really for many of us a few showers i think around the coast of costa rica is stretching up through nicaragua but for most of us it should be dry in the north you can see that little area of cloud and rain there and over north america it really is looking pretty wild over the next few days lots of heavy rain and a lot of snow as well as this weather system here is still pulling itself together lots of wet weather but of wintery weather for the northeast as well. the weather sponsored by qatar. this is al jazeera. hello i'm sam is a band this is the news hour live from dar coming up in the next sixty minutes turkish military helicopter shot down in syria during an operation against kurdish

fighters. an escalation in syria's war an israeli fighter jet crashes while targeting a rainy and positions inside syria. north korea's leader uses be a limp dick backdrop to invite south korea's president to pyongyang. in sports sweden's show a color when it's the first cold winter olympics color taking the song title it's five goals up for grabs on day one of the. turkish military helicopters being shot down in syria during an operation against kurdish fighters turkey's president rajapaksa about of the way and says it happened near the southern had type province he's warning the perpetrators will pay a heavy price turkey has been battling syrian kurds across the border in the region since last month's goes straight now jim he joins us from the turkish city of

gaziantep near the border with syria so we're hearing that claims of responsibility starting to trickle through what do we know at this point jamal. was a turkish military helicopters or mention that was downed initially or was it wasn't clear whether it was downed actually or over syrian airspace or indeed on. the talker side of the border there has been some video that has emerged online and we haven't been able to verify it exactly however according to turkish officials namely the prime minister benignly oldring he said that two of his country's soldiers were killed in the downing of that helicopter obviously this is part of the military operations which started roughly two weeks ago that is the. military operation titled olive branch which was an attempt by the talk show army to essentially root house with the y p g that's the kurdish militia that operates on the syrian side of the talkers border and has been attacking targets or soil for

some time now turkey says that it's linked to the p.k. k. that's the kurdistan workers party and outlawed group which are in car consider this to be a terrorist organization so since this operation was began this army we have over twenty talker soldiers who have been killed we have at least seven civilians who have been killed by rockets fired by the white p.g. and on the other hand there are reports of at least a hundred and fifty plus y p g fighters being killed there are claims that the turkish military has also killed civilians claims that sort of keep strongly denies in fact it says that the reason why this operation is taking longer than it should is because it's trying to exert all the possible means to ensure the safety of civilians there's also been video that the that shows why p.g. another kurdish groups bussing guinn civilians through the city of our which is the main targets of the cyclist operations they claim that they are being used as human

shields that is the target in the y.p. g. obviously say that this is a natural response by the kurds or citizens to protect what they consider to be their city so it is escalating day by day so i mean all right jim out of shales validating us on one situation from gaza and tapping you know hours earlier that an israeli fighter jet crashed near the border. with syria now israel says it believes it was shot down by syrian government forces although that still unconfirmed earlier israel reported downing in a rainy and drone that was launched from a syrian base in the homs desert which israel says strayed into its territory also on confirmed because iran dismissed that as ridiculous shortly after that these reilley f. sixteen crashed in northern israel the jets had been targeting the military base in homs syria says it shot down the plane in response to what it's calling an israeli act of aggression both pilots ejected and parachuted into northern israel one was

severely injured though in a few moments then a whole lot of world joins us live from beirut but first let's cross over to west jerusalem with emraan hands a last time we spoke to him ron there's a bit of conflicting claims and signals on this one where do we stand now are the israeli raids over. well the operation is ongoing but we haven't heard of any fresh attacks from anywhere inside syria in the last hour or so but the official line is that the operation is ongoing and they're also not commenting on what brought down the israeli f. sixteen fighter jets however across social media here the blame is being placed squarely in the hands of iran saying that iran is a big problem for the israelis and has be dealt with very quickly now to the iranians have actually reacted to issued

a statement it says shooting down the israeli jet is a clear message the days of carrying out attacks inside syria a go on any new attack will be confronted iran stands by syria against any foolish move by israel so there's a lot of strong reaction coming out from iran there's been about one hundred israeli airstrikes inside syria against various targets including hezbollah convoys and the like what we saw in the last four few a few hours over today is attacks against what they call the iranian targets and against syrian defense batteries twelve in total. all right we'll leave it. on we can continue this question is get some more middle east reaction on this joins us from beirut we know has been laws been speaking out on this one what's the message there. oh yes hezbollah the lebanese armed group allied to iran their media unit issuing

