stan the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how you take it al-jazeera will bring you the news and current affairs that matter to you al-jazeera. and underground fire has been burning for over a century beneath india's largest cofield. now open coast mining has put the flames to the surface would devastating consequences for the local population. as communities are destroyed and thousand suffer from toxic fumes what lies behind this human and environmental disaster people empower the burning city at this time on al-jazeera.

but counting is underway in libya's presidential election like the former football great vice president biden to lead the nation for the next six years. we shall carry this is al jazeera live from also coming up the kremlin wants a new investigation into alexina all the over his call to boycott next year's presidential election after he was barred from running against vladimir putin. i shot it on top of my posts several times up kids and their kids but. recently. i look back on the political violence that took the life of this couple six month old child in kenya. mosul slowly comes back to life five months after the end of a brutal operation to retake the city from my soul.

we're going to liberia our polls have officially closed in the presidential runoff it is the first democratic transition of power in the west african nation and seventy three years the turnout was pretty low voters are choosing between former footballing superstar george way and experience political operative and current vice presidential. nominee joe reports in the capital monrovia. thousands lined up to vote in more than five thousand polling stations across liberia arriving long before the stations opened the tunnels however nowhere near a lot of the foster homes held in october that had been delayed twice of the being contested in court amid claims of a declared it is in the foster round officials say the reduction of candidates from twenty two just to may have cost the among voters a kindle for twenty six. and depresses a screw or smoke this morning and i hope. this morning the qantas is between

a full international football star where i'm vice president just what guy the we know would replace africa's first female head of state ellen johnson sirleaf who came to power after the country's lost civil war twelve years ago i'm not associated i would lose it to this this is good. they said that i'm going to win. now we know georgia seventy two year old joseph walker has served as les beauteous vice president since two thousand and six he too voted in the capital we're going to do because it is a test of democracy we went in one way during your work and i would use it to. we have today we're going through a difficult process this is what it comprises a group we're willing to live with both where promising peace in liberia and also on and to corruption and one of the world sport as countries. if the results

hold it will be the false. witness the poll from one elected leader to another international observers also praising what they call of violence free pool since. the bottled books replaced but it's this is a big election for everyone who's following democracy west africa the trend is certainly been you know more towards the democratic shift and really rooting that more firmly and i think that is what we will see here in liberia today the liberian people are determined to do it they're ready to do it. and i'm very confident they will then have two weeks within which to declare that will be. complete and they will have them ready in four days. when. the kremlin says caused by russian opposition campaigner alexina vall need to boycott next year's election should be investigated to see if they break the law. to stay away from the polls next march

after he was barred from running against running as a candidate rather against vladimir putin officials say he's ineligible because of a suspended prison sentence he says his conviction was politically motivated or a challenge is in moscow with the latest. it's no surprise that the kremlin seems sensitive to what looks like an attempt by alexei navalny to drive down voter turnout in march the talk has been this year that the kremlin is concerned about voter apathy and want to turn out to be around seventy percent if it dips much below sixty percent well they've got a problem with legitimacy quite how they will prosecute in the valley for calling for a boycott that remains to be seen i think this can be viewed basically as a shot across his bows and a warning now no one really believes the only would be able to be seen if they went head to head in a votes the recent polls suggest that if

a vote were taken now we don't you get between two and three percent but perhaps factoring into the kremlin's thinking was the potential damage to the valley could have done if he'd been allowed say on state t.v. with his anti corruption message so in around he will now have to do his appeals and also go back to doing what has been very successful actually for him over this year which is his online videos his anticorruption message reaching out to particularly younger russians and calling them out on the streets in parts of the country where you do not normally see political protests meanwhile russia's president vladimir putin has been nominated for reelection as an end appendant candidate has been in power for eighteen years and is expected to win another six year term so far hears her frame from campaigning that has praised his government's management of the economy. two billion dollars and of course these would be difficult years for both the country and for those who had

