the threats this fall opposers at this time on al jazeera as the world's best athletes prepare for the winter olympics the north and south koreans will march under unified flag and compete on a joint women's hockey team to bring you the results at the end the excitement of the seventeen day games the twenty eight teams which are olympics on elm two zero. zero zero. zero . syrian rescue workers struggle to cope as bombs rained down on the rebel held enclave of eastern ghouta for a fourth consecutive day. and . live from london also coming up north korea shows off its ballistic missiles as

a massive military parade one day before the winter olympics kicks off in the south . tension on the streets of bangladesh one is to highlight as iya is jailed for five years for corruption. aftershocks hamper rescue efforts in a building left tilting dangerously after taiwan's earthquake. it was two hundred fifty meters long and weighed as much as sixteen african elephants meet a massive lump of fat or part of it made its way out of london sewers and into a major museum. and for a fourth consecutive day bombs have been raining down on rebel held areas of syria which were designated deescalation zones local media say government and russian as strikes have killed at least fifty seven people in eastern on the edge of damascus

on thursday including children and a medic investigated their attacks there and in italy province since a russian jet was shot down on saturday and not killed more than two hundred people in just four days adding to the bloodshed the u.s. led coalition says it's killed at least one hundred pro fights is in a province who are attacking the syrian democratic forces syria has branded it a war crime momentum droom reports on the latest violence. by thursday the bombing raids in eastern huta had only intensified at least two dozen were carried out and activists say they see no end in sight to this horror from the sky . the night before fires in the town of modest in the month the target of dozens of air strikes. that's despite it being in the northeastern province of idlib a rebel held area and one of syria's so-called deescalation zones whose borders were agreed to by russia turkey and the on bombing raids carried out by russian and

syrian forces have only intensified since a russian warplane was shot down by rebels on saturday when another blazes put out rescue efforts begin anew what we're seeing is an escalation because isis has largely been defeated the. zones were marked out around syria deescalation while the united states and russia were interested in destroying isis now that isis has largely been destroyed these deescalation zones have become up for grabs you see turkey rushing in to wrap up rain in the north or the united states say it's going to stay a long haul in syria it owns twenty eight percent of syrian territory and the syrian regime is trying to grab the remaining rebel parts of syria including. which has been surrounded and bombarded last year. eastern huta near syria's capital damascus is also still in the hands of rebels and like adlib is

also under intense bombardment and dozens of men women and children have been killed in the last four days many residents believe pro-government forces are pushing for a decisive outcome to the war in syria. while the united nations has called for a month long truce to evacuate the wounded that appeal hasn't made a difference even for those accustomed to the carnage of this seemingly endless conflict this most recent them argument has been terrifying. in russia tens of thousands of people have turned out for the funeral of the pilot who was shot down in syria on saturday roman flip off was flying over italy province when he had to bail out of his burning plane and the russian defense ministry says he was surrounded by al qaeda linked fighters when he landed and blew himself up with a hand grenade to avoid being captured when thirty thousand people attended the ceremony in burnish in southwest russia a current situation in syria is being discussed today united nations security

council meeting on diplomats get to james bays is following developments for us in new york so what james can the security council do yet again this issue of humanitarian access and the dire and deteriorating humanitarian situation in syria is on the security council's agenda this will be the third time in about three weeks they've discussed it it was discussed by the emergency relief coordinator mark local twenty second of january and he said then there were steps the u.n. needed to take and the security council could take to get that aid in the security council at that stage couldn't even agree on a statement because russia oppose the draft statement that was proposed by the two humanitarian leads on this the two countries that take the lead on this which is kuwait and the netherlands it's left the security council in a bit of despair i have to say just listen to the words of the french ambassador.