a statement but this time around it was not signed by hezbollah but signed by syria's allies so iran you know hezbollah the iranian revolutionary guard all of them issuing this statement saying that any syrian aggression or an aggression against the syrian government or the syrian or syria will be met with course so clearly a very tough response and as iran was mentioning the iranians as well saying there is a message that as of today you know the downing of the jet is a message that you know they can't fly over syria and hit targets in syria without going unpunished so harsh rhetoric really it was a serious incident a serious confrontation but for now it seems both sides have taken a step back they've given each other messages we know what israel's red lines are it said this for some time now it will not allow to iran and its allies to entrench itself militarily in syria now syrian government and its allies have their message of their own their own red line stop hitting us now russia in the russian position

is quite interesting saying that the syrian territorial integrity needs to be respected and we all know that israel has been hitting syria for some time now and the only reason why you can do that and fly unchallenged in syrian airspace is because it has the russian approval so now russia calling for restraint and you know saying that syria's territorial integrity should be respected behind the scenes in all of this is there a dispute over the idea of an attempt to create a sort of zone area in the south of syria where iranian troops would not be able to deploy. this is what israel wants it is what not on yahoo the israeli prime minister has been discussing discussing with the russian president vladimir putin for some time now a buffer zone in the south of syria keep those iranian forces away from the border at least forty to fifty kilometers from the border now there was a cease fire agreement which was announced last summer announced by the russian president and the american president donald trump saying that this cease fire will

take effect in southern syria it was a way to appease the israelis but nothing ever said the agreement did not address the iranian military ambitions so they are still unhappy with this agreement we heard the israeli ambassador to russia saying that you know we would like to see hezbollah and the other forces move away from the border so this is what israel wants and we'll get to it is hard to say but clearly the iranians putting on a very tough face tough rhetoric coming from the iranians. from beirut and the russian government says it's concerned by the latest developments in syria moscow is calling on all sides to exercise restraint and respect syria's sovereignty rejecting any involvement in dismissing claims it sent a drone into israel is ridiculous and says iran only provides military advice to syria meanwhile the iran back lebanese group has explained warning any aggression

towards the syrian government will be met with force the u.n. human rights office says syria and russian air strikes have killed two hundred thirty people in some of the walls worst violence over this past week the u.n. high commissioner for human rights says some of those strikes may constitute war crimes as a brother of the same says his office has received toxic agents may be used last sunday in the rebel held town of. province. there under modi has ramped up the first official visit by an indian prime minister to the palestinian territory he's met palestinian president mahmoud abbas a trip to the west bank as part of a three nation tour to strengthen ties with the middle east earlier he laid a wreath from the tomb of former palestinian leader yasser arafat and smith has more from ramallah it's a very short visit three hours he flew over took a helicopter from the jordanian side landed here in the occupied west bank and is

leaving in about an hour or so time now from the indian perspective this is a visit aimed they said helping build up palestinian capacity in the health technology and education areas there investing in a technology park here in motors also opening a school that the indians have helped fund it's a very different to the relationship from from the early relationship decades ago between the indians and the palestinians the unions were the first to record the first non arab state back in one nine hundred eighty eight to recognize the state of palestine and then they viewed their relationship through the sort of colonial prism the indians are being colonized by the british and they saw the palestinians as being colonized by zionists palestinian territory being colonized by zionists so then there was a lot more solidarity today the indian relationship is much more pragmatic israel is what really matters to india forty one percent of israel's arms exports go to

india so it's that that's important but modi has decided to separately visit the west bank to show that they still believe there is a sort of special relationship if you like between the palestinians and the indians can be a tender is an associate fellow at the observer research foundation he says the palestinian situation does not resonate with the indians as it once did. i think with this music visit more these basically sort of really creating an old indian policy before more they got elected. his constituency specifically in india. is very pro israel so i think this is a continuation a sort of a bond of support that modi is showing that he's not going to be changing india historic stance on on on the palestine territory and that. india is going to continue and support. the palestine cause but this is also

a soft hyphenation between how india approaches israel and how india approaches approaches palestine so india israel knows that is what india stands on palestine is and palestine knows what is an investor and some israelis and they are both respective of this position by new delhi without actually dragging new delhi into the internal affairs of the of the conflict but from a very public discourse perspective. within india and the cause of palestine does not resonate as strongly as it perhaps used to at a point of time. then wilson is very much more interested today in economic prosperity domestic security than be troubled by what is happening happening in palestine. plenty more still ahead on the news hour including a german city divided the decision to no longer house refugees has people up in arms on both sides of the divide plus. it is our president who does not harm the consciousness. and pressure on the philippines president to stop china's military

