source of heated debate nothing much has changed they still spend most of their days looking forward to from driving case one five years on the syrians still feel battered or even those who managed to escape their country haven't truly been able to escape the war. once welcome now fear. dividing a nation. al-jazeera explores germany's long term economic strategy of pursuing immigrants from the arab world i feel knowledge on among and on syria and the. how much money does a richer get those people and put the i think it's been going on in germany and i'm here at the new gym and it's at this time on al-jazeera.

south korea's president makes his first visit to china as regional pressure mounts on north korea over its nuclear and missile tests. you know i'm a clock this is a live from joe also coming up claims of mass killing in may and while doctors without borders say six thousand seven hundred injured were killed in one month alone. a test of popularity for india's prime minister's elections are held in his home state of gujarat. bus we speak to women who say they were gang raped by men in uniform during kenya's recent presidential election. so the north korea's recent nuclear and missile tests are once again the focus of regional and international leaders a delegation from russia is in pyongyang right now. russia has urged the u.s.

and south korea to engage north korea into play missy instead of economic sanctions meanwhile in tokyo u.n. secretary general antonio good terraces called for the unity of the u.n. security council to allow for the possibility of diplomatic engagement with north korea. we have also the opportunity to discuss the. nuclear threat that we today face in relation to the north korean problem it is very clear that security council resolutions need to be fully implemented fully implemented by north korea first of all but fully implemented by all the other countries was role is crucial in order to make sure that the sanctions are put in place and that they achieve the resolve that we all age which is that the nuclear isolation of the korean peninsula and south korea's president mean julian is on his first state visit to china tension remains over the u.s. deployment of an anti missile system in south korea reports now from beijing. well

this is a very difficult visit for president moon his first to china since becoming head of state and the strains in the relationship between china and south korea were i think very evident on thursday afternoon now after the bilateral between president xi jinping and mr moon there was to be no joint statement apparently the two sides are going to issue separate statements that points to an existing diplomatic impasse over of course china's continued opposition to the anti missile defense system that south korea deployed early this year in response to all that north korea has been doing however there was one area of agreement the two sides did sign a memorandum of understanding to expand trade between the two countries this ceremony was watched over by some of the business executives who are accompanying president moon on his trip to china there was no one discordant moment a south korean photographer was badly beaten up by security guards as he was

attending a trade function and now south korean government officials have lodged a formal protest with china that is a reminder in the sense that relations between these two countries remain very strained in the the tone of this visit is very different to the one the president donald trump who was here of course exactly five weeks ago there's been none of the fanfare that we saw then china is doing just enough to ensure that south korea doesn't lose face while the president is here in china well let's hear now from kathy novak who has more from seoul. south korean president says this trip is very much about rebuilding trust between china and south korea there was a dispute over the u.s. missile defense system known as that south korea says it was installed on south korean soil to protect against the threat from north korea but china had concerns over its strong radars posing potential security risks it says against china but in

october the two countries agreed to move past this dispute and it's hoped that this meeting between the presidents will allow the two countries to focus more on other issues including the threat from north korea both countries have a border with north korea and want to prevent war on the korean peninsula at all costs particularly when the united states at times has reminded north korea that the military option remains on the table u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson said that china is putting preparations in place for the potential influx of refugees from north korea so when president moon meets president xi jinping in beijing there will be a hope for discussions on how to promote peace and stability in the region medical aid group doctors without borders says that more than six thousand seven hundred are hinge it was killed in the month off the violence broke out in myanmar the most governments government's official figures only four hundred military denies

committee what the u.n. calls a campaign of cleansing in the. state the aid groups numbers based on survivors of violence from the ethnic minority sheltering in refugee camps and by the us children forty six thousand revenger have fled the country since most at least ten people have been killed in a bomb attack on the main police academy in somalia's capital a suicide bomber blew himself up during a police parade inside the training camp in mogadishu officials say he was wearing police uniform the armed group has claimed responsibility for the attack. u.n. brokered talks on syria are resuming in geneva after a short break but if the government and opposition sides are present and a jew to meet the un special envoy stephan de mistura is urging russia to convince the syrian government that there is no time to lose on reaching a peace deal speaking to a swiss t.v. channel mr assad failure to end the war quickly could lead to a fragmentation of syria then called on russian president vladimir putin to push

