taiwan says china has deployed missiles on a disputed island in the south china sea. hello. also coming up russia says it categorically rejects accusations its has bombed hospitals in north syria. the judge in u.s. asks afpple to

unlock one of the st bernadino's attacker phones china appears to have deployed missiles on a disputed island in the south china sea. the taiwan ease defense minimum see says beijing has placed surface to air missiles on an island. ownership of the island is disputed by taiwan, vietnam, chinese and the philippines. the president is appealing for calm. >> translation: i think the south china sea is a region that everyone pays close attention to, especially on the issue of the dispute over seventy in the south china sea. it is a tense situation, so we call on all sides to stick to the principle of resolving the dispute over the south china sea in a peaceful manner. self restraint is most important

china's foreign minister says the claim is an attempt by the western media to create news stories. >> translation: i hope that the media everywhere, including those in western countries and australia, will turn your attention more to the lighthouses that we have built on some of the islands that we are using in south china sea which are in operation now and they have been very useful in ensuring the safety of the passing ships in those waters joining us now is al jazeera's harry faucett live from seoul. what option do taiwan and the u.s. have at this point? >> reporter: it's not clear what taiwan may well do. we were hearing there from the president elect. she has come to power and she will be taking power in may. it will be a mandate for cooler relations. we wait to see exactly what her longer term response to all this

will be. certainly the united states have been calling for militarization of these islands. china says that it isn't. that it is put ago a greater footprint and creating more territory on through the land reclamation work, but it reserves the right to self-defence. china would point at the operation in october by the u.s. navy and another one at the end of january where u.s. warships sailed close to a couple of these disputed islands in an attempt to show that the work of the chinese would not in any way hamper what the u.s. and its allies calls freedom of navigation. we just had a meeting of the asean group of south-east nations in the u.s. in california. as far as president obama was concerned, he again called for a lack of militarization of these

and said that the u.s. would continue its overflights and its naval missions to ensure freedom of navigation was not impinged upon ut u.s. showing strength in the region today as a message not only to china but to others. >> reporter: that's right. here in south korea athe u.s. has been putting on a display. four f22 raptohrs landed here in south korean, very advanced fighters jets, what the u.s. says the most capable air superioritity aircraft in the world. this is not aimed so much as china as at north korea, a response to its recent nuclear tests and rocket launches. at a time in 2013 the u.s. did a mission with b52 bombers,

nuclear armed or at least capable of carrying nuclear weapons. that elicited an extremely strong response from north korea and the tensions continued for some weeks after that. so we wait to hear from pyongyang, its response to the latest show of force by the u.s. thank you for that. as we mentioned, there are those tensions in the south china sea and they're topping the agenda at a meeting of the south-east asian leaders in california. obama is calling for demilitarization of the disputed area, as harry was mentioning there. he announced measures to deepen ties between the region and u.s. we have athe regional director for humanitarian studies. with the issue of the claims that china has put missiles in

the islands, how credible do you take those claims or reports to be? >> probably difficult to prove without the technology to do so, but i think what is clear is that this is part of a pattern of china preparing these islands for military use. we've seen the construction of the 3 kilometer runway of one of the islands. i think it is clear that it is part of a trajectory towards china preparing these islands for possible deployment of either military fighters or missiles, and this has been the great fear in washington, that this would deny these areas of the ability of u.s. navy ships and other navy ships to deploy freely without the threat of the use of force china on the one hand

beefing up its footprint there. we see u.s. also trying to beef up its relations between azan. is there a lifshg between the two? >> absolutely. it is clear that china and the u.s. have now ramped up their efforts to try and secure a greater foot hold in south-east asia. this started way back, about five years ago, six years ago, when hillary clinton first laid down a marker on china's expansion in the south china sea and since then we've seen both sides, the u.s. and china, ramp up considerably the diplomatic efforts and also in material terms to, in effect, militarize the region if this is part of a bigger struggle, then, programs going on between chinaened the u.s., who winning, do you think? >> i think it is say in due physical terms, china is

winning. china is effectively now laid down the physical infrastructure for militarization of the islands, even if they haven't fully deployed to those islands. the u.s. is struggling a bit because it is heavily distracted by the middle east. depending on to sort of reengineer and i gear itself towards the pacific. that's the whole point of obama's pivot, but it is finding it difficult in economic terms appeared they simply lack the kind of fixed aircraft carriers that china has now built-in the south china sea. what the u.s. needs to do is deploy aircrafts and ships russia says it categorically rejects accusations it bombed hospitals in northern syria. at least 50 civilians were killed on monday in air strikes on five hospitals and two schools in aleppo and idlib. russia's denial follows claims

by france and turkey the bombings amounted to war crimes. they violate international law. the be that as it may dor to the u.n. has defended its ally >> we have credible information that the so-called alliance led by the u.s. led alliance struck the hospital in the northern part of syria, but of course as usual the easiest way for them is to trigger a campaign against the syrian government within the media to accuse and defame the syrian government or our the russians of doing so and being behind such criminal act against hospital aid convoys have been than given permission to head into seven besieged areas in syria. the moves follows discussions in damascus with staffan de