expansion on disputed islands. and it's for why the world's best plans hockey players for them to go. on our top story now the escalation in syria's war as we said earlier these really army says iran's responsible for a severe violation of israeli sovereignty what exactly is iran's role then in the syrian conflict or the iran is a staunch financial supporter of syrian president bashar al assad's government it's also been supplying military advisors and special forces on the ground it's believed iran has armed and trained hezbollah fighters from lebanon who are fighting alongside syrian government forces in the west israel is concerned about the iranian president's near the israeli occupied golan heights it doesn't want any

is iranian expansion towards its own border so far. as a political commentator and professor of media news faculty joins us from tehran good to have you with us first of all what you make of suggestions that iran was trying to test the boundaries of its influence by flying a drone into israeli airspace. hello and thanks for having me well as a matter of fact the joint operations room that's run by iran syria russia and hizbullah in syria and in the war against terrorism in there they have stressed that their drone base at the four in central holmes province in central syria has come under attack by the ease release and they have rejected these really allegations that they're drone was flying into israeli aerospace stressing that

they're drone and never come close even to the borders with syria with israel basically speaking this is nothing new israel has been you know raiding theory and facilities military facilities in various parts of the country for the last several years that the country has been gauged in war on various militant groups they've been giving medical treatment on their soil in occupied golan heights to the end nostra and other militant groups they've been giving free pass to them to move from northwestern syria to southwest through the israeli territory they have been. raiding syrian forces as soon as they win a battle in contact right and likely bring it back. we can make out the iranians and allegations about them having a relationship with with the former front but when come back to the point. about

iran's position in this does iran see an opportunity perhaps what due to the pullback of some of the opposition forces opposed to the syrian regime that it has an opportunity to perhaps try and extend its zone of influence. you know iran and its allies in syria they are looking at this story this single incident in for them as well as similar incidents in the past as a serious provocation by the israeli regime because now the war the proxy war is coming to an end this war of attrition after seven years as the israelis are trying to weaken syrian military capability by escalating tensions we just saw that the americans also staged an attack very wild attack on syrian troops for the third or fourth times just a couple of days ago and killed tens of syrian soldiers it appears that now that

the war is coming to an end syria israel and the united states they are trying to escalate the situation in order to you know prepare the ground for their scheme that's partitioning syria one part is done by israel that aims to settle some hundreds of thousands of refugees in southwestern syria on the golan heights and force this theory and government and its allies to step back from those areas in the south working theory in order to give some room to various militant groups to at minister this kind of camp in there in order to drive events gets in eastern and western can i interact and create a buffer zone in the region so a rainy and are seeing this as part of the larger scheme run by tel aviv and washington in pursuit of their goals in syria to partition the country and lay

a siege on the theory and government on the damascus government really that now thanks for analysis on that. north korea's leader kim jong un has extended a rare invitation to the south korean president and jay and to visit pyongyang moon hosted kim sister for talks and solve the sidelines of the winter olympics natasha lame has more from guns. in the presidential blue house in the capital seoul relations between the two koreas continued to thaw the meeting had two firsts kim jong is the first member of the ruling family to cross into the south since the korean war the sister of the north korean leader came with the first ever invitation kim jong un is asking south korean president moon jay in to come to pyongyang at a convenient time soon little know it's key president moon said early talks between north korea and the united states are essential to improve relations north korea to

be more proactive to move forward to have a dialogue with the united states. it's unclear when that might happen the u.s. and north korea have rebuffed moves attempts so far if an interesting meeting transpires it will be the first time kim jong un has met with the south korean president since assuming power in twenty eleven the last time leaders from the north and south met was eleven years ago during a summit in p.r. . because of all the global attention i believe reunification will be brought forth the government is making efforts and i think people are rooting for it organizers of the olympics say they've been moved by the diplomatic breakthrough it was quite on the story a moment. and something that as you know the i.o.c. has been generally working for since probably two thousand and fourteen.

and you know i think it shows it opens opens the door maybe just a little bit. critics say they doubt that door will alternately open much more pronounced there is hope that the winter olympics is the catalyst for a reboot in intercourse and relations natasha going to aim elders era south korea one of the most famous faces niland is retiring gerry adams was considered spokesman for the irish republican army in these thirty year in its thirty year war to end british rule of northern ireland which in fein leader is being replaced by mary lou mcdonald who has no links to the conflict barbara joins us now from dublin so take us through what happens and what we know about the person who will now lead the party. gerry adams is here already in front of several thousand policy officials and activists were expecting mary lou

