innovators are propelling change building communities creating employment and solving problems challenging systems and shaping you what it's about creative thinkers shaping the continent's future innovate africa at this time on al-jazeera . and israeli fighter jet is down during a raid in syria part of a bigger operation against it raining in targets but turkey loses a military helicopter it was shot down during an operation against kurdish militia in serious north.

of them jim with some of this is so al-jazeera live from london also coming up another handshake a friendly launch and a rare in the teachin such glee as leader is asked to visit pyongyang. where the shadow of death is never far away we report on the psychological impact a sky high murder rate is having on people in the mexican city of acapulco. conservation a step up the pressure on restaurants selling shark fin soup in hong kong a dish that's still in high demand. a warm welcome to the program we begin with one of the biggest confrontations between israel and iran and years that's ended with the downing of an israeli f. sixteen find to jet the jet crashed after coming under fire during a mission inside syria landed in israeli territory well it all began when israel says it's cool to spot a drone flying in its airspace and then into set to hit israel says the drone

originated from syria and it launched a major air raid in syrian territory in response with its warplanes targeting at least a dozen syrian and iranian bases syria responded with a barrel of aircraft fire and that's when the f. sixteen will stand well iran has rejected as ridiculous israel's claim that it intercepted one of its strongs israel says iran is playing with fire by entering its air space among khan has more now from west jerusalem. 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 these 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 a battle to 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 today is attacks against what they call the iranian targets and against syrian defense batteries twelve in total well as in my mentioned it's not the first time israel has hit targets inside syria iran assent military advisers and the edge of the thousands of its revolutionary guards to help the syrian government and that build up their way in assets has been increasingly worried israel in

a holder explains. this is the golan heights territory israel captured from syria in one nine hundred sixty seven the war in syria has brought iran and its allies like the lebanese armed group hezbollah closer to that border israel says that is something it won't tolerate it has reached out to russia an ally of the syrian and iranian government. before this was the deal that was signed by netanyahu and put it on the thirtieth of september when netanyahu went to russia in two thousand and fifteen russia will prevent the iranians from building bases near the borders with israel this is when the russians entered syria and launched their military operations we have been witnessing israeli air strikes ever since. israel has struck targets inside syria for years and has had convoys carrying weapons destined for hezbollah arms depots bases clearly with a green light from russia moscow does control the air space the israeli air force

was flying unchallenged until saturday when one of them was shot down by syrian anti-aircraft batteries after it struck targets around damascus. the downing of the plane coincided with what some believe is the beginning of a more aggressive strategy to roll back iran rules america are the russians in front of a confrontation with the americans in syria are the americans in front of a possible confrontation with the russians in syria or is there an unannounced deal between the russians and americans to reduce iranian presence in syria. israel considers russia its guarantor for security along its border with syria they have talked about a buffer zone but israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said the ceasefire agreement in southern syria didn't address what he called iranian military ambitions israel has repeatedly said it will not allow iran and its allies to entrench themselves militarily in syria and it won't allow syria to become

a forward operating base against israel calls them raw. lines now the syrian government and its allies are introducing red lines of their own they say the downing of the israeli jets is a clear message that the days of carrying out attacks in syria are gone russia allied to both sides is calling for restraint and for syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity to be respected it was a serious and dangerous incident the israeli army said it was not a war but more than a confrontation for now all sides have taken a step back after making their message clear senator beirut for more on this story al-jazeera senior political analyst joins me live in the studio you've got a collection of interests at the moment. all converging on this one area just unpick it a little bit for us what's at the heart of what we're seeing happening basically since the. russians and syrians and the americans and others took on eisel.

and basically prison within sight saluting his own generals in syria and hoping for a russian controlled assad regime within the country and started mediating with the syrian opposition as if the war ended suddenly all the powers in the region and outside the region started jets the positioning within the country so the turks moved in along with their allies with syria just like the united states moved in along with their allies