the government to accept that there has to be a new constitution and new elections they would say to reports now from geneva. it's the eighth round of negotiations and the syrian delegations have still not met face to face at the same table after nearly seven years of war and deaths numbered in the hundreds of thousands of peace appears no closer. the syrian government's team of negotiators in geneva refused to go into direct talks while the opposition is calling for a syria without president bashar al assad. the bombs are still falling on the besieged damascus suburb of eastern goten it's a so-called deescalation zone held by rebels four hundred thousand civilians are trapped beneath the bombardment the united nations say they're facing a complete catastrophe. syria's opposition arranged to skype call to a mother and her children inside the enclave with delegates and press in the swiss

capitol on wednesday the video link was far from perfect so the message was powerful and. it's unfair and unjust for us to have to instead of bread we beg you to break this. i look through the window and i see the bombings in front of me i see the fire that is being showered. what a disappointment what frustration what a shock what a tragedy what a catastrophe we're living today in the twenty first century i asked the family if they had a message for the delegates in geneva and the outside world. we are calling for peace but we will not concede we will not give up the sacrifices we have made with the blood of our martyrs the russian president vladimir putin announced mission accomplished in syria this week and the partial withdrawal of his troops but millions of refugees cannot think of returning to

a country whose government is starving its own children to death. david chase to al jazeera. russian president vladimir putin is about to hold his annual press conference in moscow every year putin says dozens of questions from journalists at the events on issues ranging from international relations to national economy the war with ukraine and even on his personal life russian national television will broadcast the event live across russia's eleven times are . voting is underway in india's good state for the second phase of local elections the slowing economy as well as the introduction of a new tax structure some of the issues on voters' minds the election is seen as a test of popularity for prime minister narendra modi who spent weeks campaigning in his home state drought has been controlled by moody's party b j p for twenty two years is facing

a surprisingly strong challenge from the opposition congress party led by rahul gandhi difficult hollande has more now from ahmed about. it is a personal challenge for both narendra modi and for a whole gandhi from there under modi he was the chief minister of the state for thirteen years before he became prime minister and he did the governance of the state and what he's done economically in this state as a model for the rest of the country and this is the heart of his campaign to win over india and become prime minister so loss here would be a loss of face for him and also many say would show a lack of confidence in his current policies as for raul gandhi he was just recently in the past few days crowned the leader of the congress party a win here would validate his position here and make him a credit credible opponent for the twenty one thousand elections national elections which many say will pit gun the against modi on the world stage on a larger stage no one is more surprised than the b j p themselves that they have

such a strong challenge against congress and this came and became particularly apparent last week in the first phase of these elections on december ninth when the turnout amongst the b.j. peace committed goes voters was less than expected they're hoping that today which is the final phase of voting in many inhofe the states and for hof the seats in the legislative assembly they hope that they would be able to make up those numbers today but many people say that there has been discontent over the past years that been protests there been agitations particularly amongst the rural sector which makes up half the voting block and congress has someone somehow won the hearts with their hearts with a campaign that seems to resonate from those who feel they've been marginalized by the government's current policies so ahead here on al-jazeera. conservative m.p.'s her answer is a major defeat one the promises to make the bricks of negotiations even more complicated. and facing the long lines for basic necessities

a car struck venezuelan government turns to cryptocurrency. with. has been a bit of flooding under heavy showers in western job and southern sumatra in the last week or so and you see the line is still to take your eye up towards the central philippines and the circulation developing there he's already left nearly a hundred fifty millimeters in the rhetor so we're around mindanao moment and that's the area where this thing will keep developing in the next two days more of a feature bringing rain and strong winds so the winds will be gale force not takes much of the energy of the atmosphere so it means the showers for the south will be fewer if not about me nothing at all of borneo but you still left for that flow across java and maybe bits to sumatra maybe even catching singapore but obviously

the philippines the place to watch south of this is through the occasional showers of northern australia more system a line of white that's a cold front so on the side of it good difference about ten degrees it's just going through melbourne it was over thirty degrees night time last night in melbourne forecast today twenty four says big drop in temperatures you can see the cold cooler air is pushing slowly east was it will knock sydney's temper down by about ten degrees this is come friday because it brings a few showers with it and eventually you'll end up passing through shouts the thunderstorm seeing the sun come out but in the meantime a big change in the feel of the weather. under serious skies a bomb shattered monument to war's destructive power yet amid the ruins the defiant still resist and somehow survived. people

