the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. describes north korea's long range rocket launch as a direct threat. this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, a growing humanitarian crisis along syria's border with turkey. thousands of refugees have gathered. ankara says it will not abandon them. an agreement is reached on a provisional government in haiti, but not everyone is satisfied. also

[ ♪ ] in rio where even the zika virus can't put a dampener on carnival the u.n. security council has strongly condemned north korea's long range rocket launch. the council held an emergency meeting on sunday to discuss pyongyang's actions saying it violated four separate u.n. resolutions. the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. described the launch as a direct threat. we will coulds live to the u.n. in a moment but first this report from that harry faucet >> reporter: north korea had brought its launch time by a day. two hours into that window the rocket coming the bright star satellite lifted off, all over seen by the country's young leader and relayed by its most

famous news reader. >> translation: the complete success made in the satellite lift off is a great work of science of technology. it is a popular event in developing the country's defense kablts. >> reporter: it's the defense kablt that worries regional and world powers. a rocket that can launch a satellite can carry a nuclear war head, even if this one slow to fuel and hard to conceal is far from the ideal weapon >> this doesn't have military applications, but nevertheless some of the applications, some of the technologies, some of the systems and subsystems, they could use for the military programs. >> reporter: south korea's president convened her national security council calling the launch an an unacceptable provocation. >> translation: this is a threat to international

community and world peace. security council should come up with strong sanctions >> reporter: seoul announced it will start formal negotiations with the u.s. on missiles to north korea. >> reporter: beijing is resolute to the fad system so close to the territory. u.s. and south korea are trying to pressurize china to get tough on its ally. the economic success and a viable weapon the twin guiding principles of his rule. he is immune to beijing's attempt to make him otherwise. this comes at the start of the luchlt unar new year's and days before the bird of the current leader's late father. it was called a gift to the nation our correspondent joins us live from the u.n. in new york.

we certainly know how everyone feels about this rocket launch. there have been repeated condemnation throughout the day. do we know if the security council is going to do anything about it? >> reporter: the council says that they're going to pursue a new security council resolution. the details of what will be in that resolution and how that could deter north korea from launching another rocket remains to be seen. a security council came out and they said, obviously, that they do condemn this new rocket launch and they confirmed also that it violates not one, not two, not three but four previous security council resolutions. several ambassadors came out. the meeting was closed and private, but ambassadors from south, south korea, japan and u.s. came out with a message

that they want action by security council and they want it soon. normally the resolutions take weeks if not months. however, the venezuelan ambassador to the u.n., who holds of revolving presidency this month, said they could get it done in a matter of days. samantha power, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n., said this was more than just a provocation. she said it's a direct threat. let's listen to more of what she had to say. >> pyongyang claims it launched what is called a peaceful earth observation satellite, but nobody is fooled. so-called space launched vehicles are the same technology as ballistic missiles which are printed by security council resolutions. we are looking forward to expeditiously consulting with our colleagues in the coming days and we will be looking to

all council members to unite around a swift and aggressive response to the dprk's repeated violations that constitute this very direct threat to global peace and security so that's where the u.s. stands, but it's really china that has the greatest leverage over north korea. do we know much more about their position? >> reporter: that's right. china being north korea's strongest ally and a permanent member of the security council, a lot of cards in china's hands when it comes to this. china's ambassador to the u.n. did not come out and formally speak to journalists such as sam an that power did-- samantha power did. he did say that they are pursuing the new resolution with the security council and the chinese ambassador said that he hopes that they would reduce tension and maintain peace and security in the region and then he left.

