al-jazeera investigation the only gox coming soon ahead of the september twenty fourth national election survey showed germans 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. witness documentaries that open your eyes at this time on al-jazeera. under prisoners exchanged in ukraine in one of the biggest swaps agreed between moscow and kiev.

well matheson this is all just a lie from doha also coming up i know as much there is no treatment available for i have nothing no medicine no many emergency medical evacuations underway in war torn syria but for some it's too little and too late preliminary results expected on thursday in liberia's presidential elections. and it's off to the so-called salsa capital of the walled colombia's annual christmas parade it's all about the dance. the. ukrainian government and pro russian rebels have swapped prisoners in war torn eastern ukraine this latest exchange. is said to be the largest since the start of

the conflict it happened near the city of horlivka which is mainly controlled by pro russia separatists the conflict began in april twenty fourth scene soon after russia annexed ukraine's crimea peninsula united nations says more than ten thousand people have died in the done yet and the hans cretin's series of truce deals has scaled back the fighting but hasn't ended the bloodshed several of the ukrainian prisoners have been speaking about their release. i'm very happy that i'm going back to ukraine and i thank everyone for the work that's been done to be able to help me see my loved ones again. spent a year and a half in a cell one by one and a half meters without anything no deliveries nothing they treated us as if we were dogs and worry chalons has more from moscow. well both sides are now confirms that this prisoner swap has concluded with people being handed in both directions across

the front lines in eastern ukraine the numbers that actually did scruffs the lines a big difference from the early advertize figures of three hundred six people going from kiev territory back to the east and seventy four people going from the eastern regions back into kiev territory the reasons why the numbers are different is because some people were transferred earlier and some people on both sides it seems didn't actually get want to go back to where they come from this is an events that has been quite a long time in in the making the final impetus though came as a recent meeting in moscow there was attended by the heads of the two separatist regions in eastern ukraine by the head of the russian orthodox church patrick carroll and by representatives from kiev but the the real political will it seems as come from both kiev and also from moscow with vladimir putin saying that he was going to use his influence with the with the separatist regions to make it happen

it's a breakthrough undeniably a step in the right direction and the sides now are talking about keeping this going they're doing more prisoner swaps but while people are still dying while moscow is still supplying the rebel regions with weapons and hardware etc and while there doesn't seem to be a final drive for peace this is just a step in that direction we haven't got to the destination that we want to get to yet which is a final political solution so if you and democrats as a senior research associate at the george washington university in the u.s. and he says this latest exchange is politically significant for both sides. first of all it is. one of few realisations of the minsk agreement between ukraine russia friends and germany that was agreed upon back in two thousand and fifteen and the article six of those agreements implied that

ukraine and the two separatist republics with the exchange all the prisoners so this is the first step since then however not all the prisoners were exchanged and there are dozens of ukrainian prison their wrists and the separatist prisoners. on both sides detained and the sides don't want to give them up yet so this exchange was conducted very fast and efficient and it is very important for both russian leader putin who is running for reelection soon and. ukrainian president poroshenko who is face in major demonstration in challenges from the opposition it seems that there are politics behind it though it's not clear but some contacts with show us that maybe something's going on politically as

i mentioned the presidential elections that putin is facing and for promotion it was very important in. this was kind of a breakthrough for him in domestic politics and even he's main opponent mikhail saakashvili praised him for doing this at least ten people have been injured after a bomb went off in a supermarket in sim petersburg in russia it was caused by a homemade device packed with shards of metal at least it was hidden inside a lock of the shoppers to store their belongings no one has admitted responsibility for the attack. aid workers have started evacuating critically ill patients from eastern guta. play with syria's capital damascus at least eighteen people have died because of delays in allowing them to receive treatment is soon grow to is one of the last remaining rebel strongholds it's been under a tight to government sees since twenty thirteen when the target of hundreds of airstrikes and artillery attacks that's caused 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 a long negotiations that twenty nine critical cases were approved for medical evacuation al-jazeera is in accord or has the latest and let me give you a warning you might find some of the following images disturbing. it's a start but it's not enough only a handful of east scooters critically ill are being allowed to leave to hospitals in damascus which is less than an hour's drive away twenty nine patients the majority of them women and children a six month old baby was on that list but when the aide workers reached the others house they found out she died weeks ago the syrian government is allowing them to be treated outside the besieged opposition stronghold after the armed group official islam agreed to release some government prisoners it's not clear if new deals will be reached it has been four years since east hooter was besieged by the

