that is "america tonight". please come back. tonight" tomorrow. five years on a moment of silence to remember the japanese earthquake and tsunami that killed over 18,000 people. you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters here in doha. also ahead, no fireworks at this republican debate in miami but donald trump was asked to address comments he made claiming islam hates the u.s. fall from grace, the arrest of the former president in brazil after he was charged with money

laundering. the demand for african art is going through the roof, but many say they're struggling japan is marking the fifth anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people. they're being remembered at ceremonies across the country. in tokyo a minute's silence was held at the precise moment the quake hit starting a chain reaction of death and destruction. the tsunami also caused one of the world's worst nuclear accidents when it took out the power supply at the fukushima plant. the president thanked the world. >> translation: while japan would like to continue informing

the people around the world about the lech we learnt from the disaster and how we are recovering in the affected areas, we would like to bolster cooperation in the field of national disaster protection by sharing as much as possible of our expertise an technology so what exactly happened on this day five years ago. the magnitude nine quake struck at 2.46 in the afternoon off the north-eastern coast of japan. you can see it there in relation to tokyo. it lasted for six minutes. it set-off a tsunami that at times crested as high as 40 metres. almost 18 faf thousand peeks-- 18,000 people lost their lives. 2,500 weem november been found. it generated 700,000 tons of radio active water, 300,000 tons are added every day as a

consequence of the clean up operation. the disaster produced 20 million tons of debris. what is the atmosphere like there today? >> reporter: it has been, obviously, a reflection day and that of grief. we saw more than a few tears here when up on this man-mound mound which has been here for nearly 100 years looking out over this flat coastal territory, so people can see the sea, it has been a natural point of gravitation for people to come and make their memorial gestures. they have been queuing up behind me all day. the siren sounded around this area, the tsunami siren that sounded on the day, march 11 2011 when that enormous quake

hit. what happened was the giant wave coming in. it would have been above my head here standing as i am more than six metres above the ground here. it simply wiped out this entire neighborhood. 950 people were killed and 41 of those are still missing. as you say, two and a half thousand nearly missing around the country. as well as these memorials there has been a search effort going on, as it does on 911th of every month. that is an important ritual for people here. in practical eterms as well because the mourning process really does go on for many people until they're able to find the remains of their loved ones. even as scant as those chances must be so long afterwards, the fact that people are still looking is very important to those who are still missing their loved ones very quickly after the disaster, people were asking searching questions about safety, questions of trust. five years on, do they feel

those questions have been answered, and answered properly? >> reporter: i think for a large number of people in this country the answer would be no. if you take the two things slightly separately up here further north from fukushima where the main problem was the generated by the tsunami and the sheer amount of territory that it just simply wiped out, there has been problems in terms of money getting to where it needed to, decisions being made about how to rebuild, where to rebuild. 15.4% on average of those worst areas, the population has shrunked by 15.4% compared to what they were before the disaster, accelerating the flight of young people away from these areas. a lot of the money is going into the shrinking smaller towns and

it hasn't been questioned the right way. many people question that. then you have the bigger issue of fukushima power plant, there are all sorts of reasons why the plant failed in the way that it did. the power utility company has admitted that it didn't follow the procedures correctly. it has admitted that there were causes, reasons to have built a higher sea wall than it did, but it simply failed to do so. the japanese government has well has committed itself to restarting nuclear power around the country at a time when 50 slr 60% of the population doesn't want to see that happen. a district court ruled that one of the two nuclear power station thaz is operating already has to shut down because of the safety concerns of that area. yes. a number of questions do remain unanswered, by i think even more so the disaster goes on for so many people, even five years on.