in power investigates how the suburb of damascus has refused to crumble under the might of assad's army. one of two at this time on al-jazeera. and again you're watching out is there a reminder the top stories this hour and the nuclear missile threat from north korea is high on the agenda as the president of south korea makes his first state visit to china. in is also looking to improve bilateral relations off to china was by the u.s. sending in the self defense system to sell. medical volunteer group doctors without borders says more than six thousand seven hundred were injured or killed in the

first month after violence broke out in the among the groups numbers based on a survey done among the survivors of violence government's official figure is only four hundred. u.n. sponsored talks on syria or regime in geneva after a short break but the government and opposition sides are present in a jew to meet the un special envoy stephan to mr russia to convince the syrian government that there is no time to lose all the reaching a peace deal. now how musts one of the main palestinian factions called for an uprising against israel soon after donald trump's announcement on jerusalem the palestinian political party within when it was formed thirty years ago as a response to israel's illegal occupation of the. spank in the gaza strip. charts the history of the group. hamas was born out of the first palestinian uprising or intifada in one nine hundred eighty seven its founder and spiritual leader was seen

almost blinding quadriplegic you seen as a hero to palestinians frustrated with the peace process israel blamed him for a series of suicide bombings and rocket attacks in two thousand and four they killed a scene with a missile strike near his home in gaza a month later another missile killed his successor abdul aziz on t.c. next came khalid mashal already a survivor of a botched israeli poisoning attempt in one nine hundred ninety seven under mashal hamas capitalized on his popularity and scored a surprise victory in two thousand and six palestinian elections. but heightened tensions with the fatah faction of the palestinian authority violent confrontations follow. up a rival government in gaza but faced with international condemnation they struggle to govern effectively. it's not easy for a movement like hamas as it is distance movement they believe believe the

only way to. to anybody palestine is to continue with the military is that i get. when when you start to think to change then the whole war closed the door in front of you. in the eleven years how much ram gaza they have been three wars with israel more than two thousand seven hundred palestinians have been killed by israeli security forces israel has sealed off the territory unemployment is around forty three percent the highest rate in the world according to the world bank. this is a shot that hamas is famous slogan is islam is the solution but people didn't buy a must fail to fix problems of health care education they can i mean they've got money one way or another but used it for employing that assistance and ignored the obligation of the government that's what bore down employment increased under its new political chief a smile when err on the left here who took over from howard mashal on the right

hamas is giving political control of gaza back to the palestinian authority in the end a move prompted by pressure from the p.a. and egypt which then resulted in a reconciliation deal in october these are some of the people getting ready for the first three celebrations hamas has even changed its charter to accept the idea of a provisional palestinian state within three nine hundred sixty seven boundaries and actually try to separate the groups image there's still no mention of israel by implication has to be another state on the other side of those borders. that. hamas is a longtime opposition to the oslo accords paid off in the wake of the us president's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital the polls taken just after donald trump's announcement suggest ismail haniya would win the palestinian presidential election. but it's meant al-jazeera gaza britain's breaks in negotiations are expected to be further complicated off to rebellion within the

prime minister's party innovates in parliament eleven a pro european conservative m.p.'s sided with the opposition the defeat by four votes mean that it means that a parliamentary vote will be needed to approve britain's final deal to leave the european union to resume a had promised what she called a meaningful vote on breaks it but opposed making it binding. well in what could be a pivotal week for breaking the go sessions our correspondent bobby philips has been to gauge the mood in a part of england which voted to me for the european union. winter on the essex riviera east of london this is bret's it country so they feel everything is stuck or flowing smoothly in the right direction like many fisherman jack smith wanted breck's it so that he would be allowed to catch more of a bigger quota not feel as if it could have going to be quicker. and in a bit more money with a bit more coaches never think. it just takes as long as it takes.

