no going back and no way out, the united nations calls on turkey to open its border to tens of thousands of desperate syrian refugees. hello, this is al jazeera live from doha. also ahead, nine dead and more than 100 injured in germany's worst rail crash in years. plus. >> i'm in new hampshire, i've been asking first time voters what do they think about the presidential candidates. angry protestors demand south africa's president repay

taxpayer money he used on home improvements. the united nations called on turkey to open its border to syrian refugees fleeing fighting in aleppo. tens of thousands of people are currently stranded at the border, but turkey's foreign minister warns that if the regime's military campaign continues, the number of new refugees could reach a million. it's asking the international community for help. more now from al jazeera's zeina hodor on the turkey-syria border. >> there is a humanitarian crisis, tens of thousands of people are on the move displaced by the on going government offensive in the countryside of aleppo. the turkish government has not opened its border. those facing some sort of emergency, those who are ill,

wounded have been allowed to cross and being treated in turkish hospitals, but the united nations is calling on the turkish authorities to open the border, saying it is their obligation to help people trapped in the conflict. turkey said that there is no need to open the border, because aid and supplies and whatever the displaced need is being sent to the syrian side of the border. we understand from doctors without borders that the town which really is hosting thousands and thousands of the displaced, it's not very far from the border crossing. they have started to pack their bags and leave. they've received guarantees from the y.p.g. giving them safe passage to reach the western country side of aleppo, so a very desperate situation on the ground, the u.n. warning that hundreds of thousands of people could be cut off from food if the syrian government is able to encircle the city of aleppo and the government is close to achieving that goal. they are just a few kilometers

from taking control of the only road leading to the opposition controlled east of the city, so a human tragedy on the ground, as the military offensive continues. >> it's their job to watch the skies. civil defense volunteers in the opposition controlled east of aleppo city are on alert. whenever they hear the sound of jets. these volunteers have been busier than usual. russian airstrikes intensified since the syrian government offensive began in aleppo over a week ago. those forces are now close to besieging the rebel held neighborhoods in the city. civil defense say they are the only hope for those who may be trapped. >> there are some people leaving the city because they are afraid of the siege. god willing it won't happen, but regardless, volunteers and our families decided to stay to help the people and fighters who chose to stay.

>> civilians are increasingly helpless. doctors and nurses are overwhelmed. they work out of makeshift clinics because hospitals have been reduced to rubble after years of war. medical workers are now preparing for the worst. the government has besieged areas in other corners of syria where people continue to die from the lack of food and medicine. there are fears eastern aleppo can be next. >> we will stay and remain steadfast, but the medical supplies we have are only enough for a month and a half. >> the armed opposition is just at defiant. their opponents control the skies. they say they will not withdraw. >> god willing they can't lay seen to aleppo. we have a military plan to confront this. we will fight. >> there are many front lines in the province of aleppo. the opposition lost territory in the countryside, but they are still fighting back. >> with the help of russia and

iran, the syrian government is close to encircling the city of aleppo and troops approaching the border with turkey. it wants to cut the rebel's lifeline. it has already managed to disrupt their supply lines. >> there are towns where opposition fighters are still holding ground. it is strategic to prevent the government from cutting off the highway that links the city to opposition territories further west. this battle is not over, but the opposition is under a lot of pressure. the threat of losing its hard land is real. >> turkey has accused russia of mercilessly bombing civilian targets in syria and has called on the international community to speak out. a report from human rights watch says russian military forces have carried out daily attacks using internationally banned cluster bombs. more now from moscow. >> these kind of accusations have been leveled against russia for pretty much the duration of its bombing campaign in syria and it's been going on for four

and a half months now, so we have heard time and time again that russia is using cluster munitions, that it is using unguided dumb bombs and attacking heavily built up civilian areas. there does seem to be a flood of on line content videos that would seem to support these accusations. the russian response to this has always been that there is no conclusive proof. it essentially dismisses all of the videos and such like, and that is an argument that we have heard again from the kremlin today. the kremlin spokesperson said despite a huge number of statements, no one up to now has prevented a single piece of credible evidence as proof of these words. that's the russian argument, and it seems they're sticking to it for the moment. we also heard earlier on from the russian representative in the united nations. he said that talk of the

sufferings of the civilian population in syria is often used as a trump card in the political gain, but he did assure the watchers and the media that russia is constantly as he put it in dialogue with the syrian authorities trying to maintain, trying to ensure the safety of civilians in syria. the greek coast card rescued more large groups of syrian refugees trying to across the aegean sea from turkey. more than 300 people traveling in rubber dingy's were towed ashore. nine people confirmed dead after two passenger trains collided head on in southern germ near. the trains were packed with morning commuters. investigators are trying to determine why they were traveling on the same track.

