>> we honor his extraordinary service to our nation and remember one of the towering legal figures of our time the conservative supreme court justice scalia died. now the argument begins over who will replace him and when. welcome to al jazeera live from doha. our other top stories. >> this is a man who insults his way to the nominations

presidential hopefuls clash in south carolina. why more and more women and children are being killed in afghanistan. the pope is in mexico with tough words for political and religious leaders first, one of the u.s. supreme court's justices has died. his death was the potential to shift the balance of power in the court. the appointment of his successor will now sit firmly at the center of the ongoing election campaign. republican nominees fought hard in a debate a little earlier. we will have on that for a moment, but first our correspondent on the life and legacy of mr scalia.

>> reporter: as the flag dropped to half staff, the death of the justice sets off what could be a battle between the white house and the u.s. congress. >> he was larger than life president on the bench. a brilliant legal mind with an energetic style, wit. >> reporter: he often tilted the scales of justice. he was confirmed by a vote of 98 to 0 after promising not to transform the court >> i am not going to go into the court with a list of things to do. my only agenda is to be a good judge. >> reporter: he pushed in favor of the death penalty and right to bare arms >> he will be remembered by a witty, powerful and pungent

writer, very, very distinct >> reporter: he believed in an unchanging constitution >> you cannot adopt a theory that the constitution is evolving and the supreme court will tell you what it means, from age to age. you cannot do that without causing the supreme court to become a very political institution. >> reporter: his critics say that's exactly what he did. his vote on decisions struck down restrictions on many. >> i do solemnly swear >> reporter: and help design the 2011 election in favor of george w bush. his death sets up a tie tannic struggle that-- titanic struggle. president obama says he intends to name his successor. >> there will be plenty of time for me to do so and for the senate to fulfil its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing in a timely vote. >> reporter: it comes as the

court faces weighty upcoming decisions on death penalty, employers to pay for contraception. the u.s. constitution says the president names the candidates and the senate kon informs them. mich mcconnell says he thinks it should be made by the next president. unless obama can come up with a common common ground can't date-- candidate, it makes it unlikely one can be present by the next election more now from our washington correspondent. >> reporter: the death of u.s. supreme court justice scalia is not just going to impact us here but one on the global view. obama made that deal on the paris climate summit.

he came to u.s. saying that there were new rules for the state to kerb emissions. the supreme court was sending a message to the president saying those rules could not come into effect until the case had gone through the court system. it is more likely that the supreme court is not going to be able to weigh in on this. however the low court will decide, if the president does have that authority, it is likely that those regulation sz will go into effect meaning it is more almost that the paris climate talks with implemented his death wam up in a very ill tempered debate between republican presidential hope unless. >> reporter: a moment silence to mark the death of a supreme court justice began before the republican debate and the question of replacement for the justice. the question should president obama appoint a successor

>> i think he is going to do it whether i am okay with it. it is up to mich mcconnell to stop it. it's called delay delay delay. >> we should let the next pt decide that. >> reporter: ted cruz highlighted the influence of the supreme court which decides constitution questions >> the senate needs to stand strong and say we're not going to give up the u.s. supreme court by allowing obama to make one more liberal appointee. >> reporter: there was a bitter exchange over the role that the president played the role in the ira iraq. >> jeb is could wrong. >> the foreign policy from the shows. he is a great goeshor. >> spent 44 million in new hampshire. >> this is a man who insults his

way to the nation >> reporter: marco rubio seemed to get back in the groove here launching this attack on ted cruz on the subject of immigration >> this is a disturbing pattern. he ted cruz has been telling lies. he lied about ben carson in iowa, he lies about marriage, he is lying and he makes things up >> reporter: this was a bad night for donald trump. he came under attack from almost everyone, but the reality is here in south carolina he still leads the polls by more than 20 points. senator says the death of the justice makes the supreme court nomination a huge election >> if you don't win the election you can't appoint a supreme court justice, so i hope conservatives look at this to make sure that we nominate somebody that can win the white house. >> reporter: this was a sign of how this contest is tightening

a new united nations report says more than 11,000 civilians have been killed or injured in afghanistan in 2015. the vast majority of the deaths were caused by groups opposed to the government, including the taliban. the research shows a 4% increase in civilian casualties on the previous year. more than three and a half thousand civilians were killed in just over 7.5,000s were injured. fighting on the ground caused the most fatalitiess. the united nations mission in afghanistan has documented a 37% increase in female casualtys and a-- characters and casualties.