syrian army the siege has tightened in recent months there are according to the united nations almost five hundred urgent medical cases i'm sorry man has brain cancer she says her condition is only deteriorating the u.n. says more than a dozen people have already died while waiting to be evacuated for treatment i know there is no treatment available for me here i have nothing no medicine no money i'm just waiting for god's mercy it's not just the lack of medical supplies there is a lack of food the united nations says the area is experiencing the worst case of child malnutrition since the start of the conflict and. the lack of medical equipment of vaccines have affected children also they are malnourished and this has that to a number of diseases unfortunately that children are facing in dire conditions there have been three reported deaths because of malnutrition in the past two months. not even two months old when they died the u.n.

says more than one thousand five hundred children are at risk among them two hundred thirty two who are acutely malnourished more than four hundred thousand people. are believed to be children. allowed to. reach the area for the first time but it was only for forty thousand people there is suffering and the fear is that the worse. the government is using this. tactic as a military strategy and as the situation worsens the likelihood of a surrender becomes more real. liberia's election commission is expected to announce official preliminary results in the presidential runoff on

thursday presidential hopeful. for victory the former football star is up against current vice president. mohammed reports from the capital monrovia. liberia. many place what they call a peaceful. vote counting is underway on the. five thousand polling stations. there were. very small number of incidents to report where the incident occurred and i should mention they have been dealt with on his part in most of these cases if not all the contest pits fifty one year old former football star george where against seventy three year old joseph walker i who has been the country's vice president for the last twelve years but falling coincided with christmas and many

chose to stay home observers say the tunnel close much lower than the fuss round held in october then after a commission says it will announce the results in four days it's what happens often and whether the losing side will accept defeat that cause most liberians concerned . liberia is one win that's willing to destroy the women are not willing for us to go back to war for anybody to be president of this country we will not do it we are going to have peace the children of this country need peace and they also want peace and we're going to call for whom ever we decide is president of liberia international observers to a calling for calm so one person was without. music. so the issue is no when you know. if you when you celebrate it is celebrating the show because you get to be president of everybody if you lose you also served for the

first time in more than seventy years this was the pick a nation founded by freed american slaves will see one democratically elected government power to another whoever wins will inherit tonic or me but by forming prices of liberia's exports of rabat and i don't own and are forced depreciating currency in the past twelve years ellen johnson sirleaf has guided this country through the process of recovery from civil war on the horrors of a bull outbreak but she too has been criticized for not doing much to talk all poverty and corruption in hog government to have it all does it or monrovia liberia french president emanuel mccraw has urged saudi arabia's king solomon to lift the blockade on yemen since october imports of fuel food and medicine have been restricted by the saudi led coalition which is fighting who the rebels says he's concerned about the humanitarian crisis with millions of people on the brink of

famine a million people have been affected by cholera it's the worst outbreak of the disease in modern history. a political prisoner in yemen has spoken to all jazeera about his brutal experiences behind bars human rights groups say thousands of yemenis have been arbitrarily detained and tortured during the country's two and a half year war. reports yousif knew the opposition newspaper he edited made him a target of the armed rebel who thiis it was time to take precautions but it was too late last year he says he was kidnapped outside his home in sana'a. i was repeatedly tortured and interrogated due to my job as a journalist before my detention i openly declared that i was suspending my work because of the harsh conditions facing journalists opposed to the who is in sanaa and so began more than a year held in several prisons in yemen's capital. to have the. i was