to ensure stable development and overcome the difficulties that stemmed from the world economy i can see that the russian government not only did everything that it could but in my opinion even more than that you have essentially solved all the economic tasks at hand are says opposition civil initiative party house formally nominated t.v. personality can send you subject to run against putin and next year's election such as the daughter of putin's former mentor anatoly sobchak who was the first elected mayor of st petersburg critics of subjects' a hair of decision to run plays into the hands of the kremlin by creating an artificial contest international committee for the red cross and red crescent has begun medical evacuations from eastern guta the besieged tribal hill area in syria's capital damascus almost four hundred thousand people have been trapped there by government forces since two thousand and thirteen with widespread food shortages the enclave has been the target of hundreds of airstrikes and artillery

attacks the united nations that earlier call for five hundred people in need of urgent medical care to be allowed to leave in all syrian state t.v. is reporting that a government shit has been shot down over hama province as a military plane was downed by rebels in the north of the area and the pilot was killed in the attack hama has been the target of heavy airstrikes by russian and syrian forces throughout the country's civil war turkey reportedly wants to use a military base in the rebel hope province and live in syria as an observation post the country has its troops deployed in some areas have been live this part as a deescalation zone but the region has recently come under heavy attack by president bashar al assad's regime and its allies with an increase in our strikes targeting civilian areas and hauteur has more from beirut. those who were killed in this airstrike were internally displaced syrians a woman and her two children their new home a tent has been destroyed whatever belongings they had now rubble they moved to

tell it to convolute in the southern edges of the rebel controlled province of idlib and search for safety but in recent weeks the region has been the target of heavy airstrikes. the displaced from the scene came here the planes came and hit them they're targeting civilians there are no unfortunates here where do you want us to go or i it's not clear if the bombing raids are being carried out by syrian government planes or those of its ally russia but what is clear is that the strikes are only increasing. they are putting pressure on the civilians the civilians would pressure the rebels not to fight because the regime has made major advances on the ground. they want people to hazed arrivals and the regime is trying to pressure the rebels to agree to a political settlement. the stepped up airstrikes coincide with a ground offensive by pro-government forces who have been advancing from the

northern countryside of hama and the southern countryside of aleppo towards. they entered small parts of the province advancing into the administrative borders for the first time since the rebels forced them out of and two thousand and fifteen an all out assault on. many of whom were other areas seized by pro-government forces it's still not clear whether the government intends to. the whole province or whether it's just. control of some areas in the countryside. what is clear is that the government wants the airbase back it is one of the largest military airports in the north turkey reportedly wants to use that base as an observation post already its military is deployed in some areas of as part of a deescalation deal. it is supposed to be a safe area under the deal. the opposition now fears the presence of al

qaida linked fighters and it will be used by the government as an excuse to step up the bombing campaign they also fear that pro-government forces are no longer busy on other fronts and are now turning their attention to adlib. beirut excom place have arrested a suspect in the murder of a crime journalist. cho is accused of planning the killing. and march was shot several times out of her garage mexico is one of the world's most dangerous countries for reporters with at least sixteen sure analysts killed there and the last three years myanmar escaping to reuters journalists in custody for another fourteen days alone enquires so were arrested earlier this month after they were invited to meet police officials on the outskirts of. the reporters quote illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media the u.s. canada and the european union have joined top u.n.

officials and demanding their release. so five months now since i saw fighters were driven out of the northern city of mosul it was devastated under isis rule and during the iraqi government's fight to retake the city at a citizen celebrate christmas for the first time in years there are signs that most businesses are beginning to recover. reports. in parts of mosul it seems a city is coming back to life the people relieved the economy reviving. mahmoud a tailor saw all his equipment destroyed during the shelling somehow he must start again. i cannot resume work simply because i'm short of materials i need textiles and all the requip meant business is an tradesman must join hands to bring back life to decision the state and the people must come together and this has not happened yet. mosul famous for its markets selig

produce from the surrounding countryside now the crowds have returned the people hope the city has left its darkest days behind of how to think. how to get them or you are making swift progress at all levels industry commerce the movement of people we had not expected things to go so fast we are confident the residents of new know and most will want to help the federal and local governments. but all these streets west of the tigris the tangled deborah of war has barely moved this all that remains of the old commercial center the reconstruction of mosul's buildings and its people's confidence will take many years but to be philip's al-jazeera. still ahead on al-jazeera the heroes of one tradition to two men who risked their lives to bring truckloads of supplies to. the north sea in london with solutions group t.v.

