continues here on al jazeera, so keep it here. ♪ the race to be president of the united states reached a crucial stage. it's super-tuesday, which could make or break the path to the white house. i'll alan fisher in stafford, texas. the loan star state is the biggest prize on super-tuesday, a day that donald trump can take a massive step towards security the republican party nomination for president. ♪ i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera live from london. driven out, more refugees are foergsed from the jungle camp in conference call will begin

momentarily. -- calais. and the push to revive a case against south africa's president is back in court. and china makes domestic violence a crime for the first time. ♪ hello. they spent tens of millions of dollars being on the campaign trail for months and traded policy points and insults. but super-tuesday is where it gets real. the republican and democratic candidates will fight it out in 11 states. we have correspondent following developments in all of the key states. at the moment we'll be speaking to alan fisher in texas and andy gallagher in alabama.

but first let's find out what super-tuesday is all about. the process can appear complicated, so we asked felicity barr to explain how it all works. >> super-tuesday the day when multiple u.s. states decide who they want as their party candidate. for the democrats it's a sfrath battle between hillary clinton and the senator from vermont bernie sanders. after her landslide win in south carolina, clinton has a strong lead over sanders with 544 delegates to his 85. she needs 2383 to win the nomination. tonight there are 865 in play. it's a more crowded race in the republican camp. donald trump, ted cruz, marco rubio, ben carson, and john saysic are all battling. here the magic number is 1237 to win.

and defying earlier expectations donald trump remains in the lead. there are 595 at steak tonight. and these are the races we're looking at on this super-tuesday. 12 states are involved. as we have seen in recent weeks, anything can happen. so join me from 23 gmt as those results start to come in. texas as we have heard is one of the states where most of the delegates can be won. alan fisher is there and joins us live. how is the race shaping up there? >> reporter: well, this is where ted cruz has really built his firewall. he believes if he loses here, his presidential campaign is over. he concentrated on the south for super-tuesday, believing it to be a pivotal date. he believes with his evangelical approach, he would do well.

what he didn't factor in was the rise of donald trump. donald trump could come very close to victory here in texas. marco rubio has really established himself over the last few weeks as the anti-trump candidate, the problem he has got is he has no clear victory in any of the states holding primaries or caucuses today. and there is just so often you can present second place as a victory. he is turning his attentions to florida on march 15th. he believes that is a winner takes all state, and also his home state he has a real chance there. but interestingly enough in the polls he is in second place. and ben carson is still in the race, and john kasich believes when the race moves to ohio and the industrial midwest, that's when his campaign will start to ignite. but super-tuesday is a huge day, and donald trump will know historically the candidate who

has won more states on super-tuesday has gone on to secure the nomination. >> the party has been split on what to do with a candidate like donald trump. how do you think their reaction to him will alter if at all after super-tuesday? >> reporter: well the idea that the republican party will suddenly say actually donald trump isn't the candidate we want, isn't going to happen. you can't ask people to pick the candidate, and when they do, say he is not the one we are going to have. but there is a danger that many in the republican party will not support donald trump. what has been suggested recently is there will be a third-party candidate who will stand for true conservative values. the name being bandied around is mitt romney. he stood against barack obama? the last election.

however, he has been very vocal on social media in his attacks against don and it may well will he could be someone true republicans could turn their attentions to and vote. and that would have the result of splitting the republican vote, and we would have the democratic candidate virtually having a clear run at the white house. so it's a big decision for the republican party to make. at the moment all they are doing is concentrating on trying to establish someone as a real anti-trump candidate, but if he does well in super-tuesday, and all of the polls suggest he will, it will be increasingly difficult to stop the rise of donald trump, stop the momentum he is building, and stop him from securing the presidential nomination. >> indeed. and one of those anti-trump candidates, we were just seeing on the screen, was ted cruz there. thank you very much. alabama is another key state

on super-tuesday. minority voting rights have been a biggish dwlu. let's get more from andy gallagher. why have the mechanics of voting been such a big issue there? >> reporter: there is a focus on african american votes, and here in alabama that's especially relevant, a quarter of the population is african american. in wilcox county where we are now, it's more like 50% or more. you now have to produce government issued photo id. photo id required signs are all over the place. it doesn't sound like an unreasonable request, until you realize that rural communities people are very poor. they don't have public transportation, they don't have access to information, and they

