kurtz well the international list of threats of species this is. dangerous force issues where the slightest error means a one way ticket over the year for use that remember to bore holes are not written on children braving tough conditions facing death every time you turn cigarettes your very words out if you don't gamble with their lives just to live risking it all on down to zero. former military chief of staff is arrested days after announcing he's running for president. hello i'm citizen this is al jazeera life from longer and also coming up the u.n.

says his military offensive in northern syria has displaced finally found some people with many more in need of a u.s. justice department confirms that president trance attorney general has been questioned over alleged collusion with russia plus. guillermo del toro's fantasy drama the shape of water leads the oscar race with thirteen nominations. the last challenge a seen as a potential threat to the re-election of egypt's president fattah el-sisi has been detained by the minute she saw me and then has also called off his campaign to form a minute she chief of staff is the latest in a string of candidates who've been forced to withdraw from the upcoming presidential elections mohammed john june has. oh yourself just days after he

announced his candidacy in his country's upcoming presidential elections egypt's military has arrested former egyptian armed forces chief of staff sami i-man. in a televised statement the military said imam committed violations when he announced his presidential bid without obtaining permits from the armed forces he's also accused of committing forgery to be included in the voter database there are two explanations for this one is that he actually miscalculated the level of support that he has within the military institution and within the security interests so within the politest two sions the second one is he actually had not mistaken a decision he expected to step and this is not the end of the story you told d.c. something a counter reaction on his part or the part of his loyalists so it's still too early to tell i'm an announced his intention to run hours after current president of the fatah has sisi declared his plan to seek a second term that even before sisi made his candidacy official it wasn't just

widely assumed that sisi would prevail in the march elections it was also widely expected that real opposition to sisi was likely to be thin on the ground potential candidates have either already withdrawn or seen their candidacy while. some have blamed an atmosphere of fear to other presidential hopefuls were forced to quit the race earlier this month one of them on what is said that the nephew of former leader anwar sadat said last week he wanted to protect his campaign workers from intimidation or arrest another former prime minister and air force general ahmed shafik had also announced his interest in running but he was placed under house arrest before being deported from the united arab emirates where he'd been living in exile according to his lawyers was detained as soon as he landed in cairo. and then there is egyptian army colonel ahmed consul in december he was sentenced by a military court to six years in prison after he announced his plans to run for

president leaving many to wonder just how serious a threat the military men may have posed to sisi a former military chief of staff. and is somebody with he's a serious contender he was the former chief of staff the deputy head of the supreme council of the armed forces did with body after mubarak and he is much senior in terms of the military command and. so he's somebody who is very well connected with the americans very well connected region in the so he's not someone who was a lightweight anyway during cc's rule which has been marked by a crackdown on freedom of expression human rights groups have been placed under severe restrictions and many critics in the media have been silenced the question now how many more presidential candidates will be added to a seemingly growing list of those being suppressed. so what some analysts background while he was made miniature chief of staff in egypt in two thousand and five and the full malaysia hosni mubarak and the time of the revolution in twenty

eleven he was closely involved in liaison with u.s. officials including james mattis the u.s. defense secretary it was full story signed by former president mohammed morsi in twenty twelve and subsequently formed his party to fight actions egyptian analyst i'm in says and the rest is not expected. mr sandman then gambled and he very clearly lost he should have taken a quick look at the short term history with mr mcmahon saw somebody also belonging to the military finding his way to military tribunals for which he paid with six years of his life as well as mr much of who was in a rather comfortable house arrest at the marriott but it was such a restrictive environment that reuters journalist was impeded from merely interviewing him so the signs were all there but i think that mr and then was

gambling gambling that mr sisi has shown some vulnerability has hammered some supports and there's also been some strife within military circles particularly within intelligence circles and i think he felt he may be able to capitalize on. the u.n. says tank his military offensive against the kurdish wife e.g. in the african region of syria has displaced an estimated five thousand people. the operation which involves shelling and air strikes is now in its fourth day it's believed some eight hundred thousand civilians are living there many of them displaced from other parts of syria some are said to be too vulnerable to flee activists say at least twenty three civilians have been killed as well as thirty eight kurdish fighters and forty three rebels fighting on the turkish side afrin is