news reports to carry out the most delicate operation. it could be taught to. women . hello and welcome back across the levant and western parts of asia it's all quite intense and on wednesday we've seen the snow clearing away there are marty will get up to freezing elsewhere fine around the caspian sea term it's about eleven degrees finer on the eastern side of mediterranean with variable amounts of cloud as we head into thursday we've got a southerly flow so temperatures gerry not too bad here twenty one in beirut heading into the arabian peninsula it's thirty one woman off from mecca with thirty three degrees as an ice storm cooler here in doha as a front just clears through so twenty two hours a mix with but the winds picking up for the northwest we should lose the fog that

we've had over recent days not a great deal of change on thursday perhaps a very slight warming so let's head across into southern parts of africa where for south africa and much of botswana namibia it's all looking draw and fine once you get further north into certainly more northern parts of godor through into zambians about way mozambique malawi here are seeing heavy showers heavy showers too on the eastern side of madagascar which continues a head on through into thursday with highs of twenty three in and around the river so head into central parts of africa the northern limit of the showers is right about the bonsa level still at risk of showers but west africa fine sunshine in akron ghana highs thirty one. i mean as i want to finally we're going ask about it but that's the ball is a ball not i see more listeners are thought of that this set says the last one and the other the double of a cousin to punch is a bitch at the bottom in the first episode of

a two part series al-jazeera investigates the world of performance enhancing drugs . sports during the a ministry at this time. you're watching al-jazeera let's take a look at the top stories right now counting is under way after a peaceful day of voting in liberia's presidential runoff election observers say the turnout is much lower than it was during the first trial that was in october voters have to choose between a former international football player and the country's vice president. the

kremlin says calls by russian opposition leader alexina vaal need to boycott next year's election should be investigated to see if they break the law they will russia's president vladimir putin has been nominated for reelection as an independent candidate the government of the philippines is setting up more than six hundred temporary shelters for people displaced by the conflict i'm already in the army retake the city from separatist fighters in october after a five month siege conditions have been made worse by tropical storm tembin. as two thousand seventeen comes to annette we're looking back at some of the biggest stories of the year through the eyes of five families and part four we speak to a kenyan family who lost their six month old daughter in political violence all going to be to presidential election catherine sawyer reports on consumer. joseph and his wife then saw a still trying to come to tom's the killing of the six month old some month a pendle. they say she died from a c.v.a.

a head injury when police raided the home in the town of. qusayr this was in august just after the fast presidential election when president hu looking at all was declared that we now. support his overall position. leader took to the streets in protest. police responding with tear gas batons and live ammunition. however say they were attacked in their home at night. it's been an unpredictable and volatile election year in kenya the supreme court over time to august paul citing irregularities of fast in africa. then withdrew from the repeat election saying the commission first needed reforms. rerun went ahead anyway in october. one thousand percent of the vote. of the nine hundred

million registered voters cast their ballots. all the while political brinkmanship deeply divided the country along partisan lines continue street confrontations between police and protesters only making things worse more than thirty people including baby panda have died in the violence since august and are used to play here and on that night in august her family and neighbors say police came banging on doors they used tear gas to force people out of their houses pendle was in her mother's arms when they were being beaten she did not stand a chance. of a doubt she will ever vote again. and internet. why should a vote there's no need for me it will. never be election at all is it a member that. during the election. she also says they'll continue

to seek justice for their due to catherine. west in kenya on wednesday you can watch the fifth and final report in our series one year five families to about a father and son who haven't seen each other for nearly fifty years because of the tensions on the korean peninsula officials in yemen are blaming the saudi coalition for an airstrike on a crowded market that killed at least twenty five people including several children more than thirty others were wounded in this attack on the western province of thais rights groups have accused the coalition of bombing civilian gatherings across yemen since the start of its air campaign against her the rebels in march two thousand and fifteen and since the war in yemen began one escape route from the fighting has been by road across the border and into amman but somalis are driving in the other direction taking truckloads of aid towards the battlegrounds matheson reports from ascot. for over forty days mohammed has been waiting he has on call