in here yeah we are now back to the darkest period of this conflict with the highest death toll among civilians over the last year. and as we speak the situation is deteriorating by the day in the lead and can go down in particular. the syrian regime keeps bombing and the featuring its own population. ied labs is a new port in the making. well what many countries around the security council table and the u.n. want lauren is a ceasefire are in fact the u.n. has said it would like a cease fire for more than a month to get the humanitarian access through they'll be discussing this behind closed doors but we expect russia to be opposed we would like to see

a cease fire the end the war in syria but for the terrorists not sure there in the government with the use per user is part of that. that was the russian ambassador speaking to us there saying why he does not like the idea of a cease fire this will be discussed in security council consultations we think in the next hour or so james bays live at the u.n. thank you very much. the day before the winter olympics as it's opening ceremony in south korea and major military parades is taking place in north korea into kim jong un told the crowds in the capital pyongyang that his nation is ready to fight to defend its sovereignty but with north koreans ready to compete in the olympics the miter event was more low key than usual and her name reports now from the city of young no one

of the main impact daniel's. this was a patriotic celebration at home and a display of north korea's military might for those a broad. army defends us and keeps us happy it's our people's army just like its name so this army founding day is a great day for all of us thursday was the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the north korean army the military parade in pyongyang comes after the world witnessed advances in the isolated countries weapons program last year leader kim jong un praised what he called quote a world class military with the most powerful force despite punishing saying i would say that it's a show of defiance but it's a soul. defines. government wants to emphasize the. need to remain side. no matter what their fears army parade wasn't broadcast live

on state t.v. and no new high profile weapons were displayed the toned down approach was likely a response to a criticism of the show of military force on the eve of the opening ceremony of the young training olympic. north koreans participating in an unprecedented way at these games south koreans are hoping the only suspense and drama will be during competition. i feel very proud that a global event like the olympics is taking place in south korea kim jong un sr is expected to attend the opening ceremony in which north and south korean athletes plan to march under a unified flag she'll be the first member of the ruling kim family to step foot on south korean soil since the korean war in the one nine hundred fifty s. from government leaders to people on the street there is optimism that that the young chang games will help rebuild the ties between the two koreas it's already

being called the peace olympics natasha game al-jazeera. south korea. one of everybody going on is happy with north korea's conciliatory moves for the winter olympics protests are being taking place outside a venue where north korean orchestra was performing demonstrators set off fireworks and clashed with police they say north korea is using the games as a propaganda tool and it's recent which has a not genuine but there were a relatively small group and the orchestra performance attracted a big crowd of south koreans. former prime minister khaled as iya has been jailed for five years from visiting around two hundred fifty thousand dollars in donations meant for an orphanage trust eldest son for aids were given ten year sentences seventy two year old has served as prime minister three times but a sentence could now bar her from running in december's national elections zia also

faces some thirty other charges including allegations of orchestration political violence she in the current prime minister sheikh hasina rule the country or to alternately since nine hundred ninety one she says the allegations are part of a plot to keep her and her family out of politics or fizzy is jail sentence could trigger political instability. the. protests have already broken out in dhaka and with police firing tear gas at sears supporters the party has called for nationwide demonstrations on friday to protest against the verdict time bitch andriy has been monitoring events in dhaka. from a prime minister and bangladesh nationalist party chairman khaled as the i was brought to this old central jail in a makeshift accommodation basically a daycare center this central jail no longer exists here the central jail has been moved to its god of the city she was brought to by a white s.u.v. accompanied by her dumb ass the cattle chill be kept until from their order now the

defense counsel told me they will file for an appeal with the high court that depends on how soon they get the starting five verdict in their hand that could take weeks or even few days the call don't open till sunday a lot of onlookers the and curious people heavily cordoned off area now we tried to talk to a lot of people didn't want to go on the camera because of heavy security presence and now we know a lot of people out there like or told us the country faces a serious political uncertainty in the year of the election if the ruling party with a smaller party goes into election without the main opposition party critics an expert told us that probably won't be accepted by a majority of the population and the country will go into a turmoil and uncertainty without a inclusive election down the road. still to come on the program israel starts putting a wall along its border with lebanon and risks deeper divisions with its neighbors . one design is pipe dream help people grab the biggest slice of real estate.