mcdonald to be speaking in the next hour hour and a half now under gerry adams his leadership he's brought the party to the point where it's the largest nationalist party in northern ireland involved in the power sharing government there but he's also made great strides in the republic of ireland as well and his successor is a grass roots politician from the republic of ireland so a lot of people are pointing to about as an important signal of where the party's going many of his critics both north and south of the border both of adams's critics will tell you that despite all of the praise he's got over the years for his role in the peace process he's never actually fully accounted for his role in those years of violence that killed thousands of people. over the years gerry adams has been praised as a brave political leader and condemned as a secret terrorist commander the boy from belfast became active in northern ireland

civil rights movement in the one nine hundred sixty s. . following the arrival of british troops the province descended into decades of sectarian conflict the troubles. in the one nine hundred seventy s. as events like the bloody sunday shooting of catholic protesters by the british army hit the headlines adams was very sickly and turned and arrested he always denied being a member of the provisional ira the irish republican army but many people on both sides of the border believe that's a nonsense in one thousand nine hundred three out of his became president of the ira's political wing shin fein that same year osting stack's father a chief prison officer was shot dead by the ira he later met adams trying to find out who ordered the killing all the evidence points to the fact that he had a leadership role i mean there's a new autobiography out on him and it's quite obvious from that even that the way when he was in tears at the all the prisoners there had a parade past him every day and saluted them and you don't do that to someone

that's just in the political arm of the organizations of this week soon though gerry adams was arguing that shin fein had more to gain by contesting elections he want to seat in the u.k. parliament in westminster but never took it up all the while the ira's bombing campaign continued to kill people not just in northern ireland but on the mainland to those whose tools are bombs and bullets. your way is not the right way in one thousand nine hundred eight protracted talks led to what's known as the good friday agreement setting up a power sharing executive at stormont as well as the decommissioning of weapons and the early release of paramilitary prisoners while shin fein's martin mcguinness went on to become deputy first minister of northern ireland adams took a back seat briefly in twenty eleven he contested and won a seat in the republic of ireland part of a deliberate shift in the focus for shin fein strategy as became becoming involved in decision making on both sides of the border in the north they quickly establish

themselves as the dominant political party and have been the dominant nationalist party for a generation now but in the south they needed to build up from a very low base under gerry adams his leadership shin fein has become not only the largest nationalist party in northern ireland but the third largest group here in the irish doyle parliament and they're hoping to be in government here in the not so distant future when martin mcguinness was buried gerry adams carried his coffin so too did mary lou mcdonald who officially becomes shin feigns new leader on saturday her challenge now is to broaden the party's appeal to a younger generation that never knew the troubles. dean leaves big shoes to be filled will the political landscape ever be the same without him people must be wondering. well no i think everyone's expecting some sort of a change mary lou mcdonald herself said she grew up watching gerry adams on

television she says she won't fill his shoes but she's brought her over and a lot of people are making a lot of comments about not only the fact that her deputy the new deputy leader of the party will be michelle and neal who leads the party in the in northern ireland at the moment but the fact that they do represent a younger generation marilou mcdonald is forty eight compared with gerry adams who's sixteen oil there are a lot of young people in the audience here today but there are real challenges in northern ireland getting the power sharing structures back on track after a least a year of them being frozen and in the republic of ireland there have been problems internally thank you thank you so much you've made very much the move is expected to stick to one thing and that will be the push for a united ireland she's not saying that it will happen soon but it so the hearts of everything on both sides of the border the parking lot was right. there for now the day in barber. or it's time to catch up with some weather some cold weather right

stuff that's right loads and loads the snow particularly if you're in chicago let's take a look at the pictures that we've got some video from chicago showing that the snow that we've seen there it caused one thousand three hundred flights to be canceled public schools were canceled as well just due to the heavy snow there some places reporting up to thirty centimeters of snow that's easily enough to bring problems with traffic and transport there isn't it so lots of heavy snow from this massive area of cloud here are the problem with this system now it's going to tap into the moisture around the gulf of mexico so here's the system digging its way southwards that you can see more cloud in the sea. well the speeding up from the gulf of mexico it's filled with lots and lots of moisture and so we're going to see some very heavy downpours around the eastern parts over the next few days with this system though pushing up so much moisture from the south where she going to see the snow be chased away so it's going to turn a little bit milder for many of us but it's also still going to be rather wet so

this system then works its way eastwards is still going to get some snow for now in the eastern parts and then as we head through into sunday yet more wintry weather but if that gradually moves away what you'll see is the temperatures aren't as low as they have been so new york eleven that's not too bad for behind a cold front and then further south plenty of heavy rain here and still twenty eight there sammy in miami. stay with the woman thanks steph still ahead on al jazeera breaking barriers in sri lanka a record number of women campaign to be elected plus. we'll meet the ocean and he was a teacher for a week in the army killing them and saving the shark activists try to put an end to a chinese tradition dating back thousands of years. i call the basketball legend turning up the heat on his return from the team way made his name.

