straight. in a country where parents often pick who you will marry falling in love can have serious consequences one of my niece meets the men risking their lives to protect india's young lover one east of his time on al-jazeera ahead of the september twenty fourth national election survey showed a satisfied with the state of their economy this is easily estonia's biggest tech success story the company was bought by microsoft in two thousand and eleven we bring you the stories that are shaping the economic world we live in counting the cost at this time on al-jazeera. aid workers begin to move syrians desperate for medical care from a rebel held area of the capital damascus.

hello again i'm peter dhabi you're watching al-jazeera live from our headquarters here in doha also coming up the philippines government reaches to help people displaced by storms and political violence and morale we. vote counting is underway in liberia's runoff presidential election and. i'm laurin sydney in london with solutions routinely reportings to current most delicate operations but could robots be took to the force when all foreign. aid workers have begun evacuating critical patients from eastern guta in the syrian capital damascus sixteen people have died whilst waiting he sed and is one of the last remaining rebel strongholds it's been under

a tight government seed since two. and the target of hundreds of air strikes and artillery attacks to cause severe food and medical shortages for about four hundred thousand syrians trapped there last month the u.n. called for five hundred people in need of urgent medical care to be allowed to leave but it was only after long negotiations that twenty nine critical cases were approved for medical evacuation the syrian american medical association says four of those patients have now been taken to hospitals in damascus and those remaining are expected to be moved over the coming days. is monitoring developments for us out of the lebanese capital beirut how long until these remaining two dozen people are allowed to get out of that area. well the reports we are getting is remaining patients will be evacuated in the coming days like you mentioned who are

have already reached damascus among the twenty nine twenty two are women and children these are critical cases people suffering from kidney failure cancer a chronic illnesses because there is no medicine and medical equipment. these people need help outside so four people have now been evacuated it is a welcome move but is it is definitely not enough it is only a very small fraction of the number of people who need medical assistance the u.n. has a priority list that's what it calls it four hundred ninety four names and according to the u.n. humanitarian chief they've been asking and requesting the syrian government for months now to be able to evacuate those people and those calls have gone unheeded according to the united nations the number on that list is decreasing not because they're evacuating people but because people are dying so a welcome move but far from what should be done and for those tens of thousands indeed those hundreds of thousands of people who will stay behind what the living

conditions like for them. it's very difficult four hundred thousand people are believed to be children there's also a problem of malnutrition over the past two months three children under the age of two months old. so and the people there are finding it very hard to find food and whatever food is available it is too expensive and people do not have the money has been imposed for four years now but in the past few months the government really tightened the siege close the smuggling routes so it's. really a for the their arms and surrender we've seen this before the start. so that the people and the rebels will say ok. remember this is just outside damascus it is a thorn in the side of the government the government has been trying to clear the area around its government's. thank you. philippines

government is setting up more than six hundred temporary shelters for some of the thousands of people displaced by the conflict in the city. area from separatist isolating. bride reports the plight of displaced people has been made even worse by the flooding from tropical storm. for people displaced by the more are we fighting life in a muddy camp with open drains was already miserable then came the floods some tents were washed away and all of them were swamped and that was the bureau family's possessions are still a wet pile and they go to sleep in the damp. their neighbor for an hour and her family lost their home and business in the fighting now her daily battle is with the water and mud to keep it out. you have to constantly think about where to put your things in made out he had money and could eat properly and i could go to

school in the city bears the scars of the months of conflict between government troops and fighters linked to eisele for now which is quiet but there's still a threat of renewed hostilities and martial law in mindanao has been extended for another year but on the edge of the city signs of hope new permanent homes are being built for displaced people president rodriguez who's from mindanao has promised to find a lasting solution to the conflict for him this project is an important step on the road to peace and that's why. we're on what i'm going to love them and it's an ongoing dialogue amended out the conflict holds up development the lack of money and jobs then fuels the underlying discontent and none of this is helped by being battered by storms from her tent home for an ample one can see the new houses being built on the opposite hillside

but doesn't know if she will get close to moving into one i hope one day we can make a new start and living in one of the new houses would help. but now the new houses are far outnumbered by the thousands of tents robbed the bride al-jazeera the city southern philippines. international election observers praise liberia's peaceful presidential runoff despite a low turnout the results between the former footballer george weah and the current vice president has a black eye is expected in the next few days it's set to be the first time the nation founded by freed american slaves will see one democratically elected government handing over to another one first time since one thousand nine hundred three the dough is in the capital monrovia. after our day of orderly queues and peaceful visiting in more than five thousand polling stations across liberia the people of this country are waiting for the results of the runoff election it pits