his brothers and their seventy year old father have traveled over two and a half thousand kilometers to moscow from their home in the yemeni port city of aden. for the services in aden are very bad there's no electricity water or food we have to buy it from the black market and it costs too much life is very difficult mohamed's father has spent those six weeks inside the muscat apartment they all share he has cancer he has a visa for treatment in germany mohammed is his father's official companion but his visa hasn't come through. him and the health system in yemen has almost collapsed they can only do simple first aid and basic operations but for serious illnesses there is no treatment and people can't afford it much of yemen has been ripped apart by fighting between rebels and saudi led forces backing the internationally recognized government of months old friday and many hospitals have been destroyed

the government of a man doesn't issue official statistics to show of the number of yemenis there are in the country people who've been injured in the fighting or people who've escaped here and need medical treatment have been treated by the hospitals here but a man is very concerned that the fighting in yemen is going to spill over the border and because of that it's tightening its border controls and that's going to make it more difficult for people like muhammad and his uncle to come to amman so some of monies are taking aid to yemen not at all just tommy has been three times already. in october he took three trucks filled with food clothes and blankets every time when i'm going there is given hope to go again ok not because i don't go for fighting my truck is not for fighting is to helping people. on the last journey seventy year old sultan of reality you finally persuaded nasir to take him to more

concerned the two of those people there and the problems with their fish and now and i wish and they made you question comes and remove the problem eleven mohamed says he has no intention of staying away from yemen there is no place like home he and his family work in construction and when the fighting stops they say they will have to rebuild their country road matheson al-jazeera most got almost a former senior official with various national football federation has been cleared a conspiracy by u.s. court and while barca was charged with taking bribes in exchange for the awarding of marketing and leader rights to international soccer matches or go walk free just days after two other south american officials were actually convicted of similar charges the case has been linked to corruption at the heart of faith international football's governing body. scientists are finding vast amounts of plastic waste in

the world's oceans as it degrades it turns into microscopic particles that enter the food chain but the people in seattle and the united states have found a unique way of encouraging recycling and avoiding plastic straws reports. the streets around seattle's famous pike place market are full of cafes and restaurants the coffee is delicious but single use cups utensils and straws generate q.j. amounts of paper and plastic waste in this environmentally conscious city an activist group called lonely whale is urging people to think twice about throw away items leaders called the campaign stronger since yeah so we really want to start with something simple that every single one of us every single day and that item is to stop the other great thing about there is an alternative don't you worldwide

people use one billion plastic straws a day in the united states we have five hundred million single use plastic straws every day zero percent of. those that find their way into the marine environment break down into micro. and when a marine animal it's plastic they have a fifty percent mortality rate so it's a significant issue when we assume those cars are part of their unfortunately the strongest in seattle campaign began in september twenty seventh teen and resulted in two point three million straws being permanently removed in that month alone lonely whale has launched what it calls a global viral media challenge called stop sucking and it plans to take the strongest campaign to twenty cities worldwide in twenty eighteen the care premiums not only meant to reduce plastics in the environment it also aims to get people thinking about our throwaway culture. every time we talk about. everybody's mind

bang goes to hell what about the birth of the plastic over there and are we talking to her about that item as well seattle began restricting plastic waste a decade ago starting with a ban on styrofoam takeaway food containers and disposable plastic bags officials want to help mold a major shift in public attitudes really the bigger thing is getting people to stop and to think do i really need this i have this single use thing is this something that i really need to use right now i'm going to use it for five to ten minutes and then i'm going to throw it away and it's going to go to a landfill so that's really the bigger issue is having people kind of raise and in their consciousness a pushback against the culture of easy come easy go disposables that offers hope for the health of our planet's oceans and the creatures who live in them rob reynolds al-jazeera seattle.

