taiwan says china has deployed missiles on a disputed island in the south china sea. hello. i'm jane dutton in doha. also ahead, russia says it categorically rejects accusations that it has military bombed hospitals in northern syria. the judge in the u.s. orders apple to help unlock one of the san bernardino's attacker's

iphone. the new government seeks to end decades of conflict in myanmar china has been accused of deploying missiles on a disputed island in the south china sea. beijing has placed surface to air missiles on an island in the paracels. ownership of the islands is disputed by taiwan, vietnam and china. >> translation: i think the south china sea is a region that everyone pays close attention to, especially on the issue of the dispute over sovereignty 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 more china's foreign minister say

the claims are an attempt by the western media to create new 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 al jazeera's harry faucett has more from seoul. >> reporter: the foreign minister in his statement said that western media was hyping or manufacturing new stories, but he didn't in so many words deny that this had taken place, that as the taiwanese say, two surface to air missile balt res have been deployed on the island. china says that it has no intention of militarizing its islands that it claims in the south china sea, also claimed in this instance by vietnam and taiwan in the instance of the

spratley islands where there are similar claims by the file penis, but it says it holds the right to self defense of its people who live on these islands. chooip has a militarizing ambition as well as its current ongoing projects of reclaiming territory, making these islands bigger in terms of their physical size. obama at the azean meeting said that the u.s. would continue to oppose that and would continue to carry out missions which would make clear that it wanted to protect the right of freedom of navigation for all countries within this area. it has just finished a second such mission where it sailed a warship very close to another island. china has proceed tested against that. it seems that this will be seen as an escalation by the u.s. and we can see more such missions in the future those tensions in the south

china sea were at the top of the agenda at the asean summit. >> reporter: there were few formalities of obama's meeting with asean leaders. it was meant to stimulate candidate conversation which in the end brought about a joint declaration of a range of topics. from working together on trade to shared principles on maritime security. >> freedom of navigation must be upheld and lawful commerce should not be impeded. 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: previously asean had difficulty agreeing on any statements to do with maritime security. four of the countries are embroiled in territorial sdpults with china over portions of the south china sea, a fact that was

highlighted on wednesday by reports that the regional super power had stationed surface to air missiles on disputed island in the paracels group. china weeldz a huge influence over the region, both economically and militarily. so few of the states have not wanted to go against their power will neighbor. it is a regional block that is nearly 50 years old. the loose grouping of ten different countries has been predominantly seen as toothless. the u.s. now giving this much attention sends a message to the member states that they must work together more effectively to face share challenges. there are more than 600 million people living in asean. sdpoo despite their differences they have been integrated into a single economic community. the potential is important to the asia-pacific >> the integration and the role

in asia-pacific is all very much in the u.s. interests >> reporter: bringing asean leaders to here has been seen by many as u.s. reasserting a leadership rollover a region where china's dominance is increasing. getting the leaders to agree on this declaration is already a step in the right direction russia says it rejects accusation that it bombed hospitals in northern syria. at least 50 civilians were killed in air strikes on five hospitals and two schools. russia's denial follows claims by france and turkey that the bombings amounted to war crimes. the attacks violate international law. syria's ambassador 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 allies, the russians, of doing so and being behind such criminal act against a hospital aid convoys have been given commission to head into seven besieged areas in syria. it follows discussions with u.n. envoy 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 across the country