surrounded by turkish and free syrian army forces to the north east and west and syrian government forces to the south it's believed most of those fleeing are traveling through government help territory to an enclave inside aleppo city that's controlled by kurdish forces but the syrian observatory for human rights is accusing government forces of blocking them stephanie decker has the latest from antakya in the turkish syrian border. the village of how man which is now been announced at the f.s.a. have taken a significant why because it lies very close to the turkish border in the area just close to where we are just a further east of a hyundai and it does play into the narrative that we heard from the turkish prime minister just a few days ago that their plan is to establish what he called up to a thirty kilometer security zone pushing the y.p. gee away from its borders it has been a fluid fight however on the ground there are incidents when villages have been taken by the free syrian army and turkish forces and you know

a day or so later retaken by the white b.g. but of course turkey has superiority when it comes to the sky they're flying jets they're bombing from the air and that of course carries with it a huge advantage. and at least twenty one people suffered breathing problems after an alleged chemical attack on a rebel held enclave near damascus rebels and the syrian observatory for human rights are accusing the syrian government of being behind the attack they say white smoke was released after syrian government forces fired a barrel of rockets into duma a similar attack was reported there on january the thirteenth causing seven cases of suffocation duma is in eastern guta which has been besieged by government forces since twenty seen four hundred thousand people. only yesterday more than twenty civilians most of them children were victims of the purge chlorine gas attack. the recent attacks and the really serious concerns that bashar the

syrian regime may be continuing its use of chemical weapons against its own people . whoever conducted the. rusher ultimately burrs responsibility for the victims of this and countless other serious targeted with chemical weapons since russia became involved in syria. the u.s. justice department has confirmed that attorney general jeff sessions was questioned last week over alleged collusion between donald trump's presidential campaign and russia sessions was interviewed for an inquiry led by former f.b.i. director robert mueller is believed to be the first time a prayer member of president chavez cabinet has been questioned in the choir it chum past described the accusations of collusion as fake news and a witch hunt joins me now live from the white house just our significant is that they are now questioning the attorney general. well donald trump is playing down the significance he was asked about it just in the last hour or so in the oval

office by reporters whether or not he was concerned by what jeff sessions might have told investigators he said he's not concerned at all but many others in washington think this is a pretty significant step in terms of the investigation after all jeff sessions is a key witness has key insights in terms of this wider russia pro because he was the head of the foreign policy team on the presidential campaign for donald trump he was also deeply involved in the firing your decision to fire james coley the former f.b.i. director so the president has been pretty upset that he decided to recuse himself from the overseeing the russian vesta geisha in suggesting perhaps sessions should have done more to protect him there's no question that this is significant because this is certainly getting ever closer to donald trump you have to remember just since october there have been four aids or advisors that have been very close to donald trump that have been question of those two of them have pled guilty to

charges and as you say we're at cabinet level now i think with fifteen different members of the trumpet of the station being questioned it don't really like the investigation is moving the permit if you like do you think will be next. well that is the million dollar question and fact when reporters have asked that of the president he's given four different answers he said yes he said no he said maybe and as of january tenth he said we'll see what happens this is donald trump he'd like to keep us of poets of guessing it off ballots but certainly this is a concern for donald trump because this is a lot of pressure in terms of those around him who have been answering questions and you have to remember too that president trump so lawyer said in fact that this is an investigation that should be wrapping up by the end of twenty seventeen but now we're into january and the questions are not only still continuing but they seem to be intensifying many firing of. the white house. and the u.s.

