and suffered in daily..

the government is fighting al-nusra front and isil. neither group is included in the ceasefire, opposition fighters feel the government recent group is part of a plan to we siege the city of aleppo. russian air strikes and government forces were targeting rebel defenses on the main highway. between the i don't have ins of attack i can't and idlib. the government is the target.

he took two passport photos from me and asked us to wait for his call. later in the evening he turned up with a british passport, which he said would cost us 350 euros. but before my photo was laminated in to it, the smuggler wanted his money. it's at this point that we decided to stall the process.

>> reporter: the smuggler kept calling us the next day. but we didn't respond. the smuggling business is a vast industry with different layers. even greece police acknowledge they face an uphill struggle against the smugglers. those who can't afford to buy fake european documents are forced to walk unofficial crossings in to macedonia and beyond. here refugees film their journey north and across several borders. thousands are on the move every day. it's the hope of being closer to a new life that many of the refugees say keeps them moving. mohamed adow, al jazeera, athens. a new united nations report shows an increase in accusations of sexual abuse and misconduct by u.n. staff and peacekeepers last year. it also gives precise details of where the accused personnel were

based. al jazeera's daniel lak has more. >> reporter: another damning report on sexual abuse of civilians, a u.n. person -- by u.n. personnel in the field. 99 cases were investigated last year, 69 of them police or soldiers. citizens from 21 countries, were accused of sexual offenses in 10 u.n. missions, most in africa. no criminal cross prosecutions took place but some of their pay docked or were suspended and sent home. many cases are pending. senior officials admit that trust in peacekeeping is badly damaged by evening a single case of abuse. let alone the dozens reported here. >> i am a peacekeeper of more than 20 years duration, i strongly believe, as does the secretary general, the deputy secretary general and, indeed everybody else, that anyone serving under the u.n. flag should prey on the vulnerable is truly an abomination. >> reporter: last august, second

general ban ki-moon talk the unprecedented step of firing the head of the peacekeeping mission in the central african republic. following new allegations against u.n. soldiers there. later an independent panel found the u.n. guilty of gross institutional negligence and called for more trans parents is a and accountability. activists say latest report shows the u.n. hasn't taken those recommendation says seriously and are calling on u.n. member states to take over investigates. >> the member states, i think need to be reminded they are in charge, peacekeeping is their collective will, it's being undermined. its reputation is being destroyed. it's not being carried out effectively because of what the secretary general himself has called a cancer on the system. >> reporter: among the proposals from ban ki-moon, court marshals and victims countries. dna tests for police and soldiers accused of abuse, awareness training before deployment and more compensation for victims.

u.s. is drafting a security council resolution call for repatriation of troops from countries where there is a pattern of abuse or evidence of noncooperation with investigations. this is an issue that continues to plague the united nations and undermine its peacekeeping efforts. why the level of detail in the secretary general's report may be encourage it's clear the u.n. has a long way to go, if it's to restore its credibility not least among the world's vulnerable people that it's supposed to be protecting. daniel lak, al jazeera, at the united nations. there is still more to come for you this half hour. south sudan's oil industry polluting drinking water surprise? we'll have that story. also. looking in to the mysterious death of argentine a a's federal prosecutor and the conflicting very is surrounding what happened. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ welcome back. you are watching al jazeera. a recap of the top stories. former brazilian president dasilva is adamant he has nothing to fear despite being detained for three hours over a multi billion dollars corruption scandal. french president francois hollande has criticized the syrian president for calling parliamentary elections during a truce in fighting. the u.n. ha a sharp rise in sexl abuse during missions. other stories we are following. police in turkey have stormed the offices of an opposition newspaper which was put under

state control on friday. tear gas and water cannon were also fired at crowds gathered outside the offices of the newspaper in istanbul. the opposition paper is a vocal critic of president erdogan. turkish court appointed trustee to his take over the management of it and its english language title without any prior warning. now, donald trump has decided not attend the prominent conservative political action conference in weekend in yet another sign the republican race for the white house was turned ugly. trump who is now considered the front runner for the gnome nation is branded a fraud and phone i in the latest tv debate on fox news and time is running out for the party establishment to stop him from winning. >> reporter: fewer people on stage, more at and insult, donald trump put on the defensive straight away. the first question on thursday's criticism from former republican presidential candidate mitt romney. >> look, he was a failed candidate, he should have beat