>> what our understanding is, that the government of syria has approved access to seven 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 depart in the coming days. as the special envoy pointed out, he said in his remarks to the president that the test will be on tomorrow. >> reporter: the special envoy staffan de mistura discussions with the officials in damascus was not just about securing delivery of humanitarian aid. they're trying to stop the fighting as agreed in munich last week. 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 lay down their arms. >> reporter: syrian presidential 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 syria after long and painful seiges of opposition-held areas. the open six is now facing another enemy, an alliance of kurdish and arab fighters. the kurdish group the y.p.g., syrian gep gratic forces are now in control of two main rebel strong holds in the northern corridor close to the turkish border. two 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 advances, it happened just because the russian air forces is working as an on air force

for bashar al-assad. >> reporter: they're still holding ground, but the government is only intensifying its military campaign and pushing ahead with the military solution to the conflict myanmar's newly elected parliament is trying to agree assess fires with multiple rebel groups. last year the outgoing government signed what it called a nation i'd ceasefire agreement, but more than half of the armed groups didn't. myanmar's ethnic diversity is at the heart of the conflict. there are more than 130 ethnic groups and 8 minorities across myanmar. many of them have armss and there are dozenss of armed forces. it began after 1949 after independence from britain. the country has suffered armed conflict ever since. tens of thousands of people have been killed, injured or abused. mean also has one of the highest

numbers of child soldiers in the world. wayne hay has been given rare access to one of the groups heavily involved in the latest fighting. >> reporter: soldiers from the myanmar army stand triumphantly on a remote ridge in northern shan state. for now their enemy has been pushed deeper into the jungle. villages are largely empty. the people fled when the gunfire started many. a few men stayed behind. they accused the rebels of came here would 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 t' an army which denies any wrongdoing and says it is 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. we are not asking for

independence. we would like to feel federalism here and work with other national. >> reporter: the fights are usually against the government, but lately it has been increasingly against a larger neighboring ethnic force and a former ally. the tn l.a. wasn't invited to sign a ceasefire agreement with the outgoing government last year. groups that did sign are now baeg 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 say they killed many enemy soldiers and buried them here. now those on the front lines are looking to the new government led by the national league for democracy party of aung san suu kyi >> we need to develop our country and shut down so if we can not stop this peace problem

and then we cannot help our country >> reporter: the groups have a deep miss trust of the rm 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 the country to make n.l.d. difficult for lead the country. >> reporter: old alliances are being tested more than ever in this divide area where instead of a ceasefire, many soldiers are preparing for a major fight plenty more still ahead, including back at the bataclan, the eagles of death metal rock band face paris since the bataclan was targeted by

terrorists in november.

welcome back. a look at our top stories on al jazeera. china appears to have deployed missiles on a disputed island in the south china sea. taiwan says beijing has placed surface to air missiles on an island in the paracels. the tensions in the south china sea has been at the top of the agenda of the asean leaders summit. obama called for demilitarization at the meeting in california. russia says it rejects

accusation it bombed hospitals in northern syria. at least 50 civilians were killed on monday after attacks on hospitals and schools it is not five years since the so-called february 17 revolution began in libya leading to the downfall of gadaffi. a power vacuum is threatening the future of libya. a unity dpot appears close to be formed-- government appears close to be formed >> 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 general national congress controls western libya, an influence that

stretches all the waste to zaltan. the u.n. backed government in tobruk controls most of the east to ra; lanuf. it also controls areas in benghazi. it is i.s.i.l. that has recently made major territorial gains. it controls a coastal area stretching from sirte. the international community is looking into ways to stem the rise of i.s.i.l. including the use of military force. europe has recently 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 tobruk-based government but he is hated by the government of tripoli which insists on his departure the u.n. says it is increasingly concerned about hundreds of sunnis stuck between i.s.i.l. fighters and kurdish forces. they have been unable to get food or fresh water.

sinjar was captured 15 months after a minority were living in the region. israel supreme court has refused to end the administrative detention of a palestinian journalist on a 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. his lawyers say he would end his hunger strike if he was moved to a palestinian hospital. the band that was playing when gunmen stormed the bataclan theater in paris in november has returned to the city. the eagles of death metal returned. meanwhile the french national assembly has extended the state of emergency by another three months. >> reporter: the second extension to the state of emergency which gives sweeping powers to the police was approved by an overwhelming majority of people in the

parliament. it reflects the opinion of people across the country still traumatised by the attacks in paris 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 disturb 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 excessive and disproportionate restrictions on fundamental freedoms in france >> most of the country wants security. we want security. the issue is what does it imply to have security. is giving up on the basic freedoms and guarantees of the rule of law contributing to security. we don't think so >> reporter: the rock bands who were on stage at the bataclan when it was attacked have returned to central paris to play a tribute concert for the