state of kentucky a teenage boy has opened fire inside a rule high school killing two of his classmates nineteen people have been injured after the attacker opened fire and hundreds of students around for their lives a fifteen year old suspect has been arrested it's the first fatal school shooting in the u.s. this year and he will still to come on the program including a deadline for elections in crisis torn venezuela but who would oppose president i do have. found a membrane humus a carrier of the man known as the father of south african child. welcome back now as we look at weather conditions across europe we've seen this area of snow across turkey gradually dying away so improving situation here we've

got quite conditions across southeastern areas generally fine around the central part of the mediterranean but across more western areas we've got a frontal system pushing in pretty mild conditions and also some fairly heavy rain that frontal system pushing through the u.k. and northern parts of france during the course of wednesday night through into thursday behind it slightly cooler brighter conditions likely for the rain eventually pushing down into the iberian peninsula has had a crossover side of the mediterranean weather conditions cherry not looking too bad across western areas further towards the east this circulation of low pressure is bring you want to showers on to the coast of more eastern parts of libya and also for egypt too but cairo should be a largely dry temperatures dropping away as we head on through into thursday with just the chance of a shower turning up here now to head into central parts of africa weather conditions are generally looking pretty good seven in the showers across the pond still a few showers across congo and towards ugandan towns in the west africa are looking

dry and fine plenty of sunshine expected here aka sunny highs of thirty one and it should be a fine day in lagos nigeria the maximum of thirty two. personal stories of lebanese villages on the border with israel the line runs through this period their daily struggles what about when we go get emergency forces stop us when we go there they're sure that us how to survive and peaceful protests through them in a place of danger means defines and resistance at the same time it's means not for knife and freedom life on the edge of cross border tension lebannon living on the blue line at this time on al jazeera.

let's get a reminder of the top stories here on al-jazeera egyptian presidential candidate. has been detained by the military and has called off his campaign he was seen as the only potential threat to the reelection of abdel fattah el-sisi thousands of people are fleeing fighting in the northern syrian region of africa and on the fourth day of turkish shelling and the ground offensive and it's been revealed that u.s. attorney general jeff sessions was questioned last week over alleged collusion between donald trump's presidential campaign and russia. u.s. vice president might pence has visited the western wall in occupied east jerusalem on the second and final day of his visit to israel the wall in the old city is one of the holiest sites in judaism pedants was shown around the site by a rabbi earlier in the day he met israeli presidential ruben rivlin and toured the

holocaust memorial. and palestinians have held a general strike over the vice president's visit and the u.s. decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel shops transport and public services were closed across the occupied west bank and east jerusalem in protest the ruling party fatah calls for the strike saying it was the beginning of a peaceful struggle against the moves our forces has more from occupied east jerusalem. well after his speech to the israeli parliament the knesset on monday tuesday saw mike pence and his host really doing something of a victory lap given just how much support there has been for the tenor of that speech which was seen as incredibly supportive of israel without really any other side of that coin and there was very very little in terms of any kind of appeal to the israelis to change any course of action in terms of their relationship with the palestinians or anything else it was seen as

a speech almost unqualified in its support of israel so when meeting the israeli president reagan rivlin mr rivlin called mr pence a mench a man of integrity and honor mike pence in his comments during that meeting talking about jerusalem once again being the capital of israel as far as united states is concerned very much the watchwords of his visit so far he's been repeating that phrase many times saying that he still saw a possibility of progress in the peace process with the palestinians based on that fact of course for the palestinian perspective that is no longer a prospect the u.s. being a mediator or broker in the peace process there was a statement to that effect from saberi cad the long time negotiator and now chair of the executive committee of the palestine liberation organization mr pence then went on to visit the holocaust memorial yet vashem with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and then came to occupied east jerusalem to visit the western

wall the holiest site which jews can pray at in jerusalem and he said that that visit was inspiring he now returns united states with the fulsome praise of his israeli hosts here but also the even more certain condemnation of the palestinians who now say it with even more certainty that the united states cannot be part of the process going forward. that's evidence where they where the pro-government constitutional assembly ordered presidential elections to be held by april asserts president nicolas maduro is expected to seek reelection but it's unclear who's on the divided opposition will stand against the ongoing crisis surrounding a lack of basic foodstuffs staple goods and medicines is likely to be one of the major issues in america this eleusinian joins us now from the chilean capital are a group of last numerical nations have been meeting what are you hearing from the foreign ministers indeed the venezuelan opposition about this or that syria and why why is it such a serious announcement. so it is it has certainly has