threatened with physical abuse and rape so was my family i was put in solitary confinement for twenty six days my health deteriorated. human rights groups say thousands of people including children have been arbitrarily detained and tortured by both sides in the war yemeni forces and who the fighters are accused of beating using electric shocks and forcing prisoners to strip others taken captive have simply disappeared this human rights attorney says families have reported the deaths of almost one hundred twenty prisoners in season seven here and if there are secret prisons human rights groups have documented four hundred seventeen alone in sana from residential houses to schools and even places of worship the kidnappers have abducted individuals from all walks of life and juniors doctors and even journalists they are subjected to brutal torture but journalists are given

a harder time line was eventually transferred to a military prison camp where he says he was housed along with prisoners of war last month he was released as part of a prisoner swap. but if i thought about like it i wished it didn't happen that way simply because i was not to convict a person i was kidnapped outside my house. is lucky to be alive days before he was released the camp was bombed dozens of his former cell mates die natasha in a zero still ahead and how does it apply more and more argentinians of relying on food donations to survive plus a plea for help from others a brazilian children affected by the zico virus as doctors warn they may need a lifetime of care.

binny's pink skies by the taj mahal. or is the sunsets in the city of angels. hello winter rain is returning to the middle of china still eleven degrees in shanghai and still fourteen in chengdu and whilst the rain exists it will probably disperse right and we get to friday but rather than temperatures dropping is the wind turns we go thirteen in shanghai and twenty four in hong kong very harsh winters there in china is just a long way for the north now off to receive recent tropical storms we now should watch very carefully this line from mindanao to vietnam there are certainly big thunderstorms there but that's all there are they can still go across mindanao that can still reach and the fact continue on the coast of vietnam and the remains of former truckle storms are probably producing this mass of showers in the gulf of thailand which will probably affect doesn't holland a more especially malaysia in the next day or so and for western jobber fairly frequent showers seem lucky once again there's been flooding here on and off the

last few weeks and the reason why that should stop the northeast monsoon through the bay of bengal usually brings rain or shasta's for lying karen telling not has been recently and he may well be again and there's obviously cloud visible from the north of pakistan but i think you'll come to very much if anything it's dark quiet weather once again and the air quality on the northern plains still pool. the weather sponsored by cateye peace. and she managed. to end war criminal. you know bonded young retired bosnian army who defended setting a fire against attack by surface forces. covering the story of choice seems determined to. move. this time just era.

you're watching all to zero a reminder of our top stories this hour the ukrainian government and pro russian rebels have completed a large scale prisoner swap in the war torn east of ukraine that took place near the city of hama lift cut which is mainly controlled by separatists exchange is said to be the biggest since the conflict began in twenty fourteen. at least ten people have been injured after a bomb exploded in a supermarket in the russian city of st petersburg explosion was caused by a homemade device packed with shards of metal no one's claimed responsibility for the attack. aid workers have started evacuating critically ill patients from

eastern go to a rebel held on playbooks syria's capital damascus last month the u.n. called for five hundred people in need of urgent medical care to be allowed to leave but only twenty nine cases have been given approval at least eighteen people have died by the way to. argentina's president money chilmark he is pressing on with a reform agenda that he claims will modernize the country the senate's been meeting on wednesday to pos next year's budget as well as new laws that will make that reforms possible but studies a ball reports from want to say it is convincing the public of its benefits is no easy task. three vegetables in front of congress when i went senators gathered to vote inside in the last session this year farmers brought twenty thousand kilos of their produce to give away to those in need of us all night we are here so that senators know the point they vote for has an impact on people's lives costs have gone up for everyone inflation. transport energy but we

want to share and draw attention to the demands that this government needs to do a lot more. marketing was elected two years ago with a mandate to rein in government spending and rejuvenate argentina's lagging economy after years of the center left precedence of cristina fernandez the commissioner of the government of modi so market has pushed to have a series of laws that it says will make argentina's economy more competitive like reforming the pension and tax system but there are many here who disagree they say that the government reforms are benefiting corporations and north the country's most vulnerable. among them i people. she's retired and says she couldn't miss the opportunity of getting some free food. the pension i get is not enough and what i'm buying now would cost me a lot i worked all my life and now i can barely survive. despite scoring