so that's all we really heard from the chinese ambassador. i can tell you that as this launch was happening, china and the u.s. were also negotiating a different resolution based on the nuclear tests in north korea from last month. but talks had been moving very slowly. they had not reached any sort of conclusion on that yet and now they have this new crisis in the security council's lap. it is going to be difficult, quite frankly. samantha power said herself that there is also resolutions on the table that have been put forth since 2006. there is already a whole host of sanctions against north korea. it clearly hasn't stopped them from firing this rocket. they've said, the north koreans, that they will potentially do another one. you could sense with sam an that power-- samantha power that there was frustration or anxiety on how they can put anything else on the table that could

deter north korea from doing this again. clearly, though, they will need china's support to get any sort of new resolution that has any more binding teeth in it thanks very much for that. to the latest on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in syria. government forces backed by russian air power have been intensifying their campaign against rebels in aleppo. thousands have fled fighting. it is unclear how many people are at the border crossings. estimates vary from 10 to 35,000. it is becoming desperate. aid trucks from turkey have been delivering aid to the syrian side but ankara is not letting the refugees in. there are around 350,000

civilians living around aleppo itself and there are fierce for its safety. doctors without borders says a food and water crisis is looming because opposition supply lines have been cut. a report from our correspondent. >> reporter: the border may be close for people, but we've seen a steady line of trucks coming in and out all day. what we've also seen is steel structures on the back of trucks which appear to be scaffolding materials to continue building the tents inside. we spoke to turkey disaster management agency. they tell us they believe around 10,000 people are on the other side of that border. he says they're registering them because it is a security concern as well. they want to manage the situation, but they say that they're prepared to deal with them. it is incredibly cold at night, so there are no plans at the moment to open this border, but we can did hear from the turkish

president today. he did say that he expected a potential of 70,000 people to come over the next few days and weeks. if this defensive continues and that shows no sign of letting up. but turkey will open their borders but at the moment they remain closed the army has managed to take rebel territory in aleppo. they're also advancing towards the turkish border. our correspondent reports from southern turkey. >> reporter: the air strikes are intense, the aim of the syrian government is too weaken the defenses of the opposition before ground forces move in. this is at the north-eastern entrance of aleppo. it is the only route in and out of rebel held districts inside the divided city. >> translation: the regime already cut off the roads in the northern side of aleppo. the only life line for the rebels is the crossing.

if they take that, there will be no way to send reinforcements. >> reporter: this is one of two crossings the opposition controls along the turkish border. it is not far from the south-western side of aleppo. the syrian government and its backer russia have made clear that they will not accept any ceasefire until the border is sealed. they are trying to make that happen. the offensive in the province of aleppo is not just about laying siege to the opposition controlled districts in the city. it is about recapturing syria's border with turkey. the only border crossing with turkey under the government syrian control is in latakia where there has been a major offensive for weeks. the government and its allies are not the only forces on the ground fighting for the that are der-- for the border.

>> translation: the occurred dish party the y.p.g. and the ktt have been pushed across the crossing. the regime wants the crossing itself. >> reporter: there is a place for thousands who have escaped a few kilometers from the crossing. government troops are not far. neither are the y.p.g. kurdish fighters. it is not clear that they are actively cooperating, but what is clear is that all sides are battling for control of the border haiti's president is due to step down on sunday after a last minute deal with parliament to install a transitional government. the move keeps the country from plunging into a power vacuum after last months's election was postponed amide fears of violence. it is now scheduled for april 24.

more from the capital >> reporter: this is supposed to be a celebratory day here in haiti. the president was supposed to hand over power to another elected president. there was a carnival celebration planned for tonight. instead the president is ending his five-year term with a lot of uncertainty and anger and the carnival celebration for sunday night has been cancelled due to concerns over safety. this is what is happening so far in terms of the way forward. the president and the parliament have reached an p agreement. an interim president will be elected and then there will be a run off and election and the winner of that election will become president and take power in mid may. the opposition is against it agreement. they believe that elections that brought members of parliament to power recently were fraudulent. they believe the entire prosecutor says is suspect--

process is suspect. there have been weeks of protests in the country, some of them violent, and the concern that there will be more in the coming days. there was supposed to be a carnival celebration on sunday evening and that has been cancelled still to come, a search continues for survivors of taiwan's earthquake. 130 people are still missing. also. >> reporter: the american dream. you could be whatever you want to be. >> reporter: how do you become president? the u.s. presidential you have probably never heard of. .