174,000 are not able to return to their homes. the majority of those in fukushima area itself, and just a sense of grief and absence that persuades so many lives and so many communities up and down this coastline thank you for that. there were no insults and generally everyone behaved themselves in the latest republic debate. donald trump left the stage undamaged despite the fact that marco rubio was seen as having the home advantage. donald trump was pressed on his rhetoric on islam. >> reporter: this was the at the timest debate so far. donald trump was asked to address his comments claiming islam hates the u.s. and was asked if he meant all 1.6 billion muslims. >> there are large portions of a group of people, islam, large portions want to use very, very hash means >> reporter: on bringing peace

to the middle east john kasich doubted there could ever be a deal >> i don't believe there is any long-term permanent peace solution. i think pursuing that is the wrong thing to do. >> reporter: this was not as was tempered as previous debates >> so far i cannot believe how civil it has been up here. >> reporter: donald trump refused to respond to a number of attacks on several issues, ted cruz demanding policy issues not sound bites. he criticized trade tariffs on imports >> how does it help to say i'm going to put a 45 mrs tax on dipers on automobiles, on clothing? that hurts you if it's - that's why we have to get beyond rhetoric of china bad and get to how to solve the problem >> reporter: this debate was in miami with the big cuban migration. marco rubio made that count on improving relations. it will require cuba to change

its government. today it has not. the fact of the matter is that after these changes were made there are now millions and hundreds of millions of dollars that will flow to the regime >> reporter: this debate covered issues important to american voters. they have been able to look at the personalities of candidates. now they might have a better idea of their policies prosecutors in brazil have called for the arrest of the former president. the charges include money laundering and identity fraud over allegedly concealing owner shep of a beach front apartment. -- ownership. >> reporter: he was known as the politician with the teflon shield, a shield that for years prevented scores of corruption charges from sticking. that is, until now. >> translation: money

laundering, identity fraud in concurrent offences, participation in money laundering. >> reporter: with that, the state prosecutor charged brazil's powerful former president and his wife and son, and called for him to be put into preventive custody while the case moves forward. until very recently the former leftist president was one of latin america's most respected politicians. credited with taking 30 million brazilians out of poverty and turning his country into an economic power house. but that was before his successor over saw the collapse of the economy and the rise of a constant stream of corruption scandals worth billions of dollars that go back to his

administration. he is accused of having received a large apartment from a construction company in exchange for political favors. u whilst millions of families were left without apartments, millions prevented from reaching their dreams of owning a house, one was investigated of owning a luxury department. this is detailed in our report and has been presented to the supreme federal tribunal. >> reporter: he denies the charges which may be just the tip of the iceberg. >> he is under indictment for corruption, money laundering in the state. he has not been indicted. he remains under investigation on the much larger federal case that has already cost sentences to about 08 people. >> reporter: whether a judge

issues an arrest warrant or not, his teflon cheeld has been damaged as he fights for his political future the european union hopes to begin relocating thousands of refugees from greece. the european commission has come off the scheme to-- come up with the scheme to resettle 6,000 refugees. nato is sending five warships to the aegean. it the focus on people smuggling >> we have increased the area of operation. we have now moved into greek and turkish territorial waters. we have started to focus on the area around the greek island of lesbos. we are planning to move further south in the coming days and weeks the german chancellor says

the crisis is showing signs of improving. there has been an increase in the number of refugees turning home. >> translation: at the moment three thousand are returning to iraq every month. it is an upward trend after the cities are liberated from i.s.i.l. they say they can live with their families in peace. some go back to their families who did not arrive here and not able to come. that means they will not all stay lots more grounds to cover for you here on al jazeera, including fighting drug addiction. the u.s. senate apasses legislation to help in this regard. regard.

welcome back. the top stories from al jazeera. japan marking the fifth an ver reof the quake and tsunami that killed many. donald trump was grilled at the latest republican debate over his comments on islam. he emerged generally inscathed despite marco rubio having the home advantage. it comes days before crucial votes in florida and ohio. prosecutors can calling for the arrest of the former president over money laundering.