a resounding victory in october's congressional elections mackie's bench and reform sparked a violent protest last week when a situs that left dozens of people injured and new legislation changed the way pension increases are calculated which could end up hurting the elderly and those who depend on social security. the government said they will form aim to restore order to argentina's chronically fiscal account. the path of the argentinean economy is very tight with the possibility of crises along the way but for now i believe the government has a clear idea of what it wants to do it's trying to open up the economy to the world after years of financial isolation. argentina has a history of economic crises that have left millions living in poverty even though the government insists economic reforms will lead to a brighter future there are many who doubt that the government's plans will turn

out well. bruce culture minister has resigned following the pardoning president are better for salvatore does so law was a fierce opponent of the decision for war he was sentenced to twenty five years for ordering massacres carried out by the military death squads is currently receiving cancer treatment and he was granted a presidential pardon because of his ill health. the outbreak of the zinc a virus two years ago cause a global health emergency many cases were in the northeast of brazil but they are as was linked to an increase in babies born with a condition that severely limited their development now those children are taught close the extent of their health problems is becoming painfully clear but as john heilemann reports we receive parents are getting little help from the government. two years after the zeek epidemic brazil in the world has moved on but niger and

elisei still here. she's one of almost three thousand babies who were born with microcephaly an underdeveloped head and brain cools by the majority like police say we're in the north east of the country now we're now just zero first visited receive thing in two thousand and sixteen and i just said the government was yet to hell for them let's what's changed. i know the government has cut assistance for a few families i know some of them in my case i've never received anything it's been more than two years and we haven't got a thing. he leases medicine is so expensive the family's income can't cover it they have to rely on donations from friends nigerian nurses have around the clock but her conditions getting worse i've seen the mill caught up in the meaning i don't have too much hope from the bottom of my heart is hard for a mother to say that but i can imagine allison ten years time in fifteen years time

i don't dream about it that is why i like to make things happen today. as it is. elise a and others ecosoc to children and receive a receipt free rehabilitation from a foundation partly funded by the government but it's overwhelmed one hundred fifty is stuck on the waiting list all the time getting deeper amazed in the semi blindness and mushy stiffness that typifies the condition wife camilla ventura says they need more funds we try not to like people forget about seeka and because you know we still have all these children and we still have a burden and it's and it's involves the government but also a public health. issue that has to be address and never forgotten the government says that it hasn't forgotten as well as engaging in a massive campaign to eradicate the mosquito which carries a seek

a virus it since were infected about fifty million dollars in rehabilitation centers like this one and next year it's promised eight million dollars more. at a christmas party for children with rare diseases we met not to gain with of the mothers who say they haven't seen enough money they feel they're struggling alone enjoying small moments in the midst of a lifelong battle for them. and the children. join home and. receive a resume. more than one hundred thirty migrants have been rescued from the mediterranean sea included women and children have been saved by a spanish rescue organization is the try to cross from libya to italy more than three thousand people have died in similar crossings this year. i one who fought in the bosnian war in the one nine hundred ninety s. has been convicted of war crimes us a bus edge for the croatian and bosnian croat armies

a court in sarajevo has sentenced her to fourteen years in prison for killing and inhumane treatment of bosnian serb civilians jury in the conflict in the one nine hundred ninety s. it's the longest sentence for a female fighter in the bosnian war russian opposition leader alexina vonnie says he'll organize a nationwide rally in january to support his call for a boycott of presidential elections the vollies been barred from running in the march election over a fraud conviction that he says is politically motivated meanwhile russian president vladimir putin has officially filed his documents to run for reelection if he wins hootin will remain in the kremlin until twenty twenty four moves in what is about actually by shook up by news of the work so we will start a big camp here and on one hand to persuade everyone to participate in the boycott and not to take part in the election and on the other hand to kind time many people really come to the polling stations not to let putin fabricate the numbers and of