a lot of people very worried beginning with the venezuelan opposition which has been trying to convince the government with the help of regional neighbors to carry out their transparent and international supervised elections which they believe could not take place before the end of the year that it would take at least that long to set up the right conditions however a day the government or rather the constituent assembly which is now the supreme body of venezuela which has which bypasses the democratically elected national assembly has said they're going to do it in less than two months and going to live this man who was a well known opposition leader now in exile says that this is what google had planned all along he says and this will consolidate the dictatorship in that country and in fact he even told al jazeera that he is calling for what he calls a humanitarian intervention by the u.n. or any other international group meanwhile the foreign ministers gathered here have been taken completely off guard and they are meeting at this hour still negotiating

trying to figure out what to do given that the venezuelan foreign minister who's not taking part in these talks but who is still in chile may we speculate be talking to them at this moment let's hear what the foreign minister of paraguay had to say after the news broke. this is good publicity were to be something that can be done of course we know through the national courts if we just hear somebody we don't recall my name. in the decision to take it very soon over three really key we ratify for us the legal institution the national authority to say i'm just reading our why that's just breaking saying that there was concern that he will indeed stand if the sessions part requests him to do so which i'm guessing is a given is there anything that can be done to stop the venezuelan government and do the international community can they do anything. all right precisely that is

certainly what the venezuelans who are opposed to this and many people in the international community are discussing at this hour as i said they were caught off guard but they are looking we're searching for ways to increase pressure on them other little government and there is speculation that he needing that was set up for next monday of the so-called with representatives of the venezuelan government and the opposition these are the ones who have been negotiating some sort of of a sort of an important one for a way out of the impasse before the political crisis in venezuela that was supposed to take place in santa domingo some say that maybe what the government is doing is trying to ride there from a strong position to negotiate but if that is not the case the international community clearly still will have to up the ante slapping on more sanctions we don't know what or maybe they will begin to listen to people like and don't you know this man who is calling for stronger action not just words many things to see

anyone bringing us the latest on the presidential election will stay in south america in brazil averred expected on wednesday in former president. lula da silva is appeal against corruption. if the prison sentence is a held the seventy two year old's hopes of making a comeback in this year's presidential election with a major setback the former leader who is known across the country as lula has been leading early polls against his possible challenger the far right politician jr well son naro to raise a bow is life is now in porto alegre. thousands of supporters already where you are one of the demonstrating about. all of this is that right now. we. very take. you to. that. right now our. soldiers.

are being. banner it's actually going to be here they're calling take this to the point when you get it on wednesday to say that you cannot be detained and you are not should not be tempted to leave not going to be expending i've been very sick to bring your leg but people are coming here and these people are not going to be addressing the supporters are going to be a company also my former friend sitting beside him said that as long as you say the night he hasn't made it and he won't take it you see this as a makeshift but did seem to be the real reason behind the feeling that he. was. really crucial towards the presidential election in october they said this verdict is going to be.

leaving work. and he. took a. step in. using my baby can feel. like ok to raise i am going to stop you that is doing a sterling after trying to speak over an incredible amount of noise behind you but thanks very much for making it giving is the latest i think we've got the general gist. indian prime minister narendra modi has warned against threats to global civilization and he's opening address at the world economic forum in switzerland at the center of this year's summits is the debates over the growing gap between rich and poor u.s. president donald trump will close the gathering of seventeen would lead us on thursday jonah hall has more from davos. it's gridlock in davos just as the world economic forum's annual meeting hot stop high in the swiss alps a huge dump of snow has brought things to

a standstill it doesn't matter how important you are there's little to do but wait . no there isn't anything like this before i think so i like it but it's a bit of a struggle does not only a small. i. use a i probably graphic the last time the snow drifts were this high dive oss was coincidentally also the last time a u.s. president visited davos that was bill clinton well with an avalanche warning in place this year is also bracing for the arrival of donald j. trump was the fire on the protests have already begun ahead of his arrival on thursday this was the scene was europe and in davos itself president trump may not get the warmest welcome the u.s. announced new import tariffs this week angering china and south korea and illustrating trumps america first policy of economic nationalism and protectionism