welcome back. a look at the top stories this hour. the u.n. security council has condemned north korea's long range rocket launch with the u.n. ambassador to the u.n. describing it as a direct threat. turkey says it might open its gates to the thousands of syrians stranded along the border, but only in the event of an extraordinary crisis. haiti's government has agreed on an interim leader just hours before president martelly is due to step down. rescue workers in taiwan are continuing to pull survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings in the city of tainan. an earthquake on saturday brought a number of buildings to the ground. at least 32 people are known to have died. our correspondent reports from tainan city.

>> reporter: as they work further down into the ruins, conditions for the rescue teams are getting harder. hang in there, the res courier shouts, we will soon get you out. >> translation: people are trapped in very small spaces and we can't use big machinery down there. we mostly dig with our hands. >> reporter: around the edges of the site relatives of the missing have been waiting anxiously for news since the earthquake on saturday morning that caused this entire complex to crumble in seconds, trapping hundreds as they slept. one man is looking for his father and younger brother. he believes rescuers are looking in the wrong place and urges them to look again. a woman is looking for her three month old baby who was being cared for by her sister. she still can't understand what happened. >> translation: it is the construction company's fault. other buildings didn't collapse

like this one. >> reporter: many are now saying the complex was poorly designed and poorly built. it is a called i tofu building. like the dish of bean curd it has no structure. now exposed in the ruins these are tin can thaz had been used in place of concrete on at least several floors. local media have also been focusing on how the building resulted with the ground floor turned into commercial space that may have weakened it further. a kurn is how the authorities in this quake-prone area in taiwan didn't prevent such alterations. >> translation: the local prosecutor's office are doing a full investigation and they have domestic here to collect evidence. >> reporter: as that investigation ramps up, so the search of the building continues

with the likelihood of finding more bodies than survivors a second autopsy on the body of an italian student slain in egypt says he suffered inhuman animal-like violence. his corpse was found outside cairo nine days after he was reported missing. he died have a cervical verb bra was broken-- vertebra was broken. a 15-year-old man who stabbed anise ail ee-- an israeli soldier has died the parliament has passed a new constitution that remains to reform the military dominated political system some algeria.

analysts have cast doubt on whether it will come into fruition and come to end the president's grip on power. more than a third of adults in the u.s. say that they're neither republican nor democrat. they want a third political party is what people have said. we have some of the alternatives in this report. >> reporter: anyone born in the u.s. has the right to run for president. it's in the bill of rights. this health food restaurant owner is one of the 1500 candidates registered with the federal election commission for 2016. >> it's the american dream. you can be whatever you want to be. the challenge is why i'm on this platform. they want regular decisions. we have to change the system.

if a hardworking american can't become president, that eliminates 99% of the country. >> reporter: the social mobility promised in the american dream long ago disappeared. election after election has shown that only a few can viably run for the country's highest office >> we need a new way forward that is not bought and paid for by predatory banks, by war profiteers who are funding the current system. >> reporter: she was the green candidate in 2012 and now in 2016. she says it may be 95 to 100% of voters now. even if a third party navigates 50 sets of rules to get on the ballot, tvs or newspapers are indifferent or hostile. many parties are alleging in court that the debate commission

is rigged to ensure only two parties are heard. third parties hope that social media, which has been so effective of bringing issues to the mainstream, will now make a difference. >> weep didn't know the berlin wall was going to come down and it did. we didn't know a lot of things were going to happen. things do eventually change. >> reporter: for the greens the forth coming election is notable because bernie sanders's platform is so similar to the greens. it will ensure he is not the nominee, but even if he is, he would be just one man behind the powerful party opposed to his goals >> it is like a friend helping someone break up with an abusive relationship. how long will you make excuses for a party that is pushing you over the cliff. >> reporter: there has been an alternative to the republicans