what makes this movement this era we're living through so unique this is really an attack on itself is a lot of misunderstanding the distortion isn't what free speech is supposed to be about the context it's hugely important we have a right to publish if you have a duty to be offensive or provocative whatever it is people do setting the stage for a serious debate. up front at this time on al-jazeera. with bureaus spanning six continents across the globe. al-jazeera has correspondents live in green the stories they tell.

you sirrah in world news. come back you're watching our time to recap the headlines to turkish soldiers have died when their helicopter was shot down during an operation against kurdish fighters in syria turkey's president roger pobre the one says it happened near the sultan had type problems he's warning the perpetrators will pay a heavy price. early and israeli fighter jet crashed near the border with syria israel believes it was most likely shot down by syrian government forces syria says

it was responding to an israeli act of aggression. and modi has made their first official visit by an indian prime minister to the palestinian territory the trip to the west bank is part of a three nation tour to strengthen ties with the middle east. for now on one of our top stories these raby fighter jet which crashed near syria al-jazeera senior political analyst mark one bashar joins us from london good to have you with us on this you know it seems every hour new details are coming out on this do you see this going further or is this the end or as far as it will escalate. well you know if you hear the official statements there's there seems to be interest in the restraining you know the various forces of escalation or the dynamics of escalation certainly we've seen press reports about israel asking the united states and russia to intervene to ensure that no further escalation because

in a so far as israel is concerned its last retaliation against every mian syrian. targets the twelve of them within syria is enough to respond to the downfall of its fighter jet but of course you know if there's one thing to take away for the last few days few weeks few months yes few years from the crisis in syria from the back of syria is that everyone lies so everyone about this particular crisis over the last several hours of light this really is of lied about why they've done what they've done the iranians have lied whether they are or not present and assisting and wanting to confront israel and of course the syrian regime lies and. the russians you know they're the ones who have been mediating presumably in some in direct way between the various language coming out of the iran damascus and the levy so all in

all you know everyone is adding to the complexity of the syrian situation to the violence of syria to the destruction on bloodshed in syria and yet we don't know for sure whether this will escalate further or not. how significant is it that an israeli jet has been downed it had israeli raids into syria into beirut is it's not a new thing is it but i can remember as the last time we had an israeli plane downed in this type of raid this you know the last time there was a dogfight as it were between israeli and syrian fighter jets over lebanon in the one nine hundred eighty s. . i think if i remember correctly the israelis were able to down over seventy syrian jets at the time and over the syrian golan heights in the occupied golan heights of course it's been quiet since seventy three or so with we know with a very few minor exceptions here though the idea of downing and israeli f.

sixteen advanced fighter jets of course this is the first time in memory and certainly it's the first time after one hundred or such attacks by israel within the syrian territories so since night since two thousand and eleven there's been over one hundred israeli attacks inside syria but this is the first time we hear not just rhetoric coming out of damascus but we actually see a retaliation we see confrontation happening and one such israeli jet being shot down and that's why there is a certain fear anxiety if you will in israel and that's why haifa for example then you spot in haifa i decided to open up the shelters and right that's why i'd been going to an airport or the airspace over israel was was closed for a while because there is a fear of escalation just because of the downing of that so it's an exception in

terms of the last several years of escalation we don't know if this is going to be a precedence for more to come in the future. we know the russians of course control the airspace over syria we can't overlook them a lot of question marks about what their role stance was in this conflict. well look when binyamin netanyahu went to moscow and coordinated whatever it was going to do next in syria there was fear on the parts of the turks and the iranians especially the arabians and the syrian regime that is was going to escalate further and that there was a complicity between the russians and the israelis and yet we hear again from the iranians that they themselves as long you know as well as the assad regime told the russians to tell the israelis that they will not accept you know further israeli escalations and that not only israel has red lines but they know the iranians and the scenery also have red lines in syria and and there is so much that they are

worthy to take from from the israelis now the russians believe it or not over the last several hours have sad or have plead with both parties to deescalate and to respect the the sovereignty of syria i mean you know sometimes i'm lost for words when i repeat any such claims you know the russians asking. you know for for to respect the sovereignty of syria after the intense of the environment that we've seen over the last few days and the death of hundreds of syrians but only be that as it may the russians claim that they are trying to deescalate the situation and they're trying to mediate between the iranian syrians and the israelis to go any further in this and the and the kind of escalation we've seen the last few hours. could those get your analysis on that. now the city of canvas is the latest in a growing number of areas refusing to house anymore refugees in germany the