course we need an all russian mass street action. dancers in columbia's third largest city cali have celebrated christmas with the annual salsa parade set to represent the spirit of the city and residents have come together to dance through the night. reports in the festive footwork and colombia's salsa capital. it might have been born in new york be a cuban where that's latin america's most famous rhythm is truly at home in colombia third city the self-titled capital where the dance is celebrated with a huge hurry them christmas day. this time under a heavy rain. south suffer the callee knows everything look at us totally drenched we love we are showing it once more today. we live and it's all idiosyncrasy fifteen hundred then through this parade through this demonstrating cali's unique

acrobatic style feat move at an extreme pace to the frantic beat as dancers skip and turn. cali both over one hundred south schools attracting an increasing number of foreign aficionado's so going to look at what makes kelly special is its people's unique passion for dance salsa dance almost everywhere in the world but only here people with such little means do so much to get here dancers train all year to be chosen for the parade and dream of one day reaching the world also championship sixteen year old natalie says that for many poor becoming a dancer is a way to make a living and change stereotypes i know that. this is where we become more than kids from the ghettos we get associated with drug trafficking and prostitution but that's not who we are we dance for ourselves and for our image we work long hours stay out from the streets take care of our wellbeing all our free time all our

effort is for dance this is. sort of in this part of the callee fairfield celebrating its sixtieth anniversary it's the one time of the year when a new deeply divided between rich and poor come together to celebrate through the night. after you. leave at the end. never. drank a. world capital might sound like a bold claim but seeing news then you can't help but think it through. the air to south korea's giant some song is appealing against his conviction and sentence in a corruption case he's a young was sentenced to five years in jail for his part in a bribery scandal but also saw the impeachment of the country's then president park geun hye a prosecutor's are also appealing the ruling and they're calling for

a twelve year sentence the high court expected to rule in his appeal next month. protesters in kosovo have hung hundreds of neckties in a fence outside the government's headquarters after their prime minister said he needed a pay rise to afford smart clothes and almost hard to deny justify doubling his wages by saying he needs a wardrobe update because he's obliged to wear shirts and ties is salary night stands at three thousand five hundred dollars a month almost a third of people in kosovo or unemployed as the headquarters of the roman catholic church the vatican attracts millions of visitors a year but perhaps none as colorful as these a circus troupe which includes two polar bears has put on a special show for pope francis as part of his weekly public appearance the pontiff has praised the displacing circus performance is beautiful and brings people closer to god.

this is al jazeera these are the top stories the ukrainian government and pro russian rebels have completed a large scale probably prisoner swap in the war torn east of ukraine it took place near the city of horlivka which is mainly controlled by separatists an exchange is said to be the biggest since the conflict began in two thousand and fourteen several of the ukrainian prisoners have been speaking about their release. i'm very happy that i'm going back to ukraine and i thank everyone for the work that's been done to be able to help me see my loved ones again. spent a year and a half in a cell one by one and a half meters without anything no deliveries nothing they treated us as if we were dogs at least ten people have been injured after a bomb exploded in a supermarket in the russian city of st petersburg the explosion was caused by a homemade device packed with shards of metal no one's claimed responsibility for

the attack aid workers have started evacuating critically ill patients from eastern rebel held on klav of syria's capital damascus last month the u.n. called for five hundred people in need of urgent medical care to be allowed to leave but only twenty nine cases have been given approval at least eighteen people have died while waiting french president emanuel mccrone has oversight to rebias king solomon to lift the blockade on yemen since october imports of fuel food and medicine have been restricted by the saudi led coalition which is fighting who the rebels says he's concerned about the humanitarian crisis with millions of people on the brink of famine preliminary results in liberia's presidential runoff are expected on thursday former football star george weah says he's on track to be the successor to outgoing president ellen johnson sirleaf but vice president joseph buckeyes camp says it's still too close to call. cruise culture minister has resigned following the pardoning of ex president. salvador to so law was

a fierce opponent of the decision for more he was sentenced to twenty five years for ordering the massacres carried out by military death squads he's currently receiving cancer treatment and was granted a presidential pardon because of his ill health and those are the headlines coming up next on al-jazeera its inside story i'll see in half an hour but by. generous no more the u.s. is cutting the united nations budget by more than a quarter of a billion dollars but why is washington squeezing the u.n. and what's on the long term implications of this cut this is inside story.