north korea launches a long-range rocket. now the u.s. and south korea are to hold top-level talks hello there. we're leaving in al jazeera's headquarters in doha. also ahead, signs of life in the rubble of an apartment building that collapsed after an earthquake in taiwan. the still anger on the streets despite the outgoing president

striking a deal with the parliament in haiti. >> reporter: i'm in man chess tear new hampshire where the republicans have held their latest debate and some have gone on the attack. -- manchester our top story. north korea has launched a long range rocket into space. it was fired from a base in the north-west of the country. there has been widespread condemnation from south korea, japan, u.s. and russia, among others. they say the launch is cover for testing new missile technology. north korea state tv making the announcement like this via a news reader saying a rocket carrying an earth observation satellite had been successful launched into orbit. they were released at the same time. ban ki-moon called pyongyang's action deplorable. he says it is a violation of

u.n. security council resolutions. an emergency meeting of the security council has been called for today in new york. south korea's president says the security council needs to respond quickly with what she calls strong punitive measures. seoul says it will begin talks with the u.s. on a new missile defense system. harry faucet has this from south korea. >> reporter: north korea had brought forward its launch window by a day to make the most of favorable conditions. it waited just two hours into that window before launching its rocket into space. it says that that happened within ten minutes of the launch and it was a successful launch, successfully putting that satellite into earth orbit. here it is viewed differently in south korea. they see it as a concealed was

ilparticular missile test-- ballistic missile test. the president of south korea park geun-hye convened and said this is an unacceptable provocation calling for the u.n. security council which is holding an emergency meeting later on sunday to come up with very strong sanctions. of course, that's very much the line of the u.s. as well and japan. they are also here in south korea talking about the possible deployment of the u.s. fad anti missile. china is against that system being deployed so close to the own territory. both the u.s. and south korea are trying to pressure china to do more to rein in its ally adrian brown now in beijing >> reporter: china is the only

friend or ally that north korea has. it provides a vital economic life lining to the country. -- life line to the country. china dispatched a special envoy to north korea to appeal to the country to go ahead with the test. that will be a cause of anger and embarrassment to the leadership here. on sunday the ministry of foreign affairs issued a terse statement here in beijing saying that they regretted the fact that north korea had decided to ignore the pervasive opposition of the international community by testing its ballistic missile technology. it urged calm and restraint saying the only way to bring about a lasting peace on the peninsula was through dialogue. the question is whether china will sign up to toughening sanctions because in the past china says it doesn't believe that sanctions are an end to themselves as we have been mentioning,

the u.n. security council will hold an emergency meeting later on today on that rocket launch. our correspondent is at the u.n. >> reporter: u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon calling this "deeply deplorable". that was the first statement coming out of u.n. headquarters here in new york. the u.n. security council will be holding this emergency meeting on sunday. it will be at 16 g.m. t, around 11 a m local time here in new york. i can tell you that the secretary sdwrernl ban ki-moon-- general ban ki-moon had urged them not to go forward with it. diplomats say they warned north korea to launch this as well but obviously it went on deaf ears. this is the first chance that the security council members can

get together in run 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 resolutionize based on a test months but they were moving slowly and now they're faced with in issue that they now have to deal with. on sunday it will be very interesting to see how all sides position themselves especially china, historically north korea's strongest ally in our news, syrian government forces are continuing to advance as they try to cut off rebel fighters in the city of aleppo. the troops have syria's biggest city surrounded after capturing a number of villages and towns near by.

