nationwide. adrian brown. you can get more on all those stories if you head over to our website at aljazeera.com. taiwan says china's deployed missiles on a disputed island in the south china sea. also ahead russia says it categorically rejects accusations its military bombed hospitals in northern syria. a judge in the u.s. orders apple help the f.b.i. unlock an

iphone. how china is trying to educate motorists. china is being accused of deploying missiles on a disputed island in the south china sea. the taiwanese defense ministry says beijing has placed surface to area missiles on the wooly island. taiwan's president elect 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 comparably expense situation. we call on all sides to stick to the principle of resolving the dispute over the south china asea in a peaceful. self restraint is most important china's foreign minister

says the claims are an attempt by the western media to create new stories. >> translation: i hope that media everyone, including those in western countries and australia, will turn your attention to the lighthouses that we have built on some of the islands that we have built which are in operation and they have been very useful in ensuring the safety of the passing ships in those waters joining us is al jazeera's harry fawcett live from seoul. what option do the u.s. and taiwan have? >> reporter: certainly they will be looking at that statement from the chinese foreign minister and scrutinizing it pretty carefully. it is clear that he said that the western media had manufactured or created these stories, but he didn't use the chinese words which suggested that they had totally invented it. it is not a flood denial that this has happened. as far as what taiwan can do, it is making it very clear that it

believes that china has made this move. the chinese - taiwanese incoming president who will take power in may has a mandate to cool ties with china after the more pro-chinese incumbent leaves office. that will be factored into their longer term calculations. as far as the u.s. is concerned, obama has made it clear at the recently wrapped up meeting of the association of south-east asian nations in california that the u.s. intends to continue with its program of ensuring that there is freedom of navigation very close to these islands. it has just carried out a second such mission of sailing a u.s. warship within 12 nautical miles of one of these island, another island in the paracel chain which china has protested against. it is not militarizing its island but defending its

personnel and people on such iltdz, but it will be seen as militarization by the u.s. and its allies all of this coming in the backdrop of the u.s. feeling it needs to put on a bit of a show of strength. >> reporter: yes. in south korea on wednesday there was a very big show of military force by the u.s. in the form of four 522 fighters jets which were flown low over south korean airspace briefly stopping at the u.s. military air base in south korean territory. these are very highly prized fighters jets within the u.s. arsenal, the most capable air superiority jets in the world is how one official termed this. this is a show of strength against pyongyang and north korea which has just carried out a nuclear test and more recently a rocket launch seen as a ballistic missile test seen by

the u.s. and south korea, but china will be eyeing this as part of the wider u.s. pivot to the region and another show of u.s. military strength in north-east asia as it has been showing strength in south-east asia as well thank you for that. tensions in the south china sea are at the top of the agenda in the asean summit in the u.s. >> reporter: there were few formalities of obama's meeting with azean leaders. the laid back atmosphere of the u.s. president's second home for diplomacy was met to stimulate conversation which brought about a joint declaration on the topics. working on trade to shared principles on maritime security. >> freedom of navigation must be upheld and lawful commerce should not be impeded. i reiterated that the u.s. will continue to fly, sail and

operate wherever international law allows. we will support the right of all countries to do the same >> reporter: they had difficulty agreeing on any statements to do with maritime security previously. a fact highlight on wednesday by reports that the regional spro power had stationed surface to air missiles on disdisputed island in the paracels group. china weeldz a huge influence over the region both economically and militarily. so few of the asean have not wanted to go against their neighbor. the block is nearly 50 years old, but the loose grouping of ten different countries has been redominantly seen as toothless. the u.s. giving this attention gives a clear message to the member states that they must work together more effectively to face shared challenges.

there are more than 600 million people living in asean. despite their differences they've been integrated into a single economic community. the potential of the region sway as a block is central to the u.s. so-called rebalance to asia-pacific. >> engaging us in integration and asia-pacific is all very much in the u.s. interest >> reporter: bringing leaders to here has been seen by many as the u.s. reasserting a leadership rollover a region where china's dominance is increasing. the president hopes getting the leaders to agree on this so-called declaration has already been a step in the right direction 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 in idlib. russia's denial follows claims

by france and turkey the bombings amounted to war crimes. the u.n. says the attacks violate international law. syria's ambassador to the u.n. is defending 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 allies, the russians, of doing so and being behind such criminal act against a hospital aid convoys have been given permission to head into seven besieged areas in syria. the move follows discussions in damascus with u.n. special envoy to syria, staffan de mistura.