don't have the time and resources to get government-issued voter id. and activists say that is a deliberate attempt to exclude black voters. >> how yal doing? can i give you a flier before you get out. >> reporter: in alabama rural areas campaigning in supermarket car parks is sometimes the only way to meet voters. this is a sparsely populated part of the state. >> i ain't voting for either one of them. >> reporter: but in camdon a town where more than half of the residents are african american there is anger over the changes to the voting laws. >> you are taking advantage of the weak when you do that, because some of them just don't have one, can't get one. all of this we done gone through with, and we are still going through the same thing. i feel bad about it. >> reporter: compounding the laws is the partial closure of

more than 30 driver's licenses. without them getting photo id just got a lot harder. in many ways alabama is the cradle of the voting rights movement. but now campaigners say forcing poor black voters to ids place is more difficulty between them and the ballot box. so ralph for you this is a -- kind of a lifelong fight then. for 30 years ralph irwin has worked tirelessly for voting rights. >> i think we'll be fighting for the rest of our lives. there are people out there who will never get it go. >> reporter: you mean never stop trying to suppress the black vote. >> never stop trying to prup sesz the black vote and send us back to after coo. i'm not going. >> reporter: the legacy has a long and dark history, but it

resulted in the passage of the voting right's act. accusations that part of that legislation are now being undone is being denied by the governor. >> we'll go to people's houses to have a picture made so they can vote in the state of alabama. >> reporter: a recent challenge to the picture id law was rejected by a judge, but civil rights activists say they will continue to campaign for change. >> reporter: it's worth noting that those new voter id laws aren't just restricted here to the state of alabama. notably texas where there are 155 delegates have some of the harshest voter id laws in the country. and all of this came about after a supreme court ruling which basically disassembled part of the 1965 voting right's act. why that is so important on a

day like this, is because the majority of the people effected would vote democratic. that's what makes this a key issue. hillary clinton itself called the law here a blast from the jim crow past. she says if she wins she will extend voting rights. here officials say any accusations that they are trying to stop or suppress black votes is simply ridiculous. they say they will get mobile units out into communities like this, so people can get the picture ids they need. but an interesting statistic is there are a potential quarter of a million voters in this state who don't have the correct government id and cannot vote this time around. >> andy gallagher thank you very much for that live update from alabama. ♪ macedonia has deployed more soldiers and police to its border with greece. on monday hundreds of refugees

tried to force their way through a razor wire fence. the crowd was dispersed when police fired tear gas. more than 7,000 people are camped at the border waiting for authorities to allow them to continue their journeys to northern europe. the italian coast guard has rescued 51 refugees in the aegean sea. they were taken to the greek island. more than 120,000 refugees have arrived on greek shores since the start of this year. demolition teams in france have continued to tear down the jungle refugee camp in calais. the government wants a thousand refugees to move into new accommodation. al jazeera's paul brennan has the latest from calais. >> reporter: day two of this clearance and demolition operation has gone rather efficiently, i think, certainly from the point of view of us

looking at it. the area behind me this morning has plywood shacks, buildings, and other structures. it has now been completely cleared. there was some resistance, a few people climbed on top of their little huts, and tried to prevent the police from demolishing them, but they were quickly pulled down by riot police and the premises were bulldozed. that said, there was no repeat of the stone throwing by protesters followed by tear gas being fired by police that we saw on monday here in the jungle. it may be because of the weather. it's a driving wind and biting drizzle that is sweeping across this whole camp, and i think perhaps the mood certainly wasn't there for more strident resistance to the police actions today. it is going to take a considerable amount of time to clear the estimated 1,000 people that the authorities are wanting to move, but that said, we did

see people getting on two buses today, going to other reception centers where they will claim asylum not in britain but here in france, and i think some people are realizing that with the determination that the authorities are showing here, the reality is, there is no option for them to go to britain anymore. they are going to have to realize that staying here in the calais jungle is simply not a long-standing, long-term reality. still to come on the program, victims of a war they don't understand, syrian orphans plead for an end to the bombing that shattered their lives. why venezuelans on the minimum wage still can't afford the basics. ♪