staffan de mistura says the country's presidential election will happen in 18 months time. he said on wednesday he is hoping the warring sides will make progress within ten days after talks with the syrian government and opposition are said to resume next week in geneva. he said part of the focus will be the election next year. international aid agencies are warning that members of the u.n. security council are either adding "fuel to the fire", in syria, and to 2015 was the worst of the five-year conflict. aid agency $made the comments in a new report. they accused russia, the u.s., france and the u.k. of having undermined their own resolutions through inadequate diplomatic pressure, political and military support to their allies or direct military action. in 2015 there was a sharp escalation of violence including russian air strikes. they say at least 50,000 people have been killed since april 2014 an extra one and a half

million people are in need of humanitarian aid. last year the u.n. delivered health assistance to less than 4% of those living in besieged communities. and food to less than 1%. oxfam's author of the report says, what else could members do to exert added pressure here? >> i think that the last couple of weeks have shown with the cessation of hostilities and the delivery of assistance to besieged communities that when the international community put their mind to it, they can make progress on the ground inside syria. i think the question is why it has taken them so long to do this, and why over the course of the past year instead they have been adding fuel to the fire, so to speak, as the report says. so it is to insist on the

implementations which will have pressure on the parties to respect the ceasefire and set the stage for negotiations in geneva. but also concretely stopping to send arms and ammunition to the allies on the ground respecting international humanitarian laws themselves. so refraining from targeting civilians in the military actions if i can just breakdown what you've said in the past 30 seconds and talk specifically about the added diplomatic pressure, i was in geneva when the talks kicked off. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is ping ponging around the world trying to exerlt more pressure. staffan de mistura, the u.n. special envoy, is pulling his hair out trying to exert pressure. if the riyadh grouping, the hnc, people who talk for the rebels

on the grouped, if they barely want to get off the plane in geneva when it comes to diplomacy and diplomatic pressure, i'm interested to know where the points come to be found when exerting more pressure on the different groups involved in the conflict. >> i think just to reiterate that the last weeks have been positive, so like you say, increased u.s. engagement and i think that is a key part of the puzzle, so the gulf states, turkey and u.s. has influence over them, as well as over groups which are operating on the ground. i think key here also is russia given its huge military intervention, the amount of support which it provides to the syrian government, i think that is absolutely critical that the u.s. and russia come together and if and when they do that, we will see more progress on the

ground what's the silver bullet of diplomacy here, because if you have the united states literally using the same words, the same language that lavrov has used two to four weeks beforehand in communiques between the kremlin, i'm still at a loss to understand what else you want other parties, other players, to do because russia, if russia hadn't done what they have done over the past six months, the conflict would have been in a completely different direction. >> i think that part of the problem that we've highlighted is that there has been these commitments for the last two years between russia, the u.s., the permanent members of the security council, so as you say, the statements all point in the right direction. there should have been already an alleviation of humanitarian situation in syrian progress towards a political solution, but they've actually undermined that through their actions,

arming their allies given them political military support and encouraging them to carry on with the conflict. it is that which needs - that's what needs to change so not just the rhetorical commitments that the security council in geneva, but stopping armed supplies sent to the allies, they're not engaged to engage in military action or encourage those fighting on the ground to that tack civilians. it is translating those rhetorical commitments into reality many thanks. argentina's inflation rates remains one of the highest in the world. the latest data is heaping pressure on the president who is failing to live up to his promise to solve the problem. >> reporter: a protest to demand that the new government looks their way. they're workers worried about rising prices in a country that

has one of the highest inflation rates in the world. >> translation: we have some products rise over 300%, services like electricity over 700%. we're worried on how people are going to continue like this. >> reporter: this woman says she is concerned about inflation. despite rising prices her salary has not gone up. we get this for free, but everything is going up. the problem is that we are not sure where it is going to end. >> reporter: the government has announced an end to subsidies to electricity. many here have doubts how it is going to play out. >> translation: we the poor have to stop eating. we are used to hardships, but if the price of electricity, gas and transportation goes up then

we will be in trouble >> reporter: for the government inflation is a problem because it is hurting this country's most vulnerable. the price of beef, for example, that is basically in argentinian diet has increased in the last month. that is why people have stopped buying certain cuts because they couldn't afford them any more. for the last decade inflation has been a series issue with some estimates put itting close to 30% a year. the president came to power last december with a promise to bring the economy under control. but it may be months before that happens with inflation in the eyes of some remaining the biggest challenge. >> translation: the government has the will to fight inflation, but it is not succeeding. so far inflation is 15% this year and if it goes this way, it is going to be 50% in a year. they need monetary and fiscal policies and investment and so far we are not seeing it.