decision was criticized by activists and applauded by far right groups both of which descended on the city to protest their views as paul brennan reports people and called to say much of the criticism is unwarranted. with its bilingual german and sorbets street signs and so close to the polish border cutpurse has been a cultural melting pot for centuries so news that it would not accommodate any more syrian or iraqi refugees sparked angry demonstrations proving even some neo nazi elements and may cut bus a flashpoint between rival groups. after the demonstrators have dispersed though the reality here in corpus is somewhat more nuanced and complex a town which finds itself the rather reluctant focus of a much wider issue here in germany. city hall insists the decision on new arrivals was forced by practical issues including

a lack of kindergarten space but it's put cut bus in the eye of a storm of protest. of the refugees of all the nazis that are coming to a little biased birth that the situation is bad for whole sides will have to be managed in case of a school aids there are acts of violence which we condemn and where we hope the police and justice or thorough will respond with the appropriate punishment those include two separate knife incidents involving syrian youths and another where german youths attacked a group of afghans the police presence in coppers has been visibly raised but the perception of fear has affected attitudes because that is how many skin us and as i really have nothing against immigrants they are welcome in germany but i am scared of. my friends who are foreigners but what if i end up with a knife in my back and some residents worry that the debate has become quite so polarized. after first in as i tried to understand that there are people who are there and i don't think it works to call them out. i do have

a problem here with right wing extremists no doubt we don't get for that and that there is no factual discussion. architect diceware it fled from homs and arrived in coppers three years ago the tensions he says are being manipulated to me it's like a bit like propaganda it's like the use the story the way it fits them that's the sort of thing because as you can see it's like total quiet i mean there is. no such. concerns about integration resourcing and security are certainly not limited to this city but distinguishing reality from perception is the key all bran and al-jazeera cops. polls are closed in sri lanka where voters are choosing representatives from more than three hundred local elections the president and prime minister campaign separately for their respective parties more

than seventeen thousand women are vying to be elected a change of the law now requires women to fill of quarter of all seats. i am during the latest political race with a bang. form of this is world diplomats and parliamentarian is aiming to become the bearded colombo she's the first woman to even try i strongly believe that you cannot have democracy if you do not interest the needs of the maid the population the majority the population. she's one of more than seventy thousand women contesting local government elections a record number of women are standing for positions in three hundred forty institutions a recent change of the law has made it mandatory to have twenty five percent of women in local government more than twelve times the number but now some only the marxist people's liberation front says the changes will give more deserving women

a chance in our country it was a minister's daughter or siblings or those from. politics. but we think honest. should come into politics the laws are made this election can do that. it's a view that this vote in colombo endorsed you just hype time that the city london's the politicians at least. they should give a list of the women. it's the first time in decades that elections to all local bodies around the country are being held on a single day the stakes are high for all political parties going into this local government election with the president by palestinian land prime minister become a singer whose parties are contesting separately it's a battle to keep it be the land leaving three years ago which is the reason why local issues such as roads street lights and garbage disposal are taking on the

intensity of a national fight the coalition government of the president and prime minister is struggling to maintain its popularity following a series of scandals and failure to deliver on its campaign promise to root out corruption both leaders have travelled around the country to support their candidates their main threat is former president rajapaksa despite being voted out of his bid for the third presidential term rajapaksa still commands the loyalty of a larger voter base a base he's trying to mobilize for a new political front despite the fact that he's not a member of it and remains a member of his successors party the power or the way forward for the upcoming national elections will be starting from this but the boy saw it is for the president for the prime minister was coming from the poor people and political parties and in the other hand the former president's campaign will have

a place and they are powered whatever the larger political stakes local election voters will be hoping for competent candidates male and female to ensure the smooth running of that institutions fernandez al-jazeera colombo. protesters in the philippines are urging president throughout the day go to turkey to stop china's the tree expansion in the south china sea they marched to the chinese consulate in manila philippines media published photos last week showing that china has continued to build installations on disputed spratly islands. has more from a little. protesters say this is just the start of a long series of campaign to put pressure on president to agree good charges government to put out a man. to stop its military is a story i have noted areas in there now trying to kill this man after

a local report shows that china is almost already finished with its military stationed of disputed areas in the spratleys group of islands. in the long island was very damaging one has to be started to be reversed otherwise we may be losing access to the he was. already controlling my huge part of the disputed area. it is our president who does not hold the consciousness to fight for our old man but it is easier for him to give our really old philippine rice to the chinese . the spokesperson of president detective says the blame should be put on the previous government that even president benigno aquino was not able to do anything when it comes to china's reclamation and military station activities in the south china sea and says that the philippine government should eventually think china for the military garrison said insulation