president obama very easy. he failed miserably. >> reporter: from texas senator ted cruz a suggestion trump did not have the experience and, talented to be president. >> this is not about the insults back and forth between the candidates. this is not about what attacks we can throw at each other. >> reporter: marco rubio won only one state on super tuesday but insisted republican voters didn't want donald trump who won seven as their candidate. >> two-thirds of the people who have cost a vote in a republican primary or caucus have voted against you they do not want you to be our nominee. >> reporter: then there was this bizarre comment from donald trump. >> look at those hands, are they small hands. and he referred to my hands if they are small, something else must be small. i guarantee you there is no problem. i guarantee it. >> reporter: and this exchange, sums up a lot of the evening. and the republican contest. >> don't worry about it, little mark oshie will. >> let's hear big donald. >> don't worry about, little marco. >> gentlemen.

gentlemen. >> you ought to. [speaking at the same time] >> you have to do better than this. >> this guy has the number one -- [booing] >> mr. trump, i would like to ask you a policy question. >> reporter: they tried to nail down the candidates datz on specifics and donald trump was asked if his position on immigration was simply playing to people' fantasies. >> a no, ma'am pot playing to any fant sis. i program playing to the fact that our country is trouble. we have a tremendous problem with crime. boarder is a piece of swiss cheese. >> reporter: on saying he would refuse orders the military says they will refuse orders to. >> if i say they will do it, they will do it. >> there are a lot of people out there yearning for somebody who is going to bring america back, both at the leadership level and in the neighborhood where we can begin to reignite the spirit of the united states of america. and let's stop fighting. >> reporter: another republican debate that was all about donald trump. he took the majority of the

attacks and dominated the air time. and despite all of the efforts to derail and did h decry him hl dominates the polls and the race. police in los angeles are investigating the discovery of a knife believed to be from the home off. j simpson. simpson was acquitted of the 1994 murder of his ex-wife nicole and her friend, ron goldman. the knife is thought to be from simpson's former home. and was discovered by a member of the public during the building's demolition. >> within the last month l. a.p. d became aware of an amount that was discovered at the rocking ham property pros by during the demolition of that site. we need to get it. we don't know if that's an accurate account of how this item came in to our possession. social media giant facebook will soon be paying a

hefty tax bill in britain. the company has face the heavy criticism after revelations it routed u.k. advertising sales lie ireland where taxes are considerably lower. facebook paid out just $6,000 in u.k. taxes in 2014. that's less than the average worker pays in a year. yet the firm had global revenues of $17.9 billion last year. >> it's now more than a year since the mysterious death of ash general tina's federal prosecutor. he died a day before he was due in congress to present a report of an a denged cover up by president christina kirschner, as this report shows, don flicking theories on his fault still did he described opinion in argentine society. >> reporter: it was a death that shocked the nation. and forced thousands of people on the streets. prosecutor alberto nice man died over a year ago, he was found with a bullet wound in the head. while initially officials

treated the case as suicide, now some authorities believe that it could have been murder. >> if let man had killed himself he would have had gun powder on himself he didn't. we did several tests with the gun this was used and there was gun powder, he had none on his hands. >> nice malet man was found deay before he was supposed to go. his accusations stating that kirschner's government tried to contain trade concession concesn return for covering iran's role in the terrorist bombing of a jewish community center in 1994. the case against kirschner was later thrown out. since nisman's death there is a new government in power. now they are willing to press for what happened. in the last year conspiracy

theories have flourished many believe he accused -- killed himself because he accused the president out proof. others are convinced that he was murder because he was a threat for the argentine and iranian government. antonio is a former spy master with close links with the cia and israeli intelligence. the only image of him is this picture. he has recently said in court that those behind the killing were close to former president kirschner. he even suggested that iran could have been behind his dea death. but claudia, who played an active role in the investigation of the 1994 bombing says that he should be investigated as well. >> translator: this man was fired by the kirschner administration, and he was angry. and his way of seeking revenge was blaming the government for nisman's death. >> reporter: analysts say the investigation in to nisman's death has been marred with

