al jazeera america. the pounding picks up assyrian forces try to retat aleppo. - retake aleppo live from al jazeera's headquarters in doha. uplifting moments as survivors are found in the rubble more than 48 hours after taiwan's

earthquake. tuning out their president, martelly has gone but haitian still hit the streets. starting with a bang. china welcomes the lunar new year but prospects for the economy are not looking so great bright. german chance letter angela merkel is meeting the president in ankara as more people flee the city of aleppo in the face of bombardment of syrian forces. our correspondent is on the border with syria. >> reporter: the air strikes are intense. the aim of the syrian government is to weaken the defenses of the opposition before ground forces

move in. it is at the north-eastern entrance of aleppo. it is on the only route in and out of rebel held districts inside the divided city. >> translation: the regime already cut off the roads. the life line for the rebels is ham ra. if that is taken, there will be no way to send reinforcements. >> reporter: it is one of two crossings on the turkish border. it is not far from the south-western side of aleppo. the syrian government and russia have made clear that they will not access any ceasefire until the turkish border are sealed. 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 on crossing with turkey is kasab, which is close

to the mediterranean see. it is in latakia where there has been a major government offensive for week to seize the rest of the province's border. they're not the only forces on the ground fighting for the border. >> translation: the kurdish party and parties have pushed from their area in aleppo. they have captured two towns from the opposition. the regime also wards two provinces and the crossing step. >> reporter: azaz is a place of refuge for those who have escaped. government troops are not far. neither are the y.p.g. kurdish fighters. it is not clear if they are actively cooperating, but what is clear is that all sides are battling for control of the border the fighting around aleppo is causing misery for people who

live there. thousands have fled and are gathering along syria's border with turkey. between 10 and 35,000 people are thought to be at boarders. aid trucks have been brought in but an car are not letting the refugees in. the aid group doctors without borders say food and water crisis is looming because supply lines have been cut off. our correspondent join us from the syrian border. starting with that meeting, what is coming out of that? >> reporter: they will be discussing that europe wants turkey to stem the flow of refugees into europe. turkey coming from a position of power. it will say that it has opened the borders for the last five

years hosting over 2.5 million refugees. turkey has had the brunt of this because it is on its border. there are things being negotiated. europe is offering turkey over 3 billion dollars to try and do this. there are other things on the table. turkey has its requirements. they're discussing the reaction to the e.u. and other issues. it will be hard talks, i think, certainly difficult because merkel needs turkey. we see what has happened here. she opened the doors to the refugees which has back fired. europe is in at that timers about open border policies. i'm sure the prime minister and the president will be making it very clear what they want in return. >> reporter: i'm sure the refugees need a lot of help. what is happening to them? reports many of them are stuck

at the border. >> reporter: we're told around 10,000. the numbers are difficult to verify because there could be more arriving today now because the fighting is ongoing. it is a difficult and dire situation as it has been over the five years of this war. they were behind this border in a buffer zone. we have seen trucks here and aid agencies dealing with this. trying to set up tanks. we spoke to the disaster management agency. they're giving them shelter, food supplies. however, it is very cold here. it gets to minus zero temperatures. it is not a comfort or safe situation. the numbers at the moment is manageable, that they are comfortable there rather than here. we did hear from the president saying that the numbers would rise and they would consider opening the borders. when i.s.i.l. last year when the city was besieged in the space

of around three or four days 130,000 people crossed. i think they will be looking at numbers and what we're seeing gathering on the border over the next few days thank you very much for that. going to the chilly morning in ankara where nevertheless the german chancellor getting the fish warm reception ceremony. there she stands next to the turkish prime minister. three afghan soldiers have been killed in a suicide attack in afghanistan. they were travelling in a bus. 18 other military staff have been wounded, some seriously. the taliban has claimed responsibility. an air strike in eastern libya has killed a woman, her child and two fighters. the member of the recognised parliament says the residential nand and the medical college were hit.

the parliament member believed the raids were carried out by forces loyal to the army chief targeting suspected i.s.i.l. fighters. rescuers are pulling survivors from the debris of a collapsed building 48 hours after an earthquake. rescuer workers delivered a woman who was sheeltd under her body by her dead husband. many are still believed to be trapped. 37 has been killed so far. the residents there, it has been a grim start to the chinese new year. >> reporter: the new year's day in the whole of taiwan is closed as people take off work and go to temples. this temple just over a 100 metres from the main rescue site is probably busker than most. it is a focal point for many of

the charities and volunteer groups that have come along to lend their support to the rescue effort. also ordinary people coming here to make their offerings. in some ways this chinese lunar new year has had a shadow cast over it by this tragedy. you get a sense people have been stirred into action to give whatever help they can. >> translation: i pray for those people still trapped and their safety >> translation: i pray to god that hopefully there will be more survivors. >> reporter: rescuers are wrestling with the decision of whether to bring in heavy lifting gear to move some of the upper parts of this structure to get to people who may be buried lower down. it may cause a further collapse losing the people they're trying to save. we're coming to a critical point now. we're into day three.