former football star george where against current vice president joseph walked by local media is already reporting that georgia where has the early lead in vaults counted on tonnage so far in some of the counties all for the country georgia where is banking on his support within the youth which accounts for more than sixty percent of the population of this country. just as walker has told himself as the natural kind of date of transition as he has been deputising for outgoing president ellen johnson sirleaf for the past twelve years electoral commission is expected to announce the election results in a matter of days. the russian president vladimir putin has submitted his bid to run in the twenty eight thousand election he's running as an independent candidate but

he's backed by the proclaimed kremlin united russia party he is expected to win his fourth term in march putin has so far refrained from campaigning but has praised his government's management of the economy. the electoral commission has a t.v. personality kissing your subject to run against mr putin in next year's elections is nominated by the group civil initiative she's the daughter of mr putin's former mentor and a totally subject the first elected mayor of st petersburg but critics say her decision to run plays into the hands of the kremlin by creating an artificial contest. it's been ten years exactly since pakistan's first and only female prime minister was assassinated benazir bhutto was at a campaign rally when she was shot and killed after a suicide bomber detonated explosives as more. tens of thousands of people are coming from across pakistan and from the religion is scattered across the province of saying this has always been the strongest of the board of family

the pakistan people's party still has the provincial government there and today of course they will be commemorating the tenth anniversary of benazir board over the very large gathering we have seen tens of thousands of people coming together for the box which is where benazir bhutto a father goes for carly border all but it also the party leaders will be addressing a large rally just months before pakistan's general elections are due to take place this will also be a show of strength by the party but it will be important to see where there is a party still remains popular across the country there is no denying the fact there's been a good boy doria still loved by the people although she is no longer alive but help part is going to get towards because of benazir bhutto son bilawal bhutto the chairman of the party will also be addressing this large gathering here and it will

of course be a shortfall by the progress on people's party. the detention of two reuters journalists in myanmar has been extended for another fourteen days while alone and you'll see or were arrested earlier this month after meeting police officials on the outskirts of young gaunt accuses the pair of planning to share illegally acquired information with foreign media the reporters were covering the crisis affecting ringle muslims in the northern state of rakhine they have been allowed to meet families and lawyers outside their court hearing. a video we were just carrying out our jobs as journalists we have been detained at the criminal investigation department we never violated our journalism ethics or on his own i want my husband to be free soon and i trust and that he would never violate the rule of law he has good morals so he should be free soon. still to come here on al-jazeera as tensions rise on the korean peninsula hopes for north south south family reunions fade and we take a look at ops that office of

a glimpse into life inside one of the world's most secretive and infamous prison. hello there we're seeing an awful lot of wintery weather across japan at the moment the satellite picture is capturing this little rotating system here and it's dragging plenty of cloud and plenty of snow around it those areas of cloud picking up a lot of moisture over the sea of japan and then depositing it across that western coast and it sapporo where we've seen some of the wintry asked of the weather we're seeing lots of heavy snow here you see just how deep that snow is here on the video as we head through the next few days that will be yet more snow as well a maximum temperature in sapporo of minus three so no chance of that snow melting snow pushing a little bit further south woods as well eventually things begin to calm down

a little bit as we head through friday the winds begin to ease and so the amount of snow that we're seeing will ease as well towards the west of beijing as farm all day hey we're looking at a maximum temperature of around seven degrees a bit further towards the south and the winds here all feeding up from the south now so for many of us across the southeast corner of china there's a lot of cloud and a fair amount of moisture around so i do expect a few outbreaks of rain that also will give us a fairly great day for us in shanghai because the winds are coming from the south but we dragging up the temperatures so i think we'll see a maximum up to fourteen there as we head into friday. and she managed to. work in the. retired bosnian army general who defended. against attacks by certain forces.

of the story choice and determined to. move. this time on al-jazeera. welcome back here headlines so far this half hour aid workers have started evacuating emergency medical cases from the besieged area of eastern guta in the syrian capital damascus many have been waiting for months during that time the u.n. says at least sixteen people died the areas being surrounded by government forces since twenty thirteen. the philippines government is setting up more than six

hundred temporary shelters for some of the thousands of people displaced by the conflict in the city of morale way beyond me re took the area from i sold a separatist fighters in october for five months each morrow he was also battered by tropical storm tembin last week. vote counting is underway in liberia's presidential runoff between the former footballer george weah and the current vice president joseph walker despite a low turnouts the process is expected to produce the first democratic transition of power in more than seventy years. the u.s. has imposed sanctions on to north korean scientists it says are senior figures in pyongyang's missile program the us as kim jong see can repeat on shore the development of nuclear missiles it is the latest move by the u.s. to pressure pyongyang to abandon its weapons program. here of south korea's electronics giant samsung is appealing against his conviction and sentence in a case focusing on corruption e.g. yong was sentenced to five years in jail for his part in a bribery scandal that also saw the impeachment of the country's former president