this is a very alarming report coming from the u.n. what is behind the rise in the number of casualties among civilians. >> reporter: the u.n.'s submission in this particular report was not to analyse the reason behind the violence, but certainly when you look at the rise in violence, it coincides over the past couple of years with the gradual draw-down in u.s. international forces as the troops have left afghanistan, violence has increased and the taliban have increased their attacks and civil casualties have gone up. this report today is certainly not good news for the security situation in afghanistan. obviously, there is a lot of discussion, a lot of debate about where the security situation is heading. are things getting better, are

things getting worse. these statistics unfortunately show that the security situation is deterioratingment according to the u.n. this is the worst year on record, 2015, the highest number of civilian casualties since 2001. that, of course, is when u.s. and international forces invaded afghanistan. up until this report it was 2014 that was the worst you're. now it is 2015 that has that grim title. as you mentioned probably the most alarming number, 37% rise in women casualties and 14% rise in children being injured and killed. all of this coming as the afghan government is depending heavily on impending peace talks with the taliban, but there's a-- taliban, but there's a lot of questions about whether they're going to succeed. there's a lot of uncertain in

afghanistan, but what is rert, afghan civilians still paying the highest price of the violence here thank you very much. we've got a not more to come here at al jazeera, including turkey demands kurdish fighters withdraw from its border with syria. we will get the very latest from our correspondent. plus a quirky romantic comedy on the challenges in dating in saudi arabia creates a buzz at berlin film festival.

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welcome back. a recap of our top stories here

at al jazeera. u.s. supreme court justice scalia has died at the age of 79. he was one of the court's most conservative members. his death could shift the power allowing president obama to add a fifth liberal justice. a u.n. report says more than 11,000 civilians have been killed or injured in afghanistan in 2015. the vast majority of deaths were caused by groups opposed to the government, including the taliban. it's the last say of the munich security conference. syria has dominated most of the discussions there. acisation of hostilities was agreed by u.s., russia and other world powers, but there are doubts over whether that can actually happen. the u.s. has urged turkey to halt military strikes on kurdish target in syria. turkey has confirmed it carried out shelling near the town of

azaz. >> translation: during the attacks by y.p.g. forces there have been harassing actions against our border. retaliation was taken in the surrounding area. to counter the efforts of these fighters who are clearly an offshoot of the p.k.k.'s efforts to gain their own territory in syria as well as to ensure the refugees can remain in that area safely and saudi arabia military personnel and jets have arrived at the turkish air base. it is used by the u.s. led coalition in the fight against i.s.i.l. >> translation: the latest deployments when it comes to the land forces or increasing air campaign emphasize that saudi arabia's continuing to work with the international coalition to fight i.s.i.l. they also showed that saudi arabia is matching its words

with action. today we are reinforcing our air campaign and we will wait for military details on how to start the land operations. teams have already arrived at the air base. the rest will arrive in hours. they should be ready soon let's talk to our correspondent who is in southern turkey close to the syrian border. let's start with the turkish attacks and the y.p.g. what does this group of syrian kurds done to upset turkey? >> reporter: well, the prime minister of turkey making it clear that he considers the bordertown of azaz a red line and what he described as the russian y.p.g. advance towards there as a threat to national security. we know that turkey considers the y.p.g. a terrorist organization. it has accused it of ethnic cleansing in syria. the turkish authorities are

justifying their actions saying that they will not allow the y.p.g. to approach their border, take azaz or use the air base. what has been happening on the ground is that the y.p.g. has been expanding territories under its control, capturing towns. the y.p.g. has taken advantage of this. turkey clearly giving a warning, a message. the shelling began while the y.p.g. was really on the advance, threatening the opposition in two of their main strong holds. that is, asas in an important area known as the northern corridor, which is important for many sides in this conflict. it's important for the regime because they want to reach the turkish border in order to cut the rebel supply line. it is important for the y.p.g. because they want to collect their enclave in aleppo. for turkey this is a red line.

they do not want to see this happen and the y.p.g. expand. turkey wants a safe zone. it wants some sort of a buffer zone on its border. it has been asking the international community to impose a no fly zone or safe zone, but the international community rejecting that altogether it appears as if saudi arabia is becoming more deeply involved in the conflict in syria with jets positioning themselves in the air base and consideration of mounting a ground operation. >> reporter: yes. it is showing it is serious, it is committing to take part in a ground operation, if and when the u.s. led coalition decides to do that against i.s.i.l. in syria and iraq. they have confirmed that they have sent jets to the air base in southern turkey which is really the hubs for the efforts against i.s.i.l. saying that

it's ready to deploy ground troops. turkey has said it is ready to deploy ground troops. the syrian government as well as its allies are warning saudi arabia against such a move. the foreign minister said they will consider this is an aggression. the troops will return home in their coffins. the syrian army sending a message to saudi arabia and the u.s. saying that we are now at the provincial border. that is controlled by i.s.i.l. the syrian army saying that they plan to enter that territory saying that the east syria is not for the coalition but for the army as well hundreds of palestinians have travelled to the gaza border with egypt after it was opened for the first time this year. more than 25,000 people are in urgent need of using the crossing, including those with medical conditions.