you. hello there's been a bit of a warming trend in this part of the world from kazakhstan westward through the caspian to the levant lot of cloud around using well that looks quite wintry but it's not really much of a cloud brings nothing the warmth that came out of eastern africa is coming down through rock to go twenty three in baghdad twenty two in beirut yes it might be white skies not blue and that warms is coming down increasing breeze that's where the gulf tehran's warmed up to nine and those subzero is about five degrees warmer than the day before same is true of tashkent so cold has temporarily disappeared my stay that way for a while as well the cloud by produce a little bit in the caucasus and on the high ground just to the north of terran

otherwise sink surprisingly warm for february and that's true despite that increasing breeze i talked about the should be a dusty what i think going down through kuwait and he sed in saudi but he won't drop the temperatures surprisingly you might think now we see a bit of rain develop recently and there's more to come for places where you might want it and i'm thinking particularly of cape town the streak of cloud on its way in there might produce another twenty or thirty millimeters not a lot but every bit helps biggish as a likely to be further east in south africa. arts

. i read in one of the top stories when i was there in syria russian and syrian government forces are continuing their assault on two regions held by rebels as strikes and shelling of killed more than two hundred people in italy and eastern ghouta in just four days. north korea has held a massive military parade a day before the neighborhood ceremony of the winter olympics leader kim jong un told the crowd his nation would fight to defend its sovereignty.

and thousands of protesters flooded the streets of bangladesh's capital as a court sentenced former prime minister. to five years in prison for corruption. scores of aftershocks are hampering rescue efforts in taiwan as the search continues for survivors of tuesday's earthquake dozens still missing after magnitude six point four tremor killed ten people and injured hundreds in the port city of. bryant has more. this rescue team from tight chong in central taiwan is preparing to go into the building for the first time. chung and his men are used to dealing with earthquakes but this building is in a particularly perilous position. as you can see it's very slanted so we have to take precautions and special gear to ensure our safety other emergency crews from across the island have also joined this operation and local media are camped around

the building anxiously following progress along with many others you know these are put to our knowledge we are struggling against aftershocks and bad weather but we will continue to search but we won't give up. aftershocks have become less frequent but they still occur and alarm sounds each time and eyes turn instinctively towards the teetering structure. that is that inside the tight chong team stop after shock one of them shouts. and deep within the structure all they can do is wait for the transmitter and more steel reinforcement have been brought in to prop up the building it means when the alarm sounds the crews can wait inside until the tremor passes before continuing their work but they know the time for anything five years is running out. a tight young team emerge finding no signs of life and admit the job makes them sometimes fear for their own lives. is the ambassador saw when the

aftershock happens i still get nervous there's nothing you can do but get into a safe corner and pray. if survivors are still to be found alive they're likely to be in more inaccessible parts of this block harder for the rescuers to get to more dangerous for them to work in rob mcbride al-jazeera wiley and taiwan. more than three hundred child soldiers in south sudan have been freed by the united nations of those released by armed groups in the region eighty seven ago the u.n. says it's the first time so many young women have been involved in a release integration program and to help seven hundred child soldiers return to normal life so today we celebrate the first phase of what will be covered by this release of children from groups that south sudan has free for may years but it's just the first thing and unfortunately in other parts of the country

child recruitment i can tell you. the international criminal court has begun preliminary investigations into a case against the president of the philippines are eager to test his accused of crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the deaths of thousands of filipinos during his controversial war on drugs about four thousand people have been killed in the brutal crackdown well the activists say that true death toll is more than three times that number jamil and in a gun has more from manila. well two complaints were filed last year the first one was submitted by a witness his name is ed garment tobacco who claims he once worked for did their day when he was mayor of dubbo city in the southern philippines for decades he says the turret it was responsible in setting up and running the notorious double death squads which run after a death drug syndicates and drug users in the area then now a supplementary complaint was submitted by members of the opposition senator on

phone you're pretty honest and congressman gary alexander asked the i.c.c. to look into the existing so-called war on drugs by the third day which he set up when he was sworn into office in two thousand and sixteen and now handled by the philippine national police now activists say that at least thirteen thousand filipinos have already been killed since that was launched in two thousand and sixteen now the i.c.c. is looking at whether there is enough evidence to chide this case to try the third there and whether the case falls under its jurisdiction now earlier the government spokesperson says that the president welcomes the preliminary examination and that he wants to appear at the i.c.c. to personally insult the process sic user but over the past few months the terror has already threatened to withdraw from the i.c.c. that's not going to be easy because the country his government already has an existing investigation under the i.c.c. and that it will take more than