park geun hey prosecutors have argued lee j. young should serve a twelve year prison term the high court is expected to rule on his appeal next month. so. korea says a deal with japan to settle the decades long comfort women dispute fails to meet the victims' needs in twenty fifteen japan agreed to pay more than eight million dollars to projects helping korean women who were forced to work in japanese military brothels during world war two but survivors say they want direct compensation south korea stopped short from saying it will scrap the deal. the saudi led coalition is being blamed for an airstrike on a crowded marketplace in yemen that killed at least twenty five people including several children more than thirty others were wounded in the western province of. human rights groups have accused the coalition of bombing civilian gatherings across yemen since the start of its air campaign against hoofy rebels in march of

twenty fifteen. well since the war in yemen began one escape route from the fighting has been by road across the border and into amman but some of mani's driving in the other direction they're taking truckloads of aid towards the battlefields as rob matheson reporting from musket. 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 muscat from their home in the yemeni port city of aden lyon a lot of the services in aden are very bad there is no electricity water or food we have to buy it from the black market and it costs too much life is very difficult homines 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. a sham and the health system in yemen has almost lapsed

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 who the rebels and saudi led forces backing the internationally recognized government of double 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. has been three times already.

in october he took three trucks filled with food clothes and blankets over time when i'm going there is given hope to go again ok not because i don't go for fighting my talk is not not not for fighting is to helping people. on the last journey seventeen year old you finally persuaded nasir to take him to. seventy of those people there and the problems which we face it now and i wish and it made you question comes and remove the problem. mohamed says he has no intention of staying away from yemen it is not that he and his family work in construction and when the fighting stops they say they will have to rebuild their country right matheson al-jazeera muscat oman. egypt has appealed to the world bank to help resolve the dispute with ethiopia over

a dam on the river nile foreign ministers from both countries have been meeting in the ethiopian capital addis ababa the government says the hydroelectric dam is a much needed project for a country that regularly suffers blackouts while egypt fears it could reduce the flow of the river itself. we usually work and cooperate to avoid any kind of tension and there are some issues that should be taken away in separated from others and i think the water issue of egypt sudan in ethiopia should bring us together in union because it's the issue related to the future and the interest of the three countries. this down will not bring any significant harm upon the egyptian side and we are working at the state of this we are trying to be very transparent the important thing here is that if there are any concerns that come from the egyptians we are working very closely to solve. those twenty seventeen draws to a close we're looking back at some of the biggest stories of the year through the eyes of five families in our final report will focus now on the crisis between

north and south korea and its impact on families florence louis spoke to a man who's been separated from his father for nearly fifty years. this is one of kong and charles' treasured possessions it's the only photo he has of him with his father he was two years old when he last saw his dad nearly fifty years ago it wasn't until he was nine that he found out the truth you know. i asked my mother when he was coming home she told me he was on a business trip to the united states and will be home for christmas i believed her and waited and waited his father. had been traveling on a domestic flight in south korea but it was hijacked and flown to north korea the incident sparked an international outcry in north korea eventually returned most of those on board the flight that refused to allow eleven of us to leave including kwan's father. there was

a time i hated my father so much because i was told by my family that he stood out too much during ideologist sessions in the north he would argue with the of dorothy's and that's why he wasn't sent back to. hong has spent much of his adult life campaigning for his father's release setting up a group to the south korean government and international community to pressure north korea to release the remaining crew and passengers. when there were tensions around the korean peninsula intensified my father's case was pushed aside whenever there were any issues between the core yes and our story became the least priority it's a tragedy my family has to carry look inward. and security concerns on the peninsula have deepened this year in september north korea tested a hydrogen bomb weapons experts also say north korean scientists appear to have made rapid progress with each missile test and could possibly combine nuclear and

ballistic missile capabilities by next year. one realizes these developments will make a reunion more unlikely but he's certain his dad still year. they tried to defect into doesn't thirteen i heard that the rest of the people in his group who made the same attempt were all executed by one then in march two thousand and sixteen i heard he was living in punk song but was told last december you know that those surveillance was too strong for anyone to approach him or talk in that i've been proven but one is not giving up determined to be reunited with his father no matter what it takes florence lee saw. the rise of artificial intelligence and robotics is changing health care more operations and carried out by surgeons using robots laurence li finds out if we