if people are trapped they can't survive for longer than three days without food and water. if there are people buried deep down in the rubble then they deserve a chance at being freed. japan is preparing more t sanctions in relation to the north korea missile launch. >> reporter: less than 24 hours after north korea's rocket launch, a reminder of the fact that the south korean is very much on high alert for any further what they call provocati provocations from north korea. the south korean defense ministry reporting that a north korean patrol boat came south of the de facto maritime boarder, the northern limit line at about 6.55am local time. the defense ministry here in

seoul said five warnings shots were fired by a vessel or vessels of the south korean navy and that boat retreated north of the line within 20 minutes the incident was over. the presidential office here saying a heightened alert status would be maintained. there is no schedule for the park geun-hye on this day across asia, a very big holiday here in south korea as well. south korea has said it will expand its loud speaker broadcasts across the demilitarized zone in response to sunday's rocket launch. a focus now here as in other countries is on the u.n. security council after that emergency meeting on sunday. a lot of pressure trying to be brought to bear on china to support much tougher new sanctions against north korea in response to both the january 6 nuclear test and sunday's rocket launch the u.n. is urging haiti to quickly form a new government after the president stepped

down. parliament must choose a caretaker president to lead the country until a long delayed run-off election can be held. the political crisis has triggered months of unrest. >> reporter: people here wrote supposed to be celebrating carnival and hand over the power to a newly elected president on sunday. instead, protesters filled the streets near the presidential palace and carnival festivities were cancelled due to fears of violence. people do not have a president yet again. protesters say they won their first battle. the president stepped down after his five-year term came to an end. they say their next fight is to ensure a delayed presidential election is free of corruption. >> we will still protest if the government is not what we asked.

>> reporter: it took the deal - it hopes this will end street violence which has left one soldier dead. >> reporter: a parliament will elect an interim president. hopefully elections will take place in april and the a new president will be sworn into office in may. >> this is a major step in the direction of peace. >> reporter: they question the timeframe. the last transitional government lasted two years. one thing is certain, haiti's next president will face a population struggling with a lack of jobs, staggering poverty and a sense of hopelessness still to come on the show, seeking stability for northern mali. we gain rare access to one of the world's most dangerous u.n. missions. >> reporter: i'm in kon cord in

new hampshire. the voters are listening here and the campaigns are coming to a close. what say will independent voters have in new hampshire.

welcome back to al jazeera. a recap of the stories. meetings in relation to the refugees crisis in the face of bombardment of government forces.

rescuers are pulling survivors from a collapsed building. more than 100 people are still believed to be trapped in the wreckage. 37 people are confirmed dead. japan says it is preparing tougher sanctions against north korea following its rocket launch. there has been attention at the border between north and south korea. a north korean boat moved in the yellow sea prompting warning shopts. 50 people have been killed in ramadi in iraq. security forces say i.s.i.l. planted roadside bombs and rigged houses with explosives. now the army says it has made advances in ramadi taking territory back from i.s.i.l. fighters. imran khan reports from baghdad. >> reporter: it is more symbolic or strategic, but for the iraqi

army it is important. it has entered the last neighborhood in ramadi and cleared it of i.s.i.l. fighters. >> translation: it is now completely liberated. we are removing bombs from the streets and houses and moving civilians. >> reporter: moving them is a big job. they've been trapped in this neighborhood since the military offensive began. their relief at being able to leave is clear. >> translation: i.s.i.l. treated us badly. they held us for three days and ordered us to leave our house and then rigged it with explosives. >> translation: our life was dire. we had no food, no medicines and we were under siege from all sides. we had to make do with the little food we had. >> reporter: they are now being taken to the west of ramadi. iraqi army still has to secure the area. its soldiers are going house to

house to set up defensive positions. there are still pockets of i.s.i.l. fighters further east of ramadi. we have seen i.s.i.l. fighters on positions that the iraqi army say they had secured, particularly in the north of ramadi. those attacks like likely to continue because i.s.i.l. still control parts of the countryside and that still makes them a threat there have been more casualties on the u.n.'s peace-keeping mission to mali than any other. just last friday a u.n. post was attacked by a group affiliated to al-qaeda. our correspondent went on patrol there under the constant threat of attack. >> reporter: the sun falls here and the night-shift starts. we were given rare access to the united fagss blue helmets patrol police. this nigerian unit came under

attack on friday. the u.n. police provide support to the local counterparts. >> translation: the residents, when they see strange things they call us to verify what is going on. >> reporter: the city ask on permanent lock down. no vehicles are allowed in or out after 6.30 in the evening and there are constant power out aages. normally this is one of the most important mosques. we can't see anything because there are no lights. they're still patrolling for a short block. they're scared to do this when there's no electricity. the u.n.'s mission here has around 10,000 soldiers. it's helping stabilize the country after an issue in the north. it is the most dangerous mission in the world. 60 soldiers have been killed since 2013. >> it is dangerous here. we are fully equipped. we have good training and so on.