anathema in a global club that believes in free trade as the indian prime minister pointed out in his opening address bar set some are darvish many societies and countries are becoming more and more focused on themselves it feels like the opposite of globalization the negative impact of this kind of mindset cannot be considered less dangerous than climate change or terrorism that was a thinly veiled slight by the leader of the world's fastest growing economy aimed at the leader of the world's largest economy what must it trumps response on friday was the week's most anticipated event during a whole al-jazeera davos. a volcanic eruption in central japan has caused an avalanche at a ski resort killing one person the volcano showered rocks on skiers injuring more than a dozen some of them critically six members of japan's self-defense force were trapped

by the avalanche as they took part in a training session. the man known as the father of south african justice title counsel seventy eight year old hugh masekela became a legend around the world for his anti apartheid songs and campaigned to free nelson mandela turning a page reports from johannesburg. hugh masekela is trumpet playing propelled him to global stardom he spent three decades living in exile in the united states we he campaigned against the apartheid regime back home in south africa. nelson mandela sent me a. letter to liberals. smuggled out of paul's more prison and he just leg and carry you know with the music school with the recordings and he knew everything in my children's names and knew my wife's name

well is going to school with my wife's. ford and it just reached me with all this. i was blown away i went to the. master killer collaborated with the likes of harry belafonte and paul simon is instrumental grazing in the grass was an international number one hit in one nine hundred sixty eight. and joined us in their first band together as teenagers he would like people to remember him first. and then his contribution. in this. that was worth being selfish and things to himself the successes you successes were due to the people the people whose stories. you know masa keller

returned home soon after nelson mandela was finally freed in one thousand nine hundred ninety after twenty seven years in prison this part of johannesburg new town is synonymous with south africa's jazz scene hugh masekela was a regular in the clubs that dot the streets his music affected young and old he was one of my idols and i would have loved to meet him. at some point in my life now that he's gone it's really depressing instead for me because i'll never get the chance to tell him how he inspired us as south africans in upcoming musicians must continue to perform on stage well into the sea than to sharing his lifelong passion with adoring fans for as long as he could. until he lost a decade long battle with prostate cancer. tanya page al-jazeera johannesburg. now

the oscar nominations are out so i heard of a ceremony on march the fourth that will be watched closely for how the academy reacts to recent scandals in the movie industry the film picking up the most nominations overall was yemo del toro's fantasy drama the shape of water with thirteen including best picture and director. christopher plummer is nominated for best supporting actor in all the money in the world he took on the role of john paul getty for reshow just two months ago after kevin spacey was dropped for sexual misconduct allegations therefore get much more news features and video on our website just click on al-jazeera dot com. now time for another look at the main stories the last challenge is seen as a potential threat to the re-election of egyptian president of the fighter r.c.c.

has been detained by the military and has called off his campaign for a minute she chief of staff some formally declared his intention to run as a presidential candidate on saturday the military says and then hasn't the correct permits and committed forgery to be included in the vote to date about this. thousands of people are fleeing fighting in the northern syrian region of a free and made turkish shelling and the ground operation took his offensive which also involves air strikes is now in its fourth day it's believed some eight hundred thousand civilians are living there many of them displaced from other parts of syria the u.s. secretary of state says the syrian government may still be using chemical weapons rex tillerson says twenty one people who suffered breathing problems in a rebel held unclaimed near damascus on monday were victims of a suspected chlorine gas attack only yesterday more than twenty civilians most of them children were victims of the per chlorine gas that recent attacks and

really serious concerns that bashar assad's syrian regime may be continuing its use of chemical weapons against its own people who were conducted the attacks russia ultimately burrs responsibility for the victims in this and countless other syria targeted with chemical weapons since russia became involved in syria. the u.s. justice department has confirmed the ten sony general jeff sessions was questioned last week over alleged collusion between donald trump's presidential campaign and russia it's believed to be the first time a member of president chums cabinets is being questioned in the inquiry led by former f.b.i. director robert mueller. to say the vice president mike pence has visited the western wall in occupied east jerusalem during the second and final day of his visit to israel the wall in the old city is one of the holiest sites in judaism.

that was the news coming up next the stream goes live to the sundance film festival i'll be back in about twenty five minutes with another quick bulletin of news. and for me ok and you are in the stream where we are continuing our week of special shows from the sundance film festival today how the syrian refugee settling into the united states.