should let machines look after us. these. guys hospital in central london and a man is about to have his life chances vastly improved with the help of a robot. 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 choose. and then we let the robot. soon the surgeon is at a console moving the robot remotely it's fine tools stitch up the man's colon before moving in to perform the operation. in principle you could have the surgery carried out or part steps of the said he did a very clearly defined carried out by a surgical instrument that was basically set up until today i had laser eye surgery only ten years ago and i know for fat that the op thousand did my eyes he met devon

think he set a machine hit a button and there was a machine that did the surgery wasn't. all kinds of surgeries are 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 dimensions sufferers 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 a dementia residents people who forget who have a memory lapses and if robots could remember. things about them or their cultural needs aboard that have it's about the back end of living and if they could relate this to a nuclear 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 are really forgotten how are you very and you robots like this it is dark you 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 the 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 as socially acceptable. in japan a nation of technology lovers with an aging population is becoming common but will care is ever be replaced by machines it would surely to questions about how much we value our own humanity lawrence lee al jazeera london. and on thursday we'll have part five of our series on artificial intelligence a future with robots and ai is coming and it will affect all of us in the final part of our series al-jazeera talks those seeking to reduce the fallout.

an exhibit in new york is highlighting the works by eight unlikely artists former and current inmates at guantanamo bay and their paintings offer a glimpse into life inside one of the world's most secretive prisons here's gabriel is on the. it's an exhibit where the artists were also inmates in fact some still are all these works painted by eight inmates at guantanamo bay detention center half of them currently being held the other half subsequently released after years in detention and one day i got a call from a lawyer he said would you be interested in displaying my client had made a kuantan a band i said what do you mean this art from guantanamo bay and we went from there the theme of some of the paintings is dark not surprisingly for inmates who have spent years imprisoned all were interrogated some tortured sharks in an ocean is the work of qassam a yemeni inmate who has been held without charge for the past fifteen years he

signs all of his artwork with his prison number two for two peace works are fairly skilled there is darkness but as the curator told me there is also some light i was surprised to see how calm and peaceful many of the paintings were i was expecting more more pain more anger but the detainee i interviewed told me we paid to distract ourselves from our condition like a pair of hands clutching prison bars and flowers created by another yemeni inmate who has spent fifteen years in guantanamo some of the work sorry labrat like this would model ship made with cardboard and bottle caps as powerful as this art is to fully understand its impact is to know where it came from guantanamo bay prison was opened in the aftermath of the september eleventh attacks to hold terror suspects at its peak it housed six hundred eighty four inmates today the prison remains open

holding forty one prisoners some without charge us president donald trump has talked about filling the empty cells again. it's only in the past few years lawyers for the detainees have been permitted to take the inmates are out from the prison there have been some complaints the exhibit glorifies terrorism the pentagon is said to be considering banning artwork from public view the theme of the exhibit is ocean because many of the inmates say the ocean is a symbol of calmness freedom and escape each brushstroke a glimpse into the inmates innermost thoughts of the moment gabriel is on doe al-jazeera new york more news than have you wanted on the website al jazeera dot com critically ill syrians evacuated from that the sea city top story there for you this hour.

recapping our top stories for you so far today aid workers have started evacuating emergency medical cases from the besieged area of eastern gota in syria's capital damascus many have been waiting for months during that time the u.n. says at least sixteen people died the areas being surrounded by government forces since twenty thirteen. the philippines government is setting up more than six hundred temporary shelters for some of the photos and is of people displaced by the conflict in the city of mirali the army rito clear area for isolating separatist flights as in october after five months each or all he was also battered by tropical storm tembin last week. vote counting is underway in liberia's presidential runoff between the former footballer george weah and the current vice president joseph despite a low turnout the process is expected to produce the first democratic transition of power in more than seven decades. the russian president that he made putin has

formally registered to run in the twenty thousand election he's running as an independent candidate but he's backed by the pro kremlin united russia party he is expected to win his fourth term in march pushing herself refrain from campaigning but he has praised his government's management of the economy russia has rebounded from its worst recession in two decades. the detention of two reuters journalists in myanmar has been extended for another fourteen days while alone and. were arrested earlier this month after meeting police officials on the outskirts of yemen gone mean maher accuses the pair of planning to share illegally acquired information with foreign media the reporters were covering the crisis affecting the rohingya muslims in rakhine state after the crackdown kicked off in august. south korea says a deal with japan to settle the decades long comfort women dispute fails to meet the victims needs in twenty fifteen japan agreed to pay more than eight million

dollars for projects helping korean women who were forced to work in japanese military brothels during the second world war but survivors say they want direct compensation south korea has stopped short from saying if it will scrap the deal you are right up to date with all the top stories so far here on al-jazeera up next the inside story we'll see you very soon. high hopes of continued peace and stability liberia as both as choose a new leader that's how they suppose enhanced democracy in a country.