♪ hello. the top stories here on al jazeera. it's super-tuesday the day when 11 u.s. states decide who they want to be their party's presidential nominee. donald trump is ahead on the republican side. and hillary clinton is expected to pull further ahead of vermont senator, bernie sanders. and a greater influx of refugees is adding to existing bottlenecks in europe. u.n.'s enjoy to syria says he has delayed the next round of

negotiations to march 9th. he says it's for technical reasons and for the ceasefire to, quote, settle down. this video is said to show fighting in the northern province of hama. and these pictures from syrias from syria's military show soldiers battling isil fighters. opposition groups say the army is targeting them too. >> reporter: the entire generation of syrian children is in grave danger, following more than five years of war. thousands have been orphaned and millions lack access to school and other basic services. our correspondent met some of the children in southern turkey. >> reporter: this house not far from the syrian border is the safe haven that tens of thousands of other syrian children wish they had. a place to learn and play away from the air strikes and bombs.

this is an orphanage that houses 60 children. it's run by a syrian ngo, which tries to alleviate the suffering of the civil war's most vulnerable victims. behind each face is a harrowing tail. this 11 year old is from homs. his father was killed by assad soldiers. the teachers tell me he wets his bed regularly, and rarely managed to sleep through a night without waking up screaming. >> translator: when i grow up i want to be an architect to rebuild my country. i tell the leaders you don't love us like you claim. if you did, you would have liberated us. >> reporter: this girl is five. losing her parents has left her

so distraught she now finds it difficult to speak. her eyes tell a story by themselves. she is another child forced to grow up way too quickly. it's tough get the sounds of explosions out of her head, she says. >> translator: after the revolution things became horrible. >> reporter: just listening to some of these orphan stories enough to make anybody with a sense of humanity want to bring an end to this war, immediately. but not only has this bloody war robbed these children of narnths, the longer and longer it goes on, the more and more it kills the future. the orphanage puts a great deal of emphasis on education. the problem is, that all of this is now under threat. funding for the orphanage has stopped and unless money is found and fast, these orphans

might find themselves without a home. on same days the children are taken on trips. today they visit the border with syria. this is the closest they can get to their homes without fear of barrel bombs or russian air strikes. as they close their eyes they picture a syria free from all of the killing where a child's future is more important than political military ambition, which innocence is cherished, not bombed from the sky, a wish they hope will one day come true. lawyers from the main opposition party in south africa are in court trying to reinstate corruption charges against the president. he was first charged with corruption over a $4 billion arms deal 11 years ago. tania page is at the court in the capitol. >> reporter: jubilant supporters greeted jacob zuma when corruption charged were dropped in 2006, when the charged were

reinstated and drops again, the final hurdle was cleared for him to become president. zuma had been charged with 783 counts of corruption in relation to tax evasion, fraud, and a multi-billion dollars arms deal meant to restock south africa's military hardware. why the charges were dropped is controversial. it comes down to secretly taped phone calls where a prosecutor and head of a special investigations unit are among the people talking about the timing of the charges. the acting national director of public prosecutions at the time dropped the corruption charges because he said the spy tapes showed political interference that meant zuma couldn't receive a fair trial, but he did say there had been a valid case against zuma.

that's why the opposition democratic alliance pursued the case so rigorously since 2009. it wants the prosecutor's decision set aside, and the charges reinstated. >> he was about to come president of south africa. and they latched on the one aspect that could marginally justify the dropping of charges. >> reporter: this political analyst says zuma who is less than halfway through his second presidential term is already losing support both within his party and the public. >> it could strongly damage his chances of being able to shall we say, influence who his likely successor is going to be, and of being able to influence what happens during the rest of his time in office. >> reporter: in a statement on the eve of the court case, the president's office said the decision to drop the charges will withstand any scrutiny.