only a fraction of that number have been given approval to travel. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: these palestinians have been waiting patiently to leave the glaz astrip-- gaza strip for months, many for years. >> translation: our best estimate is that 1000 will get to travel during these two days, which means there will be 24,000 people still need in help >> reporter: this teenager is in need of medical attention. he lost his legs in 2014. more than 2000 people were killed in the conflict. thousands more were injured. >> translation: he needs surgeries and therapy. we're trying to get help for more than a year. we have been applying for grant and renewing them. >> reporter: the economic realities on the strip worsened after that war. more than 100,000 wars were damaged. thousands of businessed were

destroyed. more than half of the people are unemployed. they rely on humanitarian help to get by. for some their only hope is to leave. >> translation: i'm a student and today my visa ends. i used to have a residence parliamentary in turkey, but it expired. all this because of the wrath of crossing. what can i do? >> reporter: egypt only opens the border. and the military is controlling. it has been under an economic blockade by egypt and israel since 2007. that's when hamas took control of the strip from fatah. hams is considered a terrorist organization and caught in between the political wrang meddling are tens of thousands. >> translation: i've been trying to travel since last year, for eight months. i almost lost my job because i

haven't been able to go back. >> reporter: the 24,000 registered palestinians who will not be able to leave gaza this weekend will have to return home. they will have to renew their permits and passports and wait for their chance to escape this open air prison pope francis has had tough words, warning them that they must up to the drug trafficking gangs. he will celebrate mass in ecatepec, which is one of the country's most violent districts. >> reporter: ecatepec, a small city, but for many it has the promises and problems of mexico. hundreds of thousands of people commute to the capital every

day. they work hard and scrimp to save. they are held back by gangs. this man moved here 25 years ago. land was cheap and he wanted to be his own boss. he succeeded. he was kidnapped by police and is scared he will be targeted again. >> translation: we're they're prisoners, we can't go out on the street. we are more afraid of police than criminals. >> reporter: robberies on buses are common as are extortion. there has been a rash of lynchings. victims groups are hoping to meet the pope and tell him about the violence and corruption that is endemic here. >> translation: the government is absent. it puts a false face on the area. reality is much crueller here. i don't want my country or have

this home to have this. there needs to be working to resolve the problems. >> reporter: meanwhile, the local government appears to be doing its best to make it look clean and safe, at least for sunday's mass. >> reporter: i asked him why they're out painting. he said him and his crew are painting bushes and trees to make it look nice for when the pope arrives. >> reporter: the mayor says an opportunity in the pope's visit. >> translation: it is a big boost for the committee and motivates us to move forward to work hard to make our city better. >> reporter: residents it will say it will take more from the leaders to make the city safe and hope the pope's visit provide the spark for the change they need

the voters in car are choosing between two former candidates in a run-off vote. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: waiting for change in the car and hoping for a new leader to take the country into a more peaceful phase after multiple delays. there was no clear winner after a december vote to select a president. a porltry election in january was anulled due toer regular latters. one-- due to irregularities. >> translation: the people think i'm sexier, second that i'm kinder, third i have more experience and fourth i make decisions. that is their choice. >> reporter: he gained the

support of the former leader. he is banned from running again as he is under investigation for human rights violations. another one promises to release the country from coups. he has made a deal to give seelts in parliament to the former parliament's party. the alternative is independent candidate who reed 90% of the first round of votes. he served as the most recent prime minister under bose when he was ousted by armed groups >> i was p w. for five years. they have seen my develop and i love my country too. we are in difficult times. i like all car people who want to bring solutions to our problems >> reporter: for two years there

was a lot of fighting. more than 6,000 people were killed according to the u.n. with a shaky ceasefire holding through 2015, there was an opportunity to have a clean start. lost month's parliamentary election saw the voting cancelled. there is another chance on sunday. people are hoping the vote will bring about real change a 5.7 quake rocked christchurch on sunday. there were no reports of major damage nor injuries. a magnitude 6.3 quake in february 2011 killed 185 people. a group of young saudi independent movie makers are creating a buzz at the berlin film festival. their movie looks at the social enormous and the red tape

associated with making a quirky love story. our correspondent reports from berlin. >> reporter: boy meets girl, boy tries to date girl, but this is saudi arabia and the challenges are enormous. in fact, that sort of the point of this movie. despite it being presented as a quirky comedy at the berlin film festival >> saudi in the last 30 years has become limited in the face of young, the liberals and the more progressive, the women, the minorities. they're less visible in the street. no-one wants to film maybe on public space, so i had to make a love story and then in the background there is the story of the city, of public space. >> reporter: if you are wondering how much interest there is in the film, have a look at this. it's a complete sell out as the film gets international premier.

the young sau saudi who made th film financed it itself. they had to constantly explain to people what they were doing >> i had this realisation that it was, of course, a different character but for other people it was still me. so when someone walking down the street or driving boy recognised me, they wouldn't recognised me as the character but fatima. so i was like. >> reporter: the movie which got a great reaction here is careful to show traditional saudi culture in a positive light. it doesn't pull its punches about society's problems >> i was surprised about how in your face it was and how likely they bring serious matters. >> to make a movie fun was a sort critique to the culture.

this is what i think is not so easy to do. >> reporter: they have done it against all the odds, and they hope they can inspire more saudi movie makers the same. >> reporter: as ever there's a lot more on the al jazeera website aljazeera.com genetic modification, incredible science in the lab usually means this. it can be controversial, it can also be extremely beneficial. >> just like that, i'm genetically modified the mosquitos that carry two