>> reporter: the argentina government announced that it will implement certain measures to assist the poorer sectors deal with the impact of high prices. for many those measures are not coming fast enough since 2014 more people have died of drug overdoses in america than in car accidents. the u.s. senate is trying to deal with the problem. >> the vote is 94 yess, one sno >> reporter: if there is one thing that democrats and republicans acan agree on is the need to address the drug abuse in the company. >> were the 400 million dollars to opioid programs a few months ago can make strides in combatting the growing addiction and overdose problem we're seeing in every state. >> reporter: the senate passed what is known as the comprehensive addiction recovery act that deals with 2 million

americans of all levels. there's no shortages of statistics underlying the scale of the problem, but until now there hasn't been a federal response to a national problem. >> this is a horror, an evil that knows no geographic boundaries or class boundaries. it's happening in big cities. it's happening in very small towns in areas, suburban communities, high-income communities, low-income communities, in middle mf income communities. it is happening everywhere. there's no escaping it >> reporter: experts say the epidemic stems in part from doctors over prescribing opioid pain-killers theshgs. they are powerful and can lead to addiction. as controls on prescription drugs have tightened, they have turned to heroin to feed their addiction. the bill allows the federal government to give p grants for states to expand treatment efforts and access to overdose

prevention drugs >> in some areas where there is no treatment of these medications at all, people have to go long distances. sometimes there's waiting lists. this kind of access to treatment is one of the things that we're hoping that these kind of funds are going to be able to address. >> reporter: this senate may have reached a compromise on how to deal with the nation's growing opioid addiction problem, but a similar bill has been languishing in the how longs for months. until the full congress comes to an agreement, medical clinics like this one will continue to struggle with limited resources and increasing demand interest in buying african art is growing in the u.s. and europe, yet not every artist is making big money. >> reporter: the international art auctioneers have sold more than 60 million dollars worth of african art in london over the

last nine years. most art is sold between 7 and 70,000 dollars. the best known painting the black arab sold to close to 1.5 million dollars. another one for 400,000 dollars. >> the contemporary art market is ficle in the sense tha sensen that they're looking to next big area. africa is the area they're focusing on >> reporter: the value of african art continues to rise as more pieces are seen on the international market. according to this group only 5% of artists produce work that is commercially viable. african art has dominated international sales providing an opportunity for the larger african markets. >> reporter: this man has been taking documentary photos for 20 years. some of them are exhibited here.

he says he is inspired by the late african artist who was able to support himself entirely through his artwork. andrew says he still struggles to get his own photography, which documents communities and their environments, recognised as art making difficult for him to survive on his art alone. >> i think more can be done. in south africa we're fortunate that we have spaces like this and others to exhibit. other african countries does not have that. most of the african countries needs more to improve. >> reporter: the funds-raising group friends of the johannesbu grshgs art gallery say it's up to the artists to promote themselves >> people that expect to be given a hands up, expect where

things come too easily. that's where we have a problem because there are many artists in the world that never get to the top. >> reporter: while new buyers and growing interests mean africa's art market is likely to continue expanding for artists such as andrew, it remains an exclusive club. >> this week on talk to al jazeera--lawyer and executive director of the equal justice initiative, bryan stevenson. >> we have to stop telling the lies that we tell about who we are. we celebrate our history of slavery. we celebrate our era of terrorism. >> stevenson has spent his career fighting racism in the criminal justice system--the legacy of slavery and times of "racial terror" continue to impact the lives of african americans today. >> what we did to african americans between the end