for his customers and remain as if to resume a has taken on board that she can handle. the looks that could squeeze will leak which she does she do not hired because it is taking forever and a day but i'm not surprised really because you've got britain standing on its own now against the rest of the year and they're all going to want by you want and you know we're going to become very small fry again one and a half years after the bricks in the country is still divided roughly down the middle opinion polls show that very few people regret their decision that still vote exactly the same way today somehow the prime minister has to bring a divided country together statement the prime minister she believes she's doing that securing last week's deal on britain's withdrawal tags this is good news today

people who voted for me to award that we were so bogged down in the negotiations torturous negotiations it was never going to happen it's good news for people who voted remainder worried we were going to crash out without a deal we are going to need but we're going to do so in a smooth and orderly way. for now pro brett sit m.p.'s are ready to trust the prime minister even as they grumble about the tens of billions of dollars britain will have to pay as it leaves the me what i will not have been agree to is any kind of money being used as a as a bribe you know we don't we're a big enough country not to feel that we have to bribe anybody but i do think we should pay the commitments that we have made certainly up until the time we leave european leaders are likely to agree to start talks about a future relationship with britain it's slow but bracks it seems to be moving forward although he expects storms ahead final destination far from certain to be

phillips al jazeera essex so you can you know where dozens of women have told human rights investigators how they were gang raped during the recent presidential election campaigns some men made similar complaints against attackers often wearing police uniforms kenya's inspector general of police says the allegations are probably gund and lack of evidence catherine sawyer has more from nairobi. we're not identifying her for privacy reasons but she shows us police and hospital documents she's held since august she says she was raped by a man whose face is known to have at the height of kenya's recent election tension in a nairobi shanty town she's one of sixty eight women from the city and western kenya who spoke to human rights watch about their ordeal. one held a knife to me then they took me to a bush told me to take off my clothes then they beat me and one ripped me i report by the rights body says that while some women like the one we interviewed criminal

gangs others accused security forces of carrying out the abuses we would like their governments to create i need. to look at their practices around period including any involvement in sexual violence about half of the women interviewed by human rights watch say they were raped by men in uniform some did not report to the police all go to hospital because of fear and stigma in a statement to al-jazeera the inspector general of police dismissed part of the report accusing government forces as force. full of propaganda and lax married and evidence. community workers say while rape in slums like this is common they have received increased reports from women who say they were sexually

validated between the presidential election and the repeat paul in october. people are just so emotional because of the politics from different communities were attacking anyone and particularly women that's why there was an increase in this in that period this of a tells us higher tackle was not a policeman but a man who lives in her neighborhood and is still walking free she's not hopeful that their level be justice for catching. nairobi. the united nations is warning that more than four hundred thousand children under the age of five in the democratic republic of congo could die within months without emergency intervention eighteen months of violence and the displacement of one point four million people in the region has led to severe food shortages the u.n. says many children there are acutely malnourished it's the international community to get behind it emergency response to the crisis or risk a human human catastrophe next year. it's five is since

a man massacred twenty six people including twenty schoolchildren in the u.s. state of connecticut since that attack at sandy hook elementary school several mass shootings have taken place in the u.s. but there's been no congressional action on restricting guns she has returned zero looks at the ongoing debate over gun ownership. just what is the national rifle association saying here they use their media to assassinate news they use their schools to teach children that their president is another hitler they used their movie stars and singers and comedy shows an award shows to repeat their narrative over and over again to many it seemed like a cool for violent civil war or perhaps it was a sign that the n.r.a. was worried about historical trends and tell the truth that more guns are purchased often during democratic ministrations gun sales soared under president obama under president trump gun manufacturers have reported large drops in revenues you are the

true friend and share in the white house so although that may be so by and large a trump presidency has been bad for business which may explain the n.r.a. switch from gun advocacy to a far right wing agitator but this is ministration and congress are potentially good for the n.r.a. legislative goals it's already spent more this year than it did in all of twenty sixteen lobbying congress some four point one million dollars it's key aims are to convince legislators to deregulate the sale of silences and make sure all states recognize each other's concealed carry licenses the right of a gun owner to carry their weapon covertly in public but the n.r.a. faces a complex demographic challenge the polls show consistent majorities for gun control and safety measures nonetheless gun ownership has held steady for years at around a quarter of adults. it's young people who are a particular challenge for the n.r.a. . the polls show they support concealed weapons and assault weapon sales they're

