stepped up protests calling for the government to withdraw pension reforms and tax hikes. demonstrations stopped traffic on main roads around the country while 100 tractors blocked the borders. >> reporter: the tractors maneuver into position. for two weeks farmers have been faking over greek highways stopping agricultural produce from moving along the roads. now they're stepping up their protests. it is their latest tactic to put more pressure on the government. they say they won't back down. >> we are willing to talk with them. send them so we stand our grounds. we're going to stay the longest.

we have to >> reporter: many farmers believe that if they give in now, they will be out of business in a few years as proposed austerity measures are phased in. farmers are being asked to pay 26% income tax and another 27% of their income for health care coverage and pension contributions. these and a slew of other taxes would deprive them of roughly 60% of their income. that is three times what they faced two years ago. farming is high cost and high risk. many of these farmers are only ever one bad crop away from bankruptcy. new taxes would mean they wouldn't have enough capital to invest in another year's harvest. among the protest is a man and his wife quit their city jobs just before the greek debt crisis and invested all their savings in two and a half hectares of organic olive and citrus trees. to maximise their earnings they built a cottage industry in

preserves and pureed vegetables. they have lost hope in the >> >> translation: i think-- in the e.u. no matter how hard we fight, it doesn't add up. if recovers and we can feed and educate our children, we can talk about e.u. membership again >> reporter: the government says it can't back down. it has promised creditors it will save two billion dollars a year in pension spending, but farmers are also digging in. they're determined to continue their blockades even if it means violent confrontations with police. for now it is a war of nerves the main indian crossing is open to traffic for the first time in nearly five years. five months, rather.

70 petrol tanksers headed into india to fill up with fuel. protesters from a minority had blocked the crossing demanding more rights in the new constitution t nepal accused india of backing the blockade, allegations that new delhi denied. many died in the protests. investigators in somalia say a suicide bomber may have set-off an explosive which blew a hole in the side of a passenger jet. one man was sucked out of the plane which went on to make an emergency landing. the transport minister says the bomber aimed to kill everyone on board. he said al-shabab was behind the attack but the group has not claimed responsibility. to south africa where nine provinces have been declared disaster areas because of severe

drought. farmers have been worst affected by the dry spell. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: it's south africa's worst drought in more than 20 years. this farmer has been growing maze on this land for more than five decades as his father and grandfather did before him. >> translation: there has never been a time that there has not been maize in december. you could not even try planting seeds. it has been dryer than ever >> reporter: he said dry spells are not unusual but he has never seen conditions this bad. it is estimated the drought is costing south african farmers more than 600 million dollars in lost crops. maize production has reduced by a third. >> translation: we are in a

draught. everyone will have a short age of maize. it will be very expensive to import it. it will put the price up high. people will have to get used to this not being affordable >> reporter: the government is spending 90 million dollars on aid for struggling farmsers. they say they will need to use different methods to aadopt to changing weather patterns >> we need to put more funding so that we can deal with the capacity to put most of the production on education. it will mean new infrastructure. currently we produce more on dry land than we produce elsewhere. >> reporter: dams mean entire-- dry dams mean the whole community is affected. people have have not had water for more than four months. they rely on these water tanks

installed by private donors. people say they have had no other way of surviving >> the water is not enough for community. especially for schools, kids are there. drinking water. it is difficult. >> translation: it is very painful because we don't have water, but i'm comforted by the fact that there has been a little rain. >> reporter: national water campaigns hope to bring some relief to those affected by the drought, but as dry conditions are expected to continue for months, there is concern that if there is another season of low yields, many farmers will see their livelihoods disappear chinese communities across the world are getting ready to mark the lunar new year on monday. people are hoping the year of the monkey will bring better for teen after a year of economic turmoil. as our correspondent reports, predictions from the fortune tellers are not looking good.

>> reporter: the chinese new year market is a good indicator of how bad things are. the school that rents the stall ever year so people can learn about business is paying 30% less for it. people have less money to spend. >> actually, lower price items, cheap items sell better >> reporter: for masters of the chinese art of predicting the future it is time to take stock. this year of the goat last year of the goat was good, but some point to the nuclear deal with iran but a troubled year in the west >> the worst spot europe. you have refugee problem, you have economic crisis and terrorist attacks >> reporter: for hong kong and china the past year will be remembered for its economic woes. many will be glad to see the back of the goat. stock market turbulence and an economic downturn in mainland china had a big impact on hong

kong, but investors should not expect the monkey would not be any better behaved >> on one hand we love this animal because they have human an particulars, but we-- antics, they have mischievous acts and be uncontrollable at times. so this year will be a little bit uncontrollable. >> reporter: better get as much luck as fortune sticks and incense will provide. people seek good fortune, health and prosperity for the year again. >> a good hope to get decent job >> don't invest too much in the coming year. that's my opinion. >> reporter: people are braced for whatever the monkey will throw at them and a reminder that you can keep up-to-date with all the news on our website,

aljazeera.com, the very latest on all other stories, including the main story which is north korea's launch of a satellite which has been condemned by the international community. aljazeera.com >> for millions it is a simple act, but for me it is often a game of chance. one wrong bite and my immune system goes haywire. for me, a peanut becomes an extreme threat. my heart races. my skin erupts. my stomach is under seige. i am sick, and i am in trouble, but i'm not alone.