our correspondent reports. >> 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 levying in besieged areas across the country. >> what our understanding is, is that the government has approved access to seven include deir al-zor; foua and kafraya in idlib; and madaya, zabadani, kafr batna and mouadamiya al-sham in rural damascus and . humanitarian agencies and partners are preparing convoys for these areas to deport as soon as possible in the coming days and as the special envoy pointed out, he said in his remarks to the president that the test will be tomorrow. >> reporter: the special envoy discussions with officials in damascus was not just about

securing unhindered delivery of aid. the u.n. is trying to stop the fighting as agreed in moneyic last bsh bsh munich last week. they have ruled out any ceasefire until the opponents lay down their arms. bashar al-assad said local reconciliation agreements are the solution to the syrian conflict. the opposition says those deals with the government's way of making peace on its terms from a position of strength. civilians and rebels have had to surrender in some corners of sir after painful sieges of opposition-held areas. the opposition is now facing another enemy, an alliance of kurdish and arab fighters. two main rebel strong holds are under control.

they were among the first towns to rise up against the government. the opposition says losses in aleppo are not the end of their fight. >> we are not defeated. yes, they might have some advances, but why they took this, it appeared 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 a military solution to the conflict the u.n. humanitarian affairs chief is urging the security council to take action as millions of yemenis face malnutrition and inadequate medical services. more than 21 million people are in need of eight. nearly 8 million people are facing food shortages. the besieged city of taiz is facing famine >> some 2.7 million people have

had to flee their homes. at least 7.6 million people are severely food insecure. some 2 million acutely malnourished children and practising incident or lactating women need urgent treatment. chronic drug shortages, unpaid salaries and conflict-related destruction means that 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 lack of health workers localities more to come in the new-- lots more to come in the next half half. the new procedure offering hope to terminal cancer patients.

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welcome back. now a recap of our top stories. china appears to have deployed missiles on a disputed island in the south china sea. taiwan says beijing placed surface to air missiles in an island in the paracels. russia says it rejects accusations it womed hospitals in northern syria. at least 50 civilians were killed on air strikes on five hospitals and two schools in aleppo and idlib. the u.n. says the attacks sigh

lated international law. humanitarian affairs chief has urged the security council to take action in yemen. it is estimated that more than 21 people are in need of some form of aid there. myanmar's newly elected parliament is trying to agree assess fires with multiple rebel groups. last year the outgoing government signed a nationwide ceasefire agreement. more than half of the armed groups didn't. it is at the heart of the conflict. there are more than 130 ethnic groups with eight prominent minorities across the country. many have armies and there are dozen sz fighting government forces. the conflict began in 1949 soon after independence from britain. power was concentrated at the hands of the majority of the berman computer excluding ethnic minorities. it has suffered armed conflict ever since. tens of thousands of people have been killed or wounded.

myanmar also has one of the highest numbers of child soldiers in the world. in recent months there have been regular outbreaks of violence mainly in the northern shan state ch state. wayne hay has been given access to one of the rebel groups >> reporter: soldiers from the myanmar army stand triumphantly on a remote region of shan state. for now their enemy has been pushed deeper into the jungle. villages where the battles took place are empty. the people fled when the gunfire started. a few men stayed behind and they accused the rebels when they came here of looting their homes. >> translation: i've never seen this before. in the past there has been fighting, but i haven't seen a situation like this. >> reporter: on this occasion the enemy was the national liberate army which denies any

wrongdoing and says it's the one under attack. it is a rebel group fighting for control of parts of myanmar's northern shan state. >> we are not asking for succession or independence. we will like to build a real federalism here and work with other ethnic nationality. >> reporter: their fights are usually against the government but it has been increasingly against a larger ethnic force and former ally. the tn l.a. wasn't invited to sign a ceasefire agreement with the outgoing government last year t believes groups that did sign are now being backed by state forces. soon after the nationwide ceasefire agreement was signed, the tn l.a. say the government troops tried to take this key position from them. coming up to the top of this hill at 4 o'clock in the morning. they killed many enemy soldiers and buried them here. they're looking to the new

government led by aung san suu kyi. >> we need to black our country so if we can cannot stop this peace problem and then we cannot make abandon our country >> reporter: the groups have a deep distrust of the myanmar army and they believe peace is a long way off. >> we are worried that the military leaders might create a lot of problem, a lot of violence to our country to make n.l.d. difficult for the country. >> reporter: old alliances are being tested in this divide area where instead of a ceasefire, many soldiers are preparing for a major fight israel's supreme court has refused to end the administrative detention of a palestinian journalist on hunger

strike. he has been detained in israel without charge since last november. on tuesday the court rejected his request to be transferred to a west bank hospital. he has refused food for 84 days. his lawyers say he would end his hunger strike if he was moved to a palestinian hospital. four u.s. journalists who were arrested in bahrain have been released and are on their way home despite being charged officials allowed them to leave the country. they are refused of illegal documents. apple has been ordered by a u.s. judge to help unlock an iphone belonging to one of the people in the st bernandino shootings last year. they have been trying to get

access to the phone since december. the two shot and killed 14 people. a technology journalist and co dwrektor of connect safely dolt come-- director. >> the problem is that the iphone has a system where if you have ten incorrect attempts to finds the password it will erase the data. the f.b.i. have no idea what the pass code is. they want to do a brute force attack and enter in until they get it right. it is extremely unlikely that they can do it in ten. so they are asked for software. we don't know if there is software that will enable them to keep attempting - if they needed to until they crack - if

such software did exist and work, there is no idea that they would be able to crack that in a timely manner. there's tens of millions. i'm not sure how they would do it. this is all a long shot. it sort of sir couple vents the issue of encryption. apple can't break the encryption pope francis is due to complete his tour of mexico with a visit to the northern border. for years the city was synonymous with mexico's drug wars. >> reporter: this is how he tries to lift the spirit of kids in this poor neighborhoods. the daily work outs keep them off the streets. while the streets are somewhat safer than a few years ago, they still offer few opportunities.