emma hayward reports. >> firefighters used heavy lifting equipment to gain access to part of one of the trains to try to free any passengers still trapped inside and carefully remove the bodies of some of those killed in this crash. a full scale emergency response is underway involving police, firefighters and medics. texas happened in a wooded area difficult to access close to the riverbank. rescuers reached them by air and water. helicopters are used to mover the injured and equipment needed in the coming hours. >> because of the confined space, we are rescuing the injured by air and taking them to nearby hospitals. both trains partially derailed with some of the carriages overturning. dozens of people have been

injured, some being treated bill still on the train. many of those onboard are thought to have been on their way to work when the crash happened. investigators are at the scene, trying to find out what caused the collision. emma hayward, al jazeera. >> it's another important day in the race for the white house. in the u.s., voters don't just choose the president, they always choose the candidates. that's what they are doing right now in new hampshire, the first official primary. we have been swelling to first time voters there. >> he is undecided. >> immigration, education, foreign policy, safety and security of the people in the country, and improving economy is what i want to see. >> he was 13 whether tens of

thousands of nepalese were living in refugee camps that he and his family were resettled in 2008. after gaining citizenship last year, he will help decide who will become the nominees in this year's presidential election. he's narrowed the field down. >> my finalists are, you know, secretary hillary clinton and bernie sanders. i do like john kasich as well to some extent. we have seen hillary clinton when she was secretary of state. bernie sanders, we fail to see his foreign policy. >> this is emily weather's first primary. she thinks only one candidate shares her concerns.

>> i sport bernie sanders. >> why not hillary? >> there's a lot of things about hillary i don't feel right about. i know she's definitely been an ally for planned parenthood and women's rights over the years, but i just feel like there's a lot of things about her that i don't -- i don't know that she has our best interests at heart. i kind of feel like she has her best interests at heart. >> another seems to be a pretty constant view among new voters. >> i feel it's bernie. student loans, difficulty of the middle class to make a living, i think young people are concerned the american dream won't work for them. >> he works helping others find refuge in the u.s. and has advice for candidates attacking immigrants. >> i think some of them need to

still learn about the sense of community. >> sometimes it's easier to decide who not to vote for. >> let's get more now from new hampshire. >> income inequality has been a huge issue among voters here. that's one reason bernie sanders is doing so well. the news on the morning of the primary that one of the executives of google has just been awarded $190 million in stock options will only strengthen the cry that something has to change. hillary clinton is part of the old corrupt guard. he doesn't say it as directly as that but certainly is talking about the contributions she gets from major corporations in the u.s. and amongst voters we've spoken to, it seems that really has resonated and will give saunders that victory. the clinton camp said if she loses by a few single digits, they will paint that as a

victory. there's a huge number undecideds. if trump loses, it's very bad news. the likelihood is he will win and there will be several other republican nominees in second place who will claim victory. south africa's president zuma is facing demands he repay funds he used to upgrade his home. crowds of angry protestors gathered outside the court. they are outraged that the taxpayer footed the bill for his private swimming pool and amphitheater. >> things are getting tense. police put barbed wire to keep them away from the court, but some of them are determined to push through. they want to know why they are

not inside the court. they want to hear the matter of the president being asked to pay back the money. >> police aren't taking any chances. it seems the police have managed to keep them away for now, about the it is clear that this topic is a very controversial topic inside south africa. just ahead here on al jazeera, police filed warning shots during a night of rioting in hong kong. we'll tell you why. plus. i'm jonah hull in finland. the e.u.'s economic trouble zone.

>> the nation's first primary, and a critical next step on the road to the white house. >> republicans, democrats... >> stay with al jazeera america for comprehensive coverage that's...

hello again, the to know stories on al jazeera, the united nations called on turkey to open its border to syrian refugees fleeing fighting in aleppo, but turkey warned in the syrian government campaign continues, the number of new refugees could reach a million. nine people are confirmed dead in a german train collision in a head-on collision. 100 were injured. south africa's president face as demand to repay state funds he used to upgrade his home. protestors are outside a court in johannesburg where the case has been brought by opposition parties. police in hong kong fired

warning shots during violent clashes which began when they tried to shut down illegal food stores. the stores were set up for lunar new year celebration. we have this report. >> bricks and stones from sidewalks thrown at police. small farms and fires lit on a street which just hours before was the scene of new year celebrations. a busy commercial area of hong kong turned into the setting for what many now call hong kong's finish ball riots. it all started when a government department cleared the streets of illegal food stalls, many selling the local delicacy fish balls. an on line announcement was sent asking the public to support the street vendors, and what began as a standoff soon turned violent with more than 300 people on the streets facing off with riot police.