zuma's lawyers are paying close attention. while the corruption allegations are debated in court, a vote of no confidence is being debated in parliament. all he is likely to win, there is no doubt he is facing a tough week. assaulting your partner has finally become a crime in china. it is hoped the new domestic violence law will encourage abused women to overcome the stigma and take their case to court. adrian brown reports. >> reporter: this woman spends a lot of time alone, but at least she is safe now. safe from a husband who thought it acceptable to regularly beat her. >> translator: he hit my face. his mother was there, and did nothing. he is from a province where people think it is normal for husband to beat up his wife. >> reporter: he was careful not to mark her face. focusing his kicks and punches

on her arms, legs, and back. she went to hospital twice and gave up on the police. >> translator: i went to the police and reported this incident, but the police told me this is family issue, so they did not take any action. >> reporter: there is still a stigma attached to domestic violence in china, which makes her a brave woman. until now she has not spoken publicly about her abusive marriage. but the story gets worse. after filing for divorce, her husband and mother-in-law came and took her son away. >> translator: he and his mother took my son from me by force. they beat me up in my neighborhood and grabbed him from me. my son was only two. i haven't seen him for two years. >> reporter: most surveys show that one in four married women in china, suffer violence at the

hands of their partner, but the real figure is probably much higher because reporting abuse is still rare especially in the countryside. from today victims of domestic abuse in china will be able to go to court to seek a restaining order to force the abuser to move out of the home. courts will have just 72 hours to make a ruling. but critics say the legislation still doesn't go far enough, since it fails to outlaw marital rape and doesn't place enough influence on help and social services. this lawyer has been dealing with domestic violence cases for more than 20 years. but he worries there is too much onus on the police. >> translator: i think this new law will play an important role in reducing the number of domestic violence cases. but we need to see results soon. >> reporter: the new law came

too late for this woman and others like her, forced by tradition to suffer in silence. adrian brown, al jazeera, shanghai. argentina has agreed a debt payment of almost $5 billion to settle a 14-year-old dispute. the finance minister will present the deal to congress for approval this week. it will allow argentina to return to international finance markets and raise money to pay off the rest of its debts. venezuela's government has increased the minimum wage to more than 50%. but many workers still can't afford a basic standard of living. virginia lopez reports. >> reporter: for this practicing lawyer, the only way to safeguard his life's savings to buy cars. in venezuela's inflationary economy, cash is worthless, and assets like used cars, which are

negotiated in dollars have become a way to save money. >> translator: one has to find alternatives to avoid seeing what you have evaporate. >> reporter: the government is increasing the minimum wage from roughly $9 to 14. for most people, hiking their wage will make no difference. a clear sign of an inflationary economy is printing inorganic money. right here there's 180,000 [ inaudible ] or the equivalent of the basic food basket. of this amount this constitutes the basic minimum wage, or 14,000, and this breakfast alone is worth 1,000. buying cars works for the middle class. but what are those who work for minimum wage doing? in these homes, most are only just getting buy. this man says he has begun to

skip meals. >> translator: it's hard. we are living through things in this country that we have never seen before. >> reporter: shopping at this government-run food shops could get him more for his money. but basic goods can hardly ever be found, and he would have to skip work while he standings in line for hours. >> translator: with this triple inflation, what we are seeing is the shrinking of people's purchasing power. >> reporter: the impromptu entrepreneur explains more. this yellow car cost him $1,000.03 years ago. today, he says, he can get 4500. >> translator: in this trade i have managed to set up my own personal bank. >> reporter: inflation is for most countries a thing of the past. in venezuela it proves the rich

get richer and the poor get poorer and go hungry. virginia lopez, al jazeera, car aks a. plenty more coverage for you on our website. the address for you is aljazeera.com. plenty more on super-tuesday underway in the u.s. the address again, aljazeera.com. ♪ it's super-tuesday, a cross roads in the path to the white house. front runners look to lock in the nomination. >> we are going to make america great again, greater than ever before. >> they have been after me for 25 years, and i'm still standing. >> a chance to breathe new life into campaigns fighting to stay alive. >> football is a spectator's sport, democracy is not. >> elect me president and we will be t