and democrats, but it is billionaire bloomberg. a true break through however is possibly some say. >> that is perfecto in the report there we heard from the fwreen party candidate. jill stein. we caught up with her at a rally. >> reporter: there is a great deal of attention paid to the horse race. was marco rubio humiliated at the debate, was donald trump more subdued, is hillary clinton likeable. for the people here in this tent in new hampshire, we the people convention, all of that is pretty irrelevant because as far as they're concerned the entire system has been bought. it doesn't make a difference who is a democratic or republican nominee because they're still held to the same corporate interests. amongst those who believe that is jill stein, the nominee for the green party last time around. she hopes to be again this year. dr stein, how do you fight

against such a vested interest, such powerful interests that make sure things don't change >> exactly. it's all about getting organized and recognising the power we have. there are 43 million young people who are locked in debt. that is enough to win this race. we are the only campaign that will abolish student debt. it's about time to bail out the students. just by getting that word out we could effectively take over this selection. the biggest way people give up power is by not knowing we have it to start with. we rebels have the majority, we have the wind in our back. it is all about our developing a political foundation that's not going to disappear from one election to the next. the social movement needs a political voice in the form of the green party. >> reporter: the poll suggests

many of those young people face ing debt want to go to bernie sanders. why isn't that the right route? >> i'm very supportive of what bernie sanders is trying to do and what i disagree with is that you can have a revolution inside a counter revolutionary party. the democratic party has a kill switch that they have used to sabotage campaigns, they have super delegates. this is how they use corporate money. bill clinton is gathering up the super delegates to ensure that hillary clinton has the margin for the nomination. at the end of the day we don't want to just have a good campaign that then gets devoured into hillary clinton's campaign and at the end of the day also i don't think we want to pledge allegiance to a political party

that fundamentally is committed to a war budget which is devastating us economically and morally, to a war on terror that has created more terror, to privatizing our schools systems and to continuing the state of debt. >> reporter: thank you very much. jill stein for the green party. the mainstream party may be looking at the others, but there seems to be a revolution here brazil is facing its worst recession in decades and one of its largest public health emergencies in memory. fears over the zika virus are not stopping brazilians from taking to the streets from carnival. >> reporter: a crowd of an estimated 100,000 jumps and sings to the intoks indicating music- - oishgs ntoxicating

music. it is carnival. the longest and largest street carnival in the world and nothing can stop it. not brazil's economic recession and not even an epidemic of the zika virus. >> translation: it is part of the brazilian soul. without it we would have a problem. brazil abrazil >> reporter: during carnival the entire country comes to a standstill xep for people's feet to the rhythm of zam ba. it is not just here but all over the country, rain and shine, in sickness and in health, people are trying to put aside their troubles and party for an entire week as though there were no tomorrow. in north-eastern brazil where the epidemic has hit hardest and is thought to be linked to thousands birth defects, carnival is providing much

needed cheer. it is a tradition cultivated from cradle too too many >> translation: life goes on. even when we have problems we have to continue singing and dancing. >> reporter: using one's imagination. back in rio nothing seems to be too wild. this woman came as her idle. >> we have to forget the problems that we have and enjoy. >> reporter: that's what's worrying health officials. the zika virus has been found in saliva, so they are cautioning revellers to refrain from the popular tradition of kissing strangers. it is a recommendation many are forgetting during this week when everything except having fun seems to have been forgotten there's more to be found on everything we're covering right here.

the address is aljazeera.com, including, of course, the latest on north korea's rocket launch. of course, the u.n. security council has had an emergency meeting on that. also common analysis and video on demand to be found right there, background information on all of our top stories as well. aljazeera.com welcome everyone to the promise of progress. i sort of struggled saying it because i can't say that i love the title of this session. largely i think if i had my way, i would have called it the threat of progress. i don't mean to be debbie downer, but i want to make sure that at a place