a year after the un secretary general has received the withdrawal letter before the withdrawal actually takes effect so at this point the government has no choice but to participate with the international criminal court in its examination. israel has begun building a war on its border with lebanon but leaders in lebanon say the structure will threaten security in the already volatile region and tensions been heightened as lebanon has pledged to press ahead with controversial plans for offshore gas and oil exploration so in a hundred reports from a career in southern lebanon. israel is building a wall on its northern border lebanon is warning that it shouldn't pass through its territory yet again there is tension along one of the most volatile borders in the middle east the border was drawn by the united nations almost two decades ago the so-called blue line confirmed israel's withdrawal from southern lebanon but lebanon has concerns on several points one of them is just

a few meters from where construction work is underway. united nations peacekeepers are in charge of monitoring the cease fire and maintaining stability in this region commanders are holding meetings with both sides to ensure there are no misunderstandings or miscalculations no one wants to escalate the situation both parties committed to decision of the still exist and to take full advantage of our coordination and here's a mechanism like the tripartite meeting so. lebanon is accusing israel of threatening stability in the region israel hasn't replied an extraordinary meeting was held by lebanon's higher defense council military and government leaders alike have struck a defiant tone. levanon however didn't say how it will respond but a visiting u.s. envoy told government officials that israel doesn't want an escalation. israel and lebanon are officially in a state of war the two countries don't just have unresolved land border disputes between them they are both claiming an area of sea of around eight hundred square

kilometers. an area believed to be rich in oil and gas and which extends along the edge of the disputed maritime border lebanon says exploratory offshore drilling will start next year despite israeli threats. of the lebanese armed group hezbollah said it stands behind the government and the army tensions are high the rhetoric has been tough but many don't expect an all out war as it's still thinks of hezbollah as the main main threat to its security is theoretically speaking but. there's this balance of power about thirty days this lack of will on both sides of both sides to engage in any sort of war a cease fire has largely held since israel and hezbollah fatah war in two thousand and six but the potential for more conflict is always there so now there is either now or a southern lebanon. ukraine's president has dismissed his chief economic adviser

after an hour's their investigation showed he received millions of dollars that were raised fortunately. only ukraine's largest media group you have made before selling it in twenty thirteen under serious investigative unit uncovered documents show more than one hundred million dollars in payments for the group was raised as a loan on a company linked to president petro poroshenko eight candidates have been officially named as runners in this year's presidential election in russia vladimir putin is expected to win a fourth term in office opinion polls give him a lead of more than sixty percent the opposition leader alexei navalny who's organized mass protests against corruption has been barred from running elections due to be held on march the eighteenth. venezuela's opposition is deciding whether to take part in a presidential election just been set for the twenty second of april in the us mint

is a blow to the opposition which had been lobbying for the vote to be held in june giving it time to choose a candidate to run against the unpopular president nicolas maduro its top two leaders and they kick up realists leopoldo lopez are barred from running thousands of people are meeting in kuala lumpur at the world urban forum to discuss how to make big city life more affordable and hong kong residents are struggling to buy a slice of one most expensive real estate markets in the world many are forced to live in illegally partitioned flats is difficult problem reports. in the summer an oven and in the winter an ice box that's how this mother describes the room she shares with her teenage daughters the sixteen square metre shack is perched on top of a twenty two story building there now where you are the ok daughter nice for the ceiling while it rains one of the windows cracked during the typhoon and we could only cover it with tape and paper. she moved into this illegal structure ten years ago

after her husband died they live under the constant threat of eviction and now the landlord wants to raise the rent from the current five hundred dollars a month we don't have any rent control recitation or any potential for that tendency so that's why for the poor people it's very human rights advocacy groups say more than a quarter of a million people in hong kong live in illegal structures or squalid conditions and every year that number rises by twenty percent. private housing prices have gone up four hundred thirty percent since two thousand and thirteen while the average household income has only increased forty five percent in the past decade which means fewer people can afford property in the city and with the average wage for public housing at around five years there has been a call for a more innovative approach to the crisis this is one suggestion the zero point two pausing is made from readily available concrete pipes its creators say they can be