it's built there in the event that it finally leaves philippine waters but critics say the government's approach when it comes to the south china sea is dangerous not only because it threatens the country's sovereignty it also threatens the sovereignty of its allies in the asia pacific. at least nineteen people have been killed and dozens injured after a double decker bus toppled over in hong kong more than thirty people have been taken to hospital witnesses say the bus was going much faster than usual. staying in hong kong and animal rights activists want to get a popular dish off the menu demand is high for shark fin soup during the chinese new year i think this a hong kong imports five thousand tonnes of shark a year but the animal is facing extinction is difficult problem reports. the chinese new year just around the corner it's the busiest time of the year for shops selling traditional seafood and sales are brisk for one of their most popular items

shark fin. i guess we should be concerned about shark fin because i feel it depends on how we score it after all we have been eating it for a long long time and when it's time to celebrate the traditional delicacy is seen as a sign of prosperity and good fortune consume at last i just have no choice because in order to chinese new year man you each of the man you have sufi sally. conservation groups and young activists are lobbying one of hong kong's biggest restaurant chains to take shark fin soup off the menu and this is not testy it's just a transition they are just forced to eat that we will be coming out ocean and. that they need for free we didn't want to kill them so that spans the protesters are also highlighting the cruelty and brutality involved a charge finning the finns are the most profitable part in most cases they're hacked off while the shark is still alive then it's thrown back into the sea to

drown our starving it's estimated one hundred million sharks are slaughtered each year and seventy percent of those are killed solely for their friends hong kong is at the center of the shark fin business accounting for more than half the global trade every year most of the finns are packaged in next. ported to mainland china once a rare delicacy only then ability and lead to could afford it is now widely available due to improved fishing dick meeks and logistics china's economic boom and growing middle class have also added to the demand but there is an increasing awareness we don't see winds that demand we are having mass shafi now because youngsters are more concerned about the environment but it's our custom to have a grant meal at the end of the year a recent study using d.n.a. analysis found that a third of shark fin products sold in hong kong shops come from species that are vulnerable are endangered conservationists are calling on the government to step in

they say they're running out of time in the battle between thousands of years of tradition and millions of years of shark of dilution if you go pollen ajah zero hong kong also had an al-jazeera sports fans line up to see the first gold medal performances of the two thousand and eight the winter olympics will be live with young child.

when the news breaks when people need to be heard on the struggles and like it good to me. and this story needs to be to be just largest catholic country is witnessing a dramatic rise in teenage pregnancy al-jazeera has teams on the ground to bring the mood winning documentaries. and live news on air and on. the live.

welcome back it's time to talk about the winter olympics now and that's why andy is here thank you so much sammy while olympic history is being made at the pyongyang games where a unified korean women's hockey team is taking on switzerland is the first time athletes from north and south korea have played together and i will fix plenty of interest in the game i see presidents hama's back is watching on as our south korea's president really enjoying along with the sister of the north korean leader kim jong un the game itself not going to well for the create scene there losing six nothing north korean athletes will also be taking part in skiing and figure skating events but we did so and i saw sports correspondent elaine welling's he joins us live from cannes knowing in south korea looks that is going to be a heavy loss for the korea team but in the grand scheme of things does not really matter. so definitely having lost six mil after

the second period it gets very strong six in the world but this is far more than that this isn't a very i mean the olympics there was talk about it's politics it's business it's news and this is pretty near as big as it gets with the events we've seen around the world from south korea to die the very same north korean delegation here including the sister of the leader of course that means that the south korean delegation come together. watching this guy of enjoyed probably they are starting to say but at the same time it's been about a unified korea and same about two hundred twenty nine cheerleaders what a spectacle that i have my. comments to this. coming across the border with the north korean delegation something you very rarely say and something that is unprecedented in and pick history you have a storyline very much secondary early as that same spends

a bit more time together do they have the potential to perhaps bounce back and maybe compete for a medal. yes i think they'll get better on i think this thing coming together just less than a month for god and in those few weeks can i do encourage is how to bring together players south korea's president of korea been all about march when you consider how i need to gel the fact that we were so close to the olympics it is all about the symbolism really can't be about results. she probably did quite well so actually put in such a good performance and i did start really well but one switzerland's called the head start now my place weighed in and i knew through it i will improve a bit i get further in the tournament possibly what i would a medal very unlikely but this. will be remembered through out of impact history only just more generally what of your impressions of the games being so far.