mistura. >> reporter: the battle for aleppo enters its third week. there is no sign that a u.s. russian deal to pause the fighting will happen, but there is a sign of hope for the hundreds of thousands of syrians living in besieged areas cross the country. >> what our understanding is, is that the government of syria has approved access to seven besieged area. humanitarian agencies around partners are preparing convoys for these areas to depart as soon as possible in the coming days. as the special envoy pointed out, he said in talk in his remarks that the test will be tomorrow. >> reporter: the special envoy, staffan de mistura discussion was not just about humanitarian aid. the u.n. is trying to stop the

fighting as agreed in munich last week, but there seems to be little appetite. the syrian government appears to feel empowered by its battle field gains and has ruled out any ceasefire until its opponents laid down their arms-- lay down their arms. bashar al-assad said local reconciliation agreements are the resolution to the syrian conflict. the opposition says those deals with the government's way of making peace on its terms from a position of strengts. civilians and rebels have had to surrender in some corners of syria after long and painful sieges of opposition held areas. the opposition is now facing another enemy, an alliance of kurdish and arab fighters, the y.p.g. and others are now in control of two main rebel strong holds in the northern corridor close to the turkish border.

there were two towns to rise up but losses in aleppo are not the end of their fight. >> are not defeated-- we are not defeated. yes, they might have advances, but why they do this, it happened just because the russian air forces is working as an air force for bashar al-assad. >> reporter: the rebels are still holding ground on some front lines in aleppo but the government is only intensifying its military campaign and pushing ahead with the military solution to the conflict the u.n. humanitarian affairs chief is urging the security council to take action as millions of yemenis need services. steven o'brien says more than 21 million yemenis are in need of some fort of aid. nearly 8 million are facing food shortages. taiz is facing famine

>> some 2.7 million people have had to fled their homes. 7.6 are food insecure. some two million acutely mall your shall issued-- malnourished-- malnurished children. around 14 million yemenis do not have sufficient access to health care services. since march last year nearly 600 health facilities closed due to damage, shortages of critical supplies or alack of health workers plenty more still ahead on al jazeera, including the former u.n. secretary general boutros boutros ghali dies aged 193. we take a - 93. we take a look at his time in office.

welcome back. a recap of the headlines here on al jazeera. china apples to have deployed missiles on a disputed island in the south china sea. the syrian government says it will allow aid through to seven besieged areas including madaya. the u.n. humanitarian afares chief has urged the security council to take action in yemen. it is estimated more than 21 million yemenis are in need of

aid. it is five years since the revolution in libya. now a power vacuum is threatening the future of libya. the protests began in benghazi and spread. the flash point was in july. gaddafi was ousted. he was seize and killed there by opposition fighters ending the civil war. the fragile coalition holding on to power began to disintegrate within two years. in february 2014 haftar turned foe of gaddafi fanneded the coalition be dissolved. he sparked another civil war. a unity government seems close to being formed. our correspondent looks at the difficulties it faces. >> reporter: libya's leaders are

under mounting pressure to end the infighting and form a unified government. that many hope will end the political divide. libya has two governments. one in the west and the other in the east. the tripoli based one controls western libya, an influence that stretch from to zaltan. their rivals control most of the east, an area that stretches from the coastal town of bardia to ras lanuf. it controls areas in benghazi. there are stricts held by an armed group that calls for the implementation of islamic law. it is i.s.i.l. that has recently made major territorial gains.

it controls an area stretching from sidra to sirte. the international community is looking into ways to stem the rise of i.s.i.l., including the u.s. military force. europe has been struggling with the growing number of refugees who have travelled through libya. the country's warring factions have recently agreed to form a national unity government. a crucial step that many hope will put an end to months of fighting. and stop militias that have grown in size and influence. a final deal awaits a major decision on the role of the powerful army general. he is the top military commander of the. to obruk-based government but he is hated by the government of tripoli which insists on his departure

four u.s. journalists who were arrested in bahrain have been released. despite being charged, they are allowed to leave the country. they accused of submitting false papers and taking part in an unlawful gathering. the reporters were detained while covering protests. app learnings has been ordered to help to unlock a phone. the f.b.i. is investigating any links between farook and i.s.i.l. it has been trying to gain access in his phone since december. farook and his wich tasfeen shot and killed many. a co direct of connect safely dot organise explains.