many are stranded on the border with turkey. the turkish government says it is supplying food and shelter but not allowing them to cross the border. people are having to sleep out in the open. is it your estimation that we're imminently going see the fall of aleppo city? >> reporter: i think it's difficult to say. i think it is clear from the people we're speaking to inside that it is a relentless campaign and the syrian government with its allies backed by russian air strikes are making an incredible headway in surrounding the city. we're seeing this movement of people, not just here to the border with turkey, but also in surrounding areas. that's why there has been a discrepancy in numbers. i don't think that the tens of thousands here at the border are correct. as you can see it is security concerns, but there are thousands on the other side here. there are aid agencies going in

helping to provide food and shelter, but we heard from the turkish president erdogan, he spoke to press on a plane when he was coming back from per ewe - peru. he said it could be up to 70,000 people making their way from aleppo if it continues. he says turkey would open their borders if deemed necessary, but they seem to have the situation under control by providing shelter and supplies on the other say. it does get extremely cold here at night. whatever they are supplying clearly is not enough. these people with desperate and fearful of this new campaign that is tightening its grip around the crucial city of aleppo at the moment one estimate is saying 35,000, your source saying maybe 70,000. surely if it's 70,000, 80,000 say, there is a point where no matter how efficient the operation is inside syria, the

aid workers can't cope with that. >> reporter: absolutely. the 70,000 is the number of future predictions, saying this could happen. the u.n. is giving numbers between 20 and 40,000. we heard also from the government here, the governor saying 35,000. they're not all here on the border. they have gone to towns. people do know that this border is shut and the conditions are difficult. they're trying to move to places where there is a form of more constructive shelter, but even then you have to understand millions of people are internally displaced. even turkey is hosting around 2.5 million refugees. we're now into the six year of this war and this flow keeps coming. i think while we're waiting for people to achieve something on the negotiating table, it is clear that nothing on the ground is really changing and certainly it seems that the syrian government is now is changing its momentum on the ground. last year they lost ground.

now they're making ground. that will bring them to a negotiating table with a much stronger manned, but the downfall of that, the side effect of that is this humanitarian catastrophe, that you have many petrified. people in aleppo have been staying there and sitting it out and these people desperate to leave, fearful because of the intensity of the russian air strikes. something we will have to wait and see but if that campaign continues with its intensity that we've been seeing, these numbers will continue to increase thank you. rescue workers in taiwan say they found signs of life under the debris of a high rise building which collapsed after the earthquake. more than 130 people are still feared trapped. 24 people have been killed. the worst affected area. our correspondent is there >> reporter: rescue teams are working deeper into this mountain of rubble in the continuing search for survivors. it is thought most of the people

found so far have been from the upper reaches, they're more accessible parts of the building. those still missing are thought to be down in the more damaged ground level part of this mountain of rubble where conditions are a lot more difficult. it is inaccessible, difficult to reach these small spaces. we've seen teams going in with equipment to cut through masonry and steel, but it is only smaller hand-held equipment they have to work very carefully in these areas so they don't dislodge any of this rubble and that moves the people that they're trying to find. most of the people that are in the building will have died, but they are still finding survivors, giving rescuers hope that more people will still be found alive going to the states, presidential hopefuls have held their latest debate. the florida senator marco rubio, whose popularity has been growing, was given the hardest time of the event which was

hosted by abc. >> reporter: bizarre opening with candidates seemingly wandering onto the stage. donald trump was back. the front runner was not initially the main target of attacks from the others. that was marco rubio. he is seen as a threat to others who tried to drag him down >> that's what washington dc does. the drive by shot at the beginning with incorrect and incomplete information and then the memorized 25-second speech. >> the thing is this, when you're president of the u.s., to memorise a speech where america is said at the end, doesn't solve anything. >> reporter: >> we're saying the launch from north korea is the direct result of the failures of the first clinton administration, the

administration led the world in relaxing sanctions against north korea. billions of dollars flowed into north korea in an exchange not to build nuclear weapons. it is foreshadowing where we will be iran. >> reporter: some comments by donald trump that brought boos from the audience. >> a lot of times - that's all donors out there. >> reporter: the candidates were asked if they would bring back water boarding, a practice obama banned as torture >> i would not bring it back. >> it was used sparringly. congress has changed the laws. where we stand is the appropriate place. >> i would bring back water boarding and a hell of a lot worse than that. >> reporter: the story going into this debate was all about

marco rubio's momentum and how he had done well in iowa and how he could do better. that could be enough to damage him, maybe not too much but enough. >> we thank the appeal for having us. >> reporter: the candidates spent their final hours chasing votes, chasing support and chasing the dream of success still to come on this program >> we could not even try planting seeds. it has been dryer than ever. >> reporter: disaster zones declared as south africa remains in drought. the new year of the monkey, and chinese economy. e economy.