stacked up and squeezed into vacant spaces in urban areas to provide starter homes another idea being discussed is container homes shipping containers are already used as offices or shops in some areas but these architects say there is another solution one that addresses the fact that only seven percent of the city's land is used for residential purposes industrial uses it is changing no you don't need so many factory buildings it's a big stock of them if you convert that to residential that's going to bring on stream a lot of area for residential very quickly experts say the problem is not a lack of space but government policy unlike other cities here the government owns all the land and leases a limited amount to developers and so property prices drop so does the government's revenue which means there's little incentive to bring down the sky high prices. al-jazeera hong kong as a snapshot of modern city life part of

a massive lump of fat that was clogging up a london sewer has gone display in one of london's museums curators hoping it will give residents second thoughts about what they flushed down the toilet if i went to take a look. historians often say that you can judge a civilization not from what it builds but from what it gets rid of which is why the museum of london has a brand new exhibit on display an extremely strange brace yourself. a latin name cumulus some of called it the beast of white chapel after it was found blocking up an east london sewer to us though it's a funny burg and this is just the tip of it in its entirety it was two hundred fifty meters long the length of two football pitches and weighed one hundred thirty tons sixteen african elephants. so what is it made of well as you can probably

imagine a vast amount of fat to that sprinkling of human excrement and then all the cities indigestible things like summer tiled wet wipes cotton buds things that can easily be broken up on the ground and it smells apparently like the rotting meat of the dirtiest toilet you can imagine it's also highly toxic to this case scenario if you handle that they've been correctly it's down through something like a valve to save we thought about whether we should pay clits or freeze it put in freetown but instead what we've decided is to add try and that has we achieved some of the wrists around the city. but it's not all over for the big east of one chappal although most of it has been carefully destroyed some of it was so rich in fact that it was also rich in energy it's been transferred into bio fuel to power london's number twenty four bus but like all good stories this is a cautionary one because thames water the looks after the drain spends more than

a million and a half dollars every month to keep it strains of blocked most of the budgets going on shifting this mother of all blockages so if there's a lesson to learn from all of this it's be careful what you pour down the drain be careful what you flush because it could really appear to haunt you. parker al-jazeera london. and quick time to round you that we've got our website and you can watch us on there any time live by clicking on the airline like on al-jazeera dot com is the address. one of the main stories are not as there are russian and syrian government forces have continued to bombard two rebel held areas of syria for a fourth consecutive day airstrikes and shelling have killed more than two hundred people and it lives at least i'll go to in just four days both areas are meant to be deescalation zones francis condemned the bombings. in syria we are

now back to the darkest period of this conflict with the highest death toll among civilians over the last year. and as we speak the situation is deteriorating by the day in and. in particular. the syrian regime keeps bombing and beseeching its own population. is a new call in the making. north korea has held a massive military parade a day before its southern neighbor opens the winter olympics. told the crowd that his nation would fight to defend its sovereignty. thousands of protesters are flooding the streets of bangladesh's capital as a court sentenced the former prime minister to five years in prison for corruption

police fired tear gas to disperse them there was convicted in the bestselling or than two hundred fifty thousand dollars in donations meant for an orphanage trust and lawyers say they would appeal against the conviction as she risked being in an audible to run in december's national election. schools of aftershocks are hampering our rescue efforts in taiwan as the search continues for survivors of tuesday's earthquake dozens are still missing after the magnitude six point four shama killed ten people and injured hundreds in the port city of why the un israel has begun to build a controversial wall along its border with lebanon construction work is taking place in a few meters from the disputed area which both countries claim that uneasily to say building the wall is threatening the stability of the region there's also tension over big by lebanon to explore for oil and gas in disputed mediterranean waters

there's the main headlines to stay with us inside story is next on news after year after that i for now. is north korea playing games with the winter olympics athletes from those set to last and you to find the flag of the opening ceremony of the south the red carpet but also on for. young so can the honeymoon last this is inside story.