least likely to own a gun they support sales restrictions and national gun registry and have the least regard for the n.r.a. have different beliefs about guns and have often been the case they've lived in a world with concealed carry for their base in their entire life throughout most of the nation and they also live in a world with a lot of mass shootings defining guns rather violence inner cities as we talked a lot about in the eighty's and the early ninety's. the n.r.a. however appears to have decided it's best course is to appeal to the extreme right wing nationalistic and socially conservative impulses of people gun safety advocates hope this is precisely the wrong strategy to win over a new generation of gun owners. she had three times the al-jazeera i could i was vice president has been sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty in a corruption scandal which aired last was convicted for accepting more than thirty million dollars in bribes from the brazilian construction jondo to break the wind

business contract five others including glasses uncle were given similar sentences . many of us have heard of the new crypto currency such as bitcoin but now comes the but it's been launched by the president of venezuela to try and alleviate the economic crisis and food shortages. reports from caracas venezuela and suffer one of the world's highest inflation rates and by almost worthless. some of these people have been queuing since three am not only sure what is available or what it will cost they're hoping to find basics like rice powdered milk and toilet paper to get a look at where you take what you can but there's not much for righty one day they might have any b. flour or rice oil or toothpaste. prices rise almost daily inflation in the vendor was nearly fifty seven percent the accumulated rise this year is one thousand three hundred seventy percent this coffee cost fifteen thousand body about is that's

about four and a half dollars at the official exchange rate which almost no venezuelans can afford to use or about fifteen cents on the black market which almost everybody is forced to use if they can find enough of these almost worthless banknotes. they're in short supply russian by the bank machines which emits only enough to small purchases those venice whalers with bank accounts use plastic cards but the fragile infrastructure means the system is often down some use because then there's this you can honestly on the petro i'm going to call it the petrol venezuela's own crypto currency been as well as economic sovereignty and helped defeat the economic blockade against us. then this whale a big coin the president said it will be backed by his country's ample oil gas gold and diamond but economists say such

a system needs the confidence of investors and even on the streets there's not much of that about it. it's very sad it's even more sad when you live to well and reach my age and you've got nothing and no way of solving anything. thousands have left the country and thousands more are planning to blaming president but dawdle to mismanaging the economy for straights that the country with abundant natural resources. such economic misery. minister if it is weather is lucky or with the power of its citizens it can change things soon then venezuela could recharge its economy and limit the damage in the next few years but if this crisis continues it's going to leave deep scars for generations to come we're not there yet but we risk being there soon but. meanwhile many venezuelans a simply occupied with finding enough to eat and if and when they do a way of paying for it. they're all just.

part time for about the top stories here in algeria north korea's recent nuclear and missile tests are once again the focus of regional and international leaders south korea's president moon is in beijing to hold talks with his chinese counterpart xi jinping and a high level defense delegation from russia is visiting pyongyang well the u.n. chief has called for unity of the security council to allow for the possibility of a diplomatic engagement. we have also the opportunity to discuss the. nuclear threats that we today face in addition to the program it is very clear that security council resolutions need to be fully implemented fully implemented by north korea first of all but fully implemented by all the other countries was rule is crucial in order to make sure that the sanctions are put in

place and that they achieve the result that we all ate which is the nation of the korean peninsula the u.n. sponsored talks on syria resuming in geneva after a short break both the government and opposition side to present and you to meet the un special envoy stephan de mistura is urging russia to convince the syrian government that is no time to lose on reaching a peace deal medical volunteer group doctors without borders say that more than six thousand seven hundred ringette were killed in the first month after violence broke out in manama according to meanwhile the official figure is only four hundred groups a number it's based on the survey done among the survivors of violence from the minority at least ten people have been killed in a bomb attack on the main police academy in somalia's capital officials say he was wearing a police uniform the group has claimed responsibility for the attack russian president vladimir putin is a right now holding his annual press conference in moscow every year to two knots

of questions on issues ranging from international relations the economy the war with ukraine and even questions about his past. voting is underway in india's state for the second phase of local elections is being seen as a test of popularity for prime minister narendra modi who spent weeks campaigning in his home state direct has been controlled by moody's party twenty two it's right up to date with the headlines next up here on out is there it's people in power. the bomb shattered buildings in the damascus suburb of jobar said just a few kilometers from the center of the city but through the long brutal years of

syria's war it's.