90 people who died when gunmen opened fire on the audience of the lead singer has been giving his reaction to the events of that night. >> can't control them, if you 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 because i don't think so. i think the only thing that stopped it was some of the bravest men that i have ever seen in my life, charging head first in the face of death with their firearms. >> reporter: many attendwho att the convert with here on the horrible night >> we will still be here, enjoying ourselves in the present together >> in the end it is to have fun no matter what.

>> reporter: it has taken courage and defiance to be here at this concert. many in the audience and many people across france fear that this fight is far from over. apple is refusing to comply with a u.s. judge order to help unlock an iphone belonging to one of the people behind the is an san bernardino fightings last year. farook and tashfeen shot and killed people. apple say agreeing to the order would set a precedent. a technology journalist gives his view >> the problem is that the iphone had built into it a system wfr if you have ten-- where you have ten incorrect attempts to put in the code, it

will erase the data. the f.b.i. have no idea what it is. they want to have a brute force attack, keep entering passwords until they get it right. it is extremely unlikely that they would get it right in the first ten. they're asking apple to provide them with software, we don't know if the software exists, but they would have to create software that would enable them to keep attempting as many times as they needed to, until they crack it. even if such software did exist and did work, there's no guarantee that they would be able to crack that code. there's tens of millions. i'm not sure how they would do it. it is a long shot, but it sort of sir couple vents the-- circumvents the issue of ee kripgs

the former u.n. secretary general boutros boutros ghali has died at the age of 93. he took office in 1992 at a challenging time for the organization. james bays takes a look at his life >> 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 sixth secretary tree general who has dialled at the age of 93 - died at the age of 93. he took office when the community perhaps seemed more united than at any time since the creation of the u.n. the end of the cold war also brought fresh conflict. within four months of him starting the job, war broke out in the balance cans-- balkans. the response of a piece keeping

to bosnia did little to stop the bloodshed. a genocide on another continent. the u.n. and its small piece keeping farce in rwanda unable to stop one of the world's worst atrocities, the death of hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of weeks. as secretary general boutros boutros ghali blamed 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. they will not be able to reform - a reform 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. 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 after five years, he had lost favor with the then u.s. president bill clinton and his ambassador to the u.n. it was decided he should be passed over for a man seen as younger and more dynamic a new treatment for cancer has been discovered where a patient's own cells are ewed to eradicate cancerous ones. a trial on a group of terminally ill patients in a 94% success rate. the scientists say it is still in early development china's world number one car market but the increase in motorists has led to a rise in road rage. a campaign has begun to change that. >> reporter: just 25 years ago bicycles still out numbered cars on beijing's roads. today the traffic jams are among 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 wants have seemed unthinkabl unthinkable. >> okay seatbelt is on. >> reporter: this man ask on a drive to change that. inspired by his experiences living in britain, he set up a volunteer organization to teach driving et quick-- etiquette >> i think the english drivers are very good. i think the drivers, they have very good quality of driving skills >> reporter: so far he has signed up more than 600

volunteers. this is the latest recruit. now dedicated like the others to helping build a better civic society. >> rode rage i think-- road rage i think it happened because in china we have so many drivers, so many people, some of them have 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 in its roads continues to accelerate. government statistics show that in 2015 car ownership soared by 20% to more than 110 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, he is still home his volunteer group is setting an example that will eventually be taken up nationwide. adrian brown just a reminder that you can always find out what's going on around the world from our correspondents, all that kind of stuff on aljazeera.com humanity but we are doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science by scientists. tonight "techknow" investigates climate change. >> i can really feel it vibrating now. >> it's science versus politics. >> do you know what this is? it's a snowball.