irregularities. >> translator: everything is so distorted and evidence was detroit. there was a cover up at the bombing of the community center in 1994, so we really don't know the truth. who killed nisman? we may never know. >> reporter: and that's something that upsets many people here. that it will be another crime in argentina that will remain unresolved. teresa bow, al jazeera,. a human rights group is ledging a link between oil production and dangerous levels in heavy metals in drinking water in south sudan. the problem is isolated to the north of the country around the processing plant. the sign of hope organization says 180,000 people are facing life-threatening health risks. we have this report from south sudan. >> reporter: the people of the village in south sudan take groundwater straight from the source. they use it for drinking, washing, and cooking. but within sight of this small

community is the oil facility. it hasn't functioned for more than two years, since the oil company evacuated at the start of the conflict. now broken pipes lie rusting in pools of filthy water. and spilled oil covers the ground. but the hospital in the nearby town staff see health issues which they believe could be caused by exposure to oil pollution. no comprehensive test have his been done on the water, but this doctor says he wouldn't drink it. >> i think for me, it hat got high -- [ inaudible ] in the morning when the water [ inaudible ] you can see. >> reporter: oil equipment can be seen all over the county's flat plain. the rebels came through at the start of the conflict and he did steroid everything they could.

that meant the people working for the oil company had to runaway and weren't able to shutdown the prediction properly. much of the oil facility has fall then to disrepair. pipes drip toxic oil in to the ground not far from communities. people who live around here fear it's contaminating the ground water and making them sick. >> translator: the water we drink is right by an oil well. it contains the oil that comes from the wells that have been drilled around here. but we trust god and drink it. i think it causes diseases. if you smell the water that we drink, it's not suitable for humans. >> reporter: al jazeera contacted the government and oil company several times, but is still waiting for a response. meanwhile, despite their suspicions about the local water, the people have no alternative but to drink it. al jazeera, south sudan. kim i don't think un has ordered north korea's armed force to his remain poised to

launch a nuclear strike at any time. pyongyang state media also issued a warning that their long range rockets have the decision and capacity to hit key targets, quote, military escalation comes days after the u.n. security consul passed a resolution authorizes hard hitting sanction claiming it will president ahead with its satellite capability. north korea recorrected the u.n.'s resolution. a unique exhibition in thailand is getting presents i of attention. 1600 panda sculptureses have gone on display in bang dock raise awareness of the endangered animals. the exhibit by a french artist represents the number of pandas still left in the wild. al jazeera's wayne hay went along. >> reporter: these pandas have been flash mobbing their way around the world and now they are here in thailand and for the next month they will be popping up at various locations to try to raise awareness about the plight of their real counterparts. there are 1600 of them, because

back in 2008, when this exhibit 1 started, that's the number of pandas that were alive in the wild. the good news is, that number is now a bit out of date. because, according to a survey in 2014, which was carried out by the world wildlife fund, which is sponsoring this exhibit, there are now more than 1800 pandas alive in the wild. but they are still regarded as one of the most endangered bears in the world. nasa astronaut scott kelly has spoken about how his body is reacting to spending a year in space. he returned on wednesday after spending 340 days aboard the international space station. a u.s. record. it was an experimental mission with nasa interested to see how his body would react to spending so much time without gravity. since land on the ground earth, kelly says his muscles and joints ache, and his skin is extremely sensitive. so much so that he feels adjusting to life in space is easier than life back on earth. that's an interesting take.

so more on everything we are covering right here the address is aljazeera.com. there you will find all the latest comments, analysis, video on demand and blogs from our reporters on the ground. so do take a look, aljazeera.com. >> it's christmas eve and u.s. soldiers are preparing for their last month in afghanistan. about 40,000 are still here. by the end of the year there will be just 8,000. we traveled to afghanistan in the midst of this transition.