>> translation: these places are full of young people that don't go to school, don't have a job or work in the border factories for a low wage. we have a lot of work to do. we're not doing enough for them >> reporter: there's still much to be done. for the police, the first step was taking back control of the city. in 2010 more than 3,000 people were killed here. last year just over 300 killed. the lowest number in a decade. it is now safer than some american cities. the police chief says the key to this happening was the removal of corrupt police and improved tactics. >> translation: the visit from the pope is important because it shows the world that this place has changed. >> reporter: by ending his trip here, the pope is able to come right up to the u.s. border and be critical of immigration policy in the u.s. thousands of migrants have died

crossing from mexico into the u.s. he will say a prayer here for migrants. the pain of loss is still seen and felt throughout here. a wave of abductions and killings of women has marked this city for two decades. this woman's daughter was one victim. she was found dead in a mass grave. >> translation: every day when my daughter and son go to school, i'm just waiting to pick them up and hoping to find them there because it is still not a safe place. even less if you're a woman or a girl >> reporter: memories of darkest days are fading for some. they're embracing what feels like a new city. >> five years ago the city was very lonely sad. now, as you can see, it's very crowd in places. >> reporter: the sounds of a city where there's hope, a violent past will remain just that

more than 200 formers government works in the zimbabwe capital were forced to leap in the streets. they were fired last year. they have not been paid for a year. workers say they have also not received any severance pay. there is no money to pay for the workers they say. it has been called unprecedented, a new procedure where a patient's own cells are used to target and eradicate cancer. it has already been tried out with terminally ill patients. infection fighting tcells were removed. they were then returned to a patient's body. in one group an incredible 94% of patients saw their symptoms vanish completely. scientists say ilwhilst it is extraordinary, the results are a baby step and the procedure can

have side effects. although the treatment is so impressive, it is not the same as finding a cure >> a therapy as a whole has not been far from the headlines this year and last year. we've seen big steps farpd, some exciting research coming out and these are patients, they have blood cancer, leukaemia and they failed normal standard treatments. they didn't have any options left. this trial has been a life line for them. it was concentrating on white blood cell cancers. it is important to stress while they saw an impressive response rate, response doesn't equal cure. they still need to follow these patients over the long-term because one thing we do no know about cancer, it is very good at wriggling its way out of therapy. it is a powerful weapon, but with power comes great caution. that's why with these trials we do need to take them slowly

because patients' safety has to be paramount. stimulating an immune system, if it is over active, if you get an over response, can be very detrimental to the patient too. it is not without its dangers. for that small group whose treatment is no longer working, this is another option for them. it is still a whyalla way from being standard treatment and available to all patients, but this is where all new treatments have to start. we need more research, long-term safety data, but it is a step forward and there are lots of other therapies coming on line as well. we're at the tip of iceberg china is the number one car market and the increase of motorists has led to road rage. a chain to change that-- program to change that. >> reporter: 25 years ago bicycles outnumbered cars on the roads.

these traffic jams are the worst in the world now. 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 everybody where in today's chin. many cars are now fitted with dashboard cameras, capturing in often startling detail what would once have seemed unthinkable. >> okay. seatbelt. >> reporter: this man is on a drive to change that. inspired by his experiences living in britain, he set up a volunteer education to help with driving etiquette. >> it is very good there and they have good skills. >> reporter: so far he has

signed up more than 600 volunteers. this is the latest recruit. now dedicated lining the others to helping build a better civic society. >> in china we have so many drivers, so many people. some of them got some problem with their manners. i think that's true. >> reporter: china's economy may be in the slow lane, but the number of cars on its roads continues to accelerate. government statistics show that in 2015 car ownership soared by 20% to more than 110 million cars nationwide. the program good driver logo is displayed on all the volunteers' cars. if they see a fight they don't interfere. they're trained in first aid and equipped with rescue gear to help drivers in distress.

while change will surely be gradual, he is hopeful his volunteer group is setting an example that will eventually be taken up nationwide. adrian brown if you want to get more on those sisters, just head over-- stories, just head over to our website aljazeera.com get killed. those people that died, that was really close.. i miss them like i don't really going to -- i can't really be on them. >> in 2015, nearly 3,000 people were shot in chicago.