welcome back to al jazeera. a reminder of the main news. north korea has launched a long range rocket into space. south korea has condemned the action and says it will begin talks with the u.s. on a new missile defense system. the u.n. security council will hold an emergency meeting later on sunday. in soun taiwan government officials say at least 24 people have died on saturday's earthquake. more than 130 people are still feared trapped. rescue workers say they have found signs of life. presidential hopefuls have squared off in their latest debate. marco rubio faced the strongest

attacks from rivals trying to stem his growing popularity. to haiti where the outgoing president has struck a deal with the parliament to form an interim government less than a day before he was due to step down. it is hoped it will quell weeks of protests calling on him to leave office. he has been ruling by decree since january last year. that's when the parliament was dissolved because of disputes over a new electoral role. >> reporter: they came to an agreement, but the crisis here is far from over. a few blocks away what you're looking at is the remnant of a massive protest today in the central portion of the city. thousands of people took to the streets to voice their opposition not only to martelli but to the entire political

process. police at one point fired a water cannon to disburse the crowd. at least one person was arrested. on april 24 there will be a presidential run off and that president will take power in may. before that happens, though, the parliament in the meantime will elect an interim president. the opposition is opposed to this. they believe that he is corrupt and that his allies in the parliament were elected in a fraudulent manner. one of the ideas being bandied about by the opposition is that the supreme court president would, in fact, become the interim president instead. as i mentioned, this is the remnants of a protest earlier today. we have been speaking to young men who have a lot of pent up frustrations. they say during the president's term there was little benefits that trickled down to them.

he is expected to appear to make this announcement of this agreement. also happening on sunday is carnival. you can see behind me the big grandstands set up. there will be a big parade on this street. the president said he will appear on a float to say farewell on his last day in office. what remains unknown is what will happen on sunday when so many people disagree with this agreement the colombian president says his country has diagnosed more than three thousand pregnant women as having the zika virus. the country reported three deaths on friday from a nerve disorder suspected of being linked to the virus. >> reporter: the president says that there are no signs so far that more than 3,000 women who are pregnant are going to give birth to children with microcephaly, but the key word here is so far. this syndrome is often not

detected until the 7th month, sometimes not only the mother gives birth. the zika epidemic is newer in colombia than brazil. so it is clearly too early to tell. on the other hand colombia is saying that three people who died from a syndrome, which often kill people, was caused by zika. we have seen a spike in this disease, not just in pregnant women or children, but others. there is still a lot to be investigated. we don't know a lot, but we know that researchers have found zika virus in urine and also in saliva. there is a lot of concern during carnival here in brazil that the people could pass on the virus through saliva by kissing. there are thousands and thousands of people out on the streets of brazil right now

drinking beer and kissing strangers. that is customary during carnival but this year it certainly isn't safe thousands supporters of the anti islam group pegida has been protesting against refugees coming to europe. >> reporter: this was their opportunity to show strength in numbers, to link up with supporters from across europe. dresden is where the group sprang from. its followers are fearful of the future. >> translation: we will be a minority. in the end i'm here for my grandchildren. it cannot be that i am a minority in my own country. this is the way it will end up being. >> reporter: the people at this demonstration have come here to show their extreme unhappiness with the refugee policies of the coalition government. they say they represent a growing sentiment in german society and they say they want