the government on tuesday morning condemned what it calls mob activities and violent acts. >> we can never tolerate that and the police will spare no effort to arrest the rioters. meanwhile, i would like to deliver my condolences to the police officers and news reporters injured in the riot. >> police fired two gunshots in the air, saying that an officer's life was under serious threat. they say they are investigating whether the riots were organized rather than spontaneous and expect to make more arrests in the coming days. the street food celebration have long been a tradition of chinese new year. many say the protests are more than just about food. this comes at a time when many in hong kong expression concerns about their freedoms and the tightening control of the central government in beijing. al jazeera. >> finland used to be one of the european union's most prosperous

countries during the heydey of the former mobile phone giant nokia and before the global economic crisis. now it's one of the block's worst performing economies, second only to greece. in the last of our series on european disunity, jonah hull reports a new challenge facing the e.u. >> finland could hardly have less in common with the countries of sunny southern europe, yet in its fourth year of recession, the once prosperous most northern member of the e.u. joins greece at the bottom of the table. >> our economy is falling behind euro rates all the time. we have failed to do necessary reforms and things are getting worse when they are getting better in our european crisis

countries. >> a craft beer brewer part of a startup entrepreneurs who worked for the now defunct nokia. june the boom years brought big salaries, now finland's high wage workforce is too expensive to compete globally. >> the story of nokia's decline is simple. once the world's dominant phone manufacturer, remember these? worth $320 billion, a huge chung

of the national economy, well then came apple's iphone. nokia failed to innovate, to stay in the game and the whole business was swept away, leaving only remnants involved in networks behind. >> dark days for finland's other mainstay, the paper industry, in decline because of cheaper pull that and cheaper workers elsewhere. the soup kitchens filling up. it's no better in the capital helsinki. 12 years ago, this food bank served 200 people a day. now the cold and hungry arrive twice a week in the thousands. >> here, it's not much people, but there's other lines, people getting food and it's very long line and it's getting more and more. we were two years ago first time and now like this year, it's getting like double the size. >> the government's preferred solution is austerity and amid

the spending cuts there's pressure to return to a sovereign currency so finland can devalue its way out of economic trouble. no greek style bailout but a new euro crisis, maybe. al jazeera, finland. iraqi security forces say they've entered the last isil stronghold in the east of the city rimadi, saying they've hoisted the iraqi flag as forces move onward to clear out fighters still hiding. they say there are still pockets of rimadi held by isil. tensions running high between north korea and its neighbors after the north launch add satellite on sunday. thousands of people have been celebrating and dancing in central pyongyang. japan's parliament passed a resolution looking for a

resolution. south korea's government has been closely monitoring the satellite. it believes the north is trying out new missile technology. harry fossett now reports from seoul. >> south korea's defense ministry has been talking about what is learned from north korea's launch on sunday and its long-range rocket. it said the first, second and third stages separated successfully as planned but the final stage may have been deliberately exploded to prevent the south korea's from learning about the debris. the defense ministry will be searching for the debris to try to recover it and find out as much as it can of the current status of north korea's technology. they say there have been improvements to the technology since december 2012, but that the rocket engines may well be

somewhat stronger, that the satellite carried by the rocket appears to be double the weight of the one carried last time around and the maximum range of this rocket may well be 12,000 kilometers as opposed to 10,000 kilometers last time around. as for the performance of the satellite itself, the south koreans aren't saying. there were reports from the u.s. quoting u.s. officials saying that they think it's tumbling in orbit and is not useful as a satellite. there remains an effort to try to get sanctions through the u.n. security council with three separate telephone conversations between president obama and park of south korea and the prime minister of japan trying to make sure that north korea is punished for this latest action. the u.s. isn't the only nation with a presidential election this year. there's a presidential election race underway now in the philippines. candidates there launched their campaigns with t.v. spots, outgoing president aquino is barred from seeking reelection

due to the six year term limit. >> the philippines is going to the polls in 12 weeks. there are five candidates. their faces sprawled over every knoll newspaper as they promise to alleviate the poor from years of poverty, corruption and deal with education and security. >> there are five candidates. one is an independent, one is the incumbent vice president, all making promises that they can solve the philippines problems. inflation is reduced by half a% in the last 12 months. unemployment, too, has also come down. the philippines and presidency is keeping a very close eye on international events. it knows that the oil prices

have gone down and there's a real possibility that foreign backers may very well be redundant and come back to a country that would find it very difficult to absorb the then power available. also a new president will have to deal with a much more assertive stronger chinese president and country.

>> this street party is entitled what a mess, the good times are over, an opportunity to make fun of the ruling class. >> the wife of the president of congress is accused of hiring a tennis champion for $50,000 for private lessons with our money, so we're dressed up as her. >> we run into that the former president rousseff being

mercilessly mocked. >> i am a billionaire, but i have no idea where i got the money. >> men and women of brazil. brazil faces a steep recession and the president fighting to avoid an impeachment process. this as brazilian's see their standard of living dropped. >> they are going book to where they were 10 years ago because of the rising of unemployment, the rising of inflation and so that's what's happening and brazil is going to be where it was 10 years ago. >> wean carnival is being down sized. >> no expense is spared for carnival, but in other parts of the city and country, many traditional street parades are canceled because for the first time, they can't afford it. >> before brazilians say the

year doesn't begin until after carnival. regardless when they start counting, it's a year that doesn't bode well for their economy. >> there's plenty of video nationals and comment along with the latest at our website, aljazeera.com. >> it's primary day in new hampshire, getting their say after months of campaigning. police overhaul in ferguson, major reforms considered at a heavity price tag. turkey debates what to do with thousands of refugees running from the fighting in aleppo.