>> the problem is that the iphone had in it a system where if you have ten attempts, it will arrange the data. they have no idea what the password is. they want to get it right, but obviously it is extremely unlikely that they amphetamine it right within the first 10 and if it was ee raced it will be out of luck. they're asking apple to provide the software, if it does exist, that would enable them to keep attempting ultimate, as many times as they needed to until they crack the code. if such software did exist and work, it's to guarantee that they would be able to crack the code in a timely manner. there are tens of millions of possibilities. i think this is all a long shot,

but it sort of circumvents of issue of encryption. all you can do is try to hack into the phone the band that was playing when gunmen stormed the theater, the egales of death metal staged a concert for those killed. the state of emergency has been extended for three months. >> reporter: the second extension to the state of emergency which gives sweeping powers to the police was approved by an overwhelming majority. it is a vote that reflects the opinion of people across the country as a whole, still traumatised by the attacks in paris last november which killed 130 people. for another three months the police will be able to conduct searches and order house arrests without a warrant from a judge.

demonstrations that could accident occurred public order will be banned. the measures which were due to expire at the end of this month have been described by human rights organizations as excess and disproportionate restrictions on fundamental freedoms in france >> most of the country want security. we want security. the issue is what does it imply to have security. is giving up on the basic freedoms and guaranteess of the world, we don't think so. the rock band who were on stage at the bataclan when it was attacked returned to central paris to play an attribute concert to the 90 people who died. the leader singer has been giving his reaction to the appalling events of that night in an emotional interview. >> in up want to bring it up, i will ask you, did your french

gun control stop a single person from dying? if anyone can answer yes, i would like to hear it pause i don't think so. the only thing that stopped it was some of the bravest men that i've ever seen in my life charging head first into the face of death with their firearms. >> reporter: many of the people attending the concert on tuesday were in the audience on the original night of the attack. it was bringing back painful memories for everyone. >> translation: it doesn't matter what happened. we will still be here free and partying, enjoying ourselves in the present together. >> in the end, you have to have fun no matter what. >> reporter: it has taken courage and it defiance to be at this concert. many in the audience and many people across france fear that this fight is far from over boutros boutros ghali, the former united nations secretary

general has died at the age of 93. he took office in 1992 with the challenging time for the organization. our diplomatic editor james bays takes a look >> reporter: a moment of remembrance for the man who led the u.n. through some of its most difficult times. members of the u.n. security council stood in silence to pay attribute to boutros boutros ghali, the 6th secretary general who has died at the age of 93. the egyptian took office when the international community, perhaps, seemed more united than at any time since the creation of the u.n., but the end of the cold war also brought fresh conflict. within four months of boutros boutros ghali starting the job, war bloke out in the balkans. the u.n.'s initial response was widely krid sized and-- cite

sized and did little to stop the bloodshed. they were unable to stop one of the world worst atrocities in history, the death of hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of weeks. the secretary generally boutros boutros ghali blames some of the failings on the system and in more recent years he continued to call for reform. this interview with al jazeera in 2009. >> we need the drastic change, the report will not be able to - little reform, we will not be able to cope with the new situation. we are living in a new situation which is completely different than the situation which was existing in 1945. >> reporter: when boutros boutros ghali left the top job at the u.n. he was a man with unfinished business. he had wanted a second term but off five years, he had lost

favor with the then u.s. president bill clinton and his ambassador to the u.n. mad lyn al abouts bright. he a new treatment for cancer has been discovered where a patient's own cells are used to eradicate cancerous ones. a trial on a group of terminally ill patients had a 94% success rate. the american scientists behind the therapy say it is still in early development. china is the world's number one car market, but the increase in motorists has led to a rise in road rage. a campaign to change that has gun in the north-eastern city of jingdow. >> reporter: just 25 years ago bicycles still out numbered cars on beijing's roads. today the traffic jams are amongst the worst in the world.

this is the consequence. road rage. police say they investigated more than 17 million cases last year helped by the surveillance cameras that seem to be everywhere in today's china. many cars are now fitted with dashboard cameras capturing in often startling detail what would one have seen unthinkable. >> seatbelt is on. >> reporter: this man is on a drive to change that. inspired by his experiences living in britain, he set up a volunteer organization to teach driving et-- etiquette. >> helping the driver, they have good skills there. >> reporter: so far he has signed up more than 60

volunteers. sunny is the latest recruit, dedicated like the others to helping build a better civic society >> road rage happened because we have so many drivers and people. some of them got some problem with their manners. i think that is true >> reporter: china's economy may be in the slow lane, but the number of cars on its roads continue to accelerate. government statistics show in 2015 car ownership soared to almost 11 million cars nationwide. the good driver logo is proudly displayed on all the volunteers' cars. if these good samaritans do see a fight, they don't interfere. they're trained in first aid andy equipped with rescue gear to help drivers in distress. while change will surely be

gradual, this man is still hopeful his volunteer group is setting an example that will eventually be taken up nationwide. adrian brown. you can get more on all those stories if you head over to our website at aljazeera.com. . >> thanks for joining us on "america tonight", i'm melissa chan. we looked at crime and punishment with an eye to the victims, there are hidden victims, those that the justice system didn't intend to punish,