those policies radically changed now. pegida's organisers have called for a series of rallies in five european countries. this was the french northern port city calais which has long been a designation for refugees and migrants trying to reach the u.k. around 150 supporters were involved in disturbances with the police. ten people were arrested. across the channel hundreds of people marched through the english city of birmingham but the numbers were lower than in dresden. over the course of 2015 the group had struggled to retain its support, with dwindling attendances at weekly rallies. one academic told me all that changed late last year >> they have been reinvigorated by the ongoing and increasing

and enormous immigration into germany which started last september because all the fears they had came true. all these statements of politicians that pegidans would talk about problems which were not really problems turned out to be wrong. >> reporter: but that analysis was not shared by several thousand opponents of pegida who also rallied in dresden on saturday. the coalition government is broadly committed to its refugee policy despite the hardening in public opinion. but that policy will soon face a serious examination when three key states hold parliamentary elections next month investigators in somalia say a suicide bomber may have set-off an explosive in mid aair which blue a hole in the side of a passenger jet.

one man was sucked out of the plane which went on to make a landing in mogadishu. the bomber was trying to kill everyone board. five of south africa's nine provinces have been declared a drought area. half the country's staple maize crop is grown. >> reporter: it is the worst drought in more than 20 years. this man has been growing 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. we could not try planting seeldz. it has-- seeds. it has been dryer than ever. >> reporter: he says dry spells is not unusual but he has never seen conditions this bad. it is estimated the drought is costing farmers more than 600 million dollars in lost crops.

no rainfall means the production has dropped by a third. south africa will have to impart three million tons of maize to feed the country this year. >> translation: all of a sudden we're in a drought so we will have a shortage of maize. it will be very expensive to import it. it is a staple food. >> reporter: the government is spending 19 million dollars on aid for struggling farmers and says farmers will need to start using different methods to adopt to change in weather patterns. >> we can't contend relying on this. we need to put more funding so we can build our capacity to put most of our production on irrigati irrigation. we need new infrastructure.

>> reporter: dry rivers and damns mean entire communities are affected by the drought. not far from the farm these people have not had water from four months. they rely on these water tanks installed by private donors. people say they have had no other way of surviving. >> the water we have is not enough for the community, so we are in a crisis of water. especially for schools also because kids are there at schools 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 gains hope to-- campaigns hope to bring some relief to those of the drought. as dry conditions are expected to continue for months, this concern that if there is another season of low yields, many farmers will see their livelihoods disappear chinese communities around the world are getting ready to

mark the lunar new year on monday. people are hoping the year of the monkey will bring better fortune after a year of turmoil. 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 this stall every year so people can learn about business is paying 30% less for it and people have less money to spend. >> actually, lower price items, cheap items, sells much better. >> reporter: for masters of the chinese art of predicting the future it is time it take stock. the part year of the goat was good for negotiations. some point to the troubled year in the west. >> the worse position is europe, you have refugee problem, economic crisis and terrorist

attacks >> reporter: for honoring dong and china the past year will be remembered for its economic woes. many will be glad to see the back of the goat. investors should not expect the monkey will be any better behaved >> on the one hand we love this animal because they have some human antics, but they have mischievous acts and can be uncontrollable. so we think the coming year will also be a little bit uncontrollable. >> reporter: better get as much luck as fortune sticks and incense will provide. all of the temples are doing good business as people seek good fortune, health aborigine prosperity for the year that's about to begin-- health and prosper at this time >> to get a good job >> translation: don't invest too much in the coming year. that's my opinion. >> reporter: economically

battered but unbowed, people are braced for whatever the monkey will throw at them do checkout the website. it is always there for you. news on there 24/7. aljazeera.com >> it will wake you up before you'll feel it. it's just like a pressure or a force that's coming through your bedroom. >> kind of a weird jolt, or-- a feeling that something's getting ready to happen. the-- the dogs can kinda get funny right before a big one. >> the primary is the one that's, you initially feel. you don't know it's coming. >> all of a sudden, you hear this bang-nd