well it's very early in the process to talk about it being an overall success i think one of the things that was constantly talked about bizarrely is how cold it is for a winter olympics in our modern record by canal that's caused a few problems but i'd say people are getting on with it now the first medals have been won i think it's always so important for a host nation to have some early success i don't mean in the ice hockey our main events in which south korea are far stronger such as speed skating and i think that generates an extra excitement around the pride that china's got staging those guns those moments and i think it will go on to archly quite a memorable the olympics in many ways partly for the sports lead welling's there at the winter olympics in pyongyang thank you so much lee well in a further show of unity actually it's from north and south korea's been given a joint taekwondo performance part of a four hundred strong north korean delegation at the games it also includes one

hundred forty member all the months of political tension the north and south korean schools of course marched together under a unified flag of friday's opening ceremony. and as lee was mentioning the host nation have won their first gold medal of the games limb here john one gold in the fifteen hundred meter short track speed skating which is traditionally one of south korea's best winter olympics scolds five gold medals up for grabs in all on day one and sweden's charlotte callus secured the first title of the gang's california winning skier to cross-country events where skiers switched techniques of the whole five points in a fifteen kilometer race minutes bugan of the white sox over the thirty seven year old is now the most decorated female winter linking of all time with eleven career medals. over the coming days we'll be seeing events that may be unfamiliar to many of us so we're going to try and explain a few of the sights on show in south korea first up his pizza stand it tell you

about some of the fast this men and women on ice. flying sports are exactly as they sound at the winter olympics think sliding down the ice at high speed with close finishes and inherent danger to the athletes all of that make them thrilling to watch bobsled is perhaps the best known of these think cool runnings and it's been part of the winter olympics since the first events in nineteen twenty four teams of two or four men or women compete the four man crew consists of a pilot up front two pushes in the middle and a break man at the back of the carbon fiber slayed so this is how it works the team start by running and pushing the sled before jumping in and hurtling down the ice they're going to have to travel one point five kilometers at high speed the sled can reach up to two hundred one kilometers per hour and the first us team is the winner now if you thought that a slip provide a little protection then marvel at the lose here it comes one or two man teams

travel on a flat slate along the same track as the bob say but they go it lying on their backs just imagine vers at one hundred forty kilometers per hour skeleton as you can see here it looks a lot like luge but these competitors are going to run and throw themselves down head first on they slayed there's no form or steering or braking on a verse and with speeds of one hundred twenty kilometers per hour it's probably the most dangerous sport at these winter games. the men's hockey event starts on wednesday and for the first time since nine hundred ninety four the world's best players won't be taking part in the olympics no deal is being done to release n.h.l. players in the league is carrying on as you can see as normal joe in the film chain gangs and shell bosses said the break in the season caused by the olympics had to have a negative commercial impact on the games so professionally in the statement the prize association described the n.h.l. decision as sure sign to. the north london darby between them is the

starting point for saturday's games in the english premier league the second off under way in that one how he came put spurs one up leaders man sits here at home to leicester lights are on city i've just given their players a four day brighton and efforts are a fresh squad that's aiming to win four trophies we lost to a group who were over there we played during the last two three months over three days before the game a game a game but if you can competitions so you don't have the break it is good and good for everybody because you can back it through and one wade made a popular return to miami on friday in his first game since being traded back to the hate by the cleveland cavaliers i like taking the court midway through the first quarter he's miami's all time leader in points gangs assists and steals it was drafted in the first round by my back in two thousand and three before leaving the franchise in twenty six the difference of so miami beating

the morkie box nine hundred eighty five that ended a five game losing streak. ok most sports throughout the day and that is it for now sammy banks are much andy and that's it for this news that we're back in just a couple of minutes so stay with us. it's like the wild west they can do anything and the really hard for them to get the old powerful internet is both a tool for democracy and a threat somebody who controls ten thousand people that control in a hundred thousand voices and they distort the debate in the echo chamber world of fake news in cyberspace the rules of the game have changed there are no precedents people and out investigates disinform ation and democracy part two at this time on al-jazeera. the big breaking news story can be chaotic and frantic behind the

scenes. people shouting instructions in your ear you're trying to provide the best most accurate up to date information as quickly as you can. it's when you come off air on being stupid to realize you've witnessed history in the making. the scene for us whether online what is american sign in yemen that piece is always possible but it never happens not because the situation is complicated but because no one cares or if you join us on sat there are people bit that are choosing between buying medication and eating this is a dialogue i want to get in one more comment because this is someone who's an activist and has posted a story join the global conversation at this time on al-jazeera.

where every. turkish military helicopter was shot down in syria during an operation against kurdish fighters. and this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up.

syria's war ask.