>> reporter: the swedish cont contingent has been replaced by drones. the glorious days of merchant caravans are gone. the city now faces all kinds of armed groups. hotels are empty and police say a third of the population is armed. these men returned to a city after a peace deal was signed between the government and the coalition of separatist rebels. al-qaeda-linked groups were not part of the deal. >> translation: there won't be peace. what of these young men supposed to eat. they signed a peace deal but they can't eat sand to survive. there's nothing more than sand in this desert. >> reporter: blue hell meant also keep an eye on the ports here. police commander says she is aware that the u.n. mission is a tarlgt >> translation: we say hello

and explain what we are doing here. we ask if they need anything and get their feedback. >> reporter: the mandate clues protection of civilians the names of nom that's for myanmar's next president will be revealed next month. the n.l.d. won the elections last year with a landslide majority. she is still barred from becoming president. wayne hay reports on last minute negotiations are on to remove that barrier. >> reporter: despite her party winning last year's election comfortably, aung san suu kyi, the leaders of the n.l.d. party, cannot become the president of myanmar at the moment because of a clause in the constitution that states that anyone who has immediate family members who are foreign nationals, as aun does, cannot become-- aung san suu kyi

does, that she cannot become the president. there are negotiations ongoing with the military which remains a force in myanmar, to get them to support a parliamentary vote that would allow for the suspension of that article of the constitution. effectively put that article aside to allow aung san suu kyi to become the president. any permanent change to the constitution, though, will require a referendum. so now we know that on 17 march we will know who the nominees for the president and vice president positions will be and it is then that we will find out whether the negotiations between aung san suu kyi and the military have been successful or not the voters in new hampshire will choose their preferred presidential candidates on tuesday. independent voters who are not dedicated to either republicans or democrats could have a big say in who wins. the idea there are huge numbers

of votes to be swayed could be a myth. >> reporter: it is a state which prides itself on its independent pioneering spirit. it says there on the licence plate. they vet presidential candidates. the first election deciding who goes on from here. that means the candidates chasing the independent vote. that's a difficult line to follow. they have to convince the party faithful they are truth to their beliefs. it is estimated 40% of new hampshire voters describe themselves as independence. that means when it comes to the primary you can choose which party to support, republican and democrat and which canned date gets their-- candidate gets their vote. >> most people in the other parties are predictable because they follow party lines, stay in the box.

independent voters are swayed by so many different things that candidates have to be on top of tear game to sway independent voters. the party line won't do it. >> reporter: the polls say there's a growing sense of frustration in the parties and that leads to people calling themselves independent. one analyst believes one likes the idea of calming themselves independence. >> a lot of research into this has found that most people who say they're independents are consistent voters for one party or the other over time. they like to think of themselves and independent, but they have just voted one way or the other in the last seven elections. it matters to a lot of these voters >> reporter: winning over independence is a crucial test for anyone who wants to be president. they can't bank on the party's base to carry them to victory.

the candidates don't always win the party's nomination, but it remains an important stop to t on the roopd to the white house-- road to the white house. >> reporter: the denver broncos have won with a 24 to 10 win over the panthers on sunday. it is denver's third national football league champion ship. dan daniel lak for us. >> reporter: it's over with the denver broncos beating the panthers. a supplies result. the panthers were favored to win, but denier v deny-- denver took the game. it has been a relatively uneventful. there were plenty of festivities around this area. it was hear but san francisco was the co-host.

a big fan zone down on the water front hosted people with music, cheering, p cheer leaders of course. a security presence being cautious. this is a grand national party here. in the end that's what mattered the most to people. it wasn't the most exciting of games, defensive football never is, but in the end the parties took place, the fireworks went off, the winning fans were happy, the losing fans, they've got another year to look forward to chinese communities around the world have been welcoming in the lunar new year. to them it's the biggest and most important festival this ancient tradition is under going change. >> reporter: the annual explosive ilillumination. still a daz eling spectacle but perhaps not quite what it was.

fireworks sales in the capital are down by half this year. the reasons, pollution concerns or possibly just fading interest in a country that prides itself on having invented gun powerd >> >> translation: the economy is no gt. it is hard to make money. only business people can buy these. people can only afford small fire crackers. >> reporter: other new year traditions are changing. like the giving of hogbou, red envelopes that are filled with cash exchanged between friends and relatives. an ancient ritual that people are transforming. apps now allow each other to send virtually money, deposited into their mobile phone payment accounts. in ask also a time to spend, at least the government hopes so. a beijing wholesale market

popular with new year shoppers. but where there's an area of desperation to the sales pitch. people are spending but very carefully >> translation: of course i'm more cautious buying stuff now. ive to look around and compare the price to get the best value for money >> reporter: retailers say turn over remains strong, but that's mainly down to discounting leading to narrower profit margins. retail sales up until now have been the one bright spot. analysts say that consumption has to be sustained to prevent the downturn worsening. superstitious chinese are flocking to temples for prayers. don't despair depend on your zodiac sign, the year of the monkey is a good year to give

birth or to look for love. you can get more on all those stories we've been telling you about, of course, if you head over to our website aljazeera.com. you can see our front page there with some of the stories we're following. updated around the clock. >> we've arrived in puerto rico, a us island territory, more than $70 billion in debt. residents are american citizens, but the poverty rate here is 3 times the national average. now, with the economy facing collapse, record numbers are using their american passports to get out. >> i have never been away from home, like this is the first