they rise of artificial intelligence and robotics is changing health care operations are now carried out by surgeons using robots do we want to machine to look after us instead of a human lawrence live reports this. guy's hospital in central london and a man is about to have his life chances vastly improved with the help of the robles he has prostate cancer the surgeon and his team would in the past have cut him open and felt around with their hands. but now they insert chub. and then we'll go to the robots. very. soon the surgeon is at the console and moving the robot remotely it's fine tools stitched up the man's coat before moving in to before me operation. in principle you could have the surgery carried out or part the steps of the surgery did a very clearly defined carried out by

a surgical instrument that was basically set up until i had laser eye surgery only ten years ago and i know for fat that the op thousand didn't i say he meant devil thing he says a machine hit a button and there was a machine that did the surgery wasn't. all kinds of surgeries done like this welcomed by those lucky enough in the rich world to have an operation made quicker and less painful than in the past. but the new frontier is not in medicine but in care the robot succumbing to help the aged to consider the role that robots can have in caring for those we love is surely at the sharp end of the debate around automation in the human world after all robots home to modes that don't have the human touch and so how do we as human beings feel about outsourcing the duty of care to machine in the coming weeks these dimentia suffer as

a care home in north london will have robots for company the owners run dozens of places like this across the u.k. they want to roll the machines out everywhere because what we're dealing with is dementia residents people who forget who have a memory lapses and if robots could remember. things about them or their cultural needs about that have it's about the back end of living and if they could relate this to a new pierced or even an agency staff was coming in it could be a lot of emotional things that is these people experience because when you forget things you get agitated and you cannot recollect what you have really gotten how are you. and you robots like this it is argued could help organize delivery of medicines or relatives could skype their loved ones through it screen but cannot love but it is argued they could help dispenses the agonizing question is whether

we want them to i think ethically it's undesirable to have robots take the place of carers for these specific issues of being reassured you know being helped to death and so on i think very few people would say that we should staff our hospice with robots i mean at the end of life that's really where you want a completely human type of interaction in parts of the world robotic care assistance has already been viewed by people a socially acceptable. in japan a nation of technology lovers with an ageing population is becoming common but will carers ever be replaced by machines it would surely to questions about how much we value our own humanity lawrence leigh al-jazeera london. and on thursday we have part five of our series on artificial intelligence a future with robots and an artificial intelligence is coming it is going to affect

everyone al-jazeera talks to those seeking to reduce the fallout. these are your headlines on al-jazeera counting is underway after a peaceful day of voting in liberia's presidential runoff election observers say the turnout as much lower than it was during the first round and october voters have had to choose between a former international football player and the country's vice president the kremlin says calls by russian opposition leader alexina all need to boycott next year's election should be investigated to say see if they break the law and while russia's president vladimir putin has been nominated for re-election as an independent candidate can you see. the. children of course these would be difficult years for both the country and for those who had to ensure a stable development and overcome the difficulties that stem from the world economy

i can say that the russian government not only did everything that it could but in my opinion even more than that you have essentially solved all the economic tasks at hand that are national committee for the red cross and red cross and has begun medical evacuations from eastern guta the besieged rebel held area of syria's capital damascus the united nations had earlier called for five hundred people in need of urgent medical care to be allowed to leave meanwhile syrian state t.v. is reporting that a government check and house been shot down over hama province that says the military plane was down by rebels in the north of the area and the pilot was killed in that attack has been the target of heavy airstrikes by russian and syrian forces throughout the country's civil war. officials in yemen are blaming a saudi led coalition for an air strike on a crowded market at least twenty five people have been killed including self-will children in this attack on the western province of thais. a former senior official

with bruce national football federation has been cleared a conspiracy by a court and the united states and walburga was charged with taking bribes in exchange for the award of marketing and media rights to international soccer matches or walked free just days after two other south american officials were convicted on similar charges those are the headlines news continues here on al-jazeera after the listening post keep it or. witness documentaries back open your eyes at this time on al-jazeera. i think it was i'm going to tell you when you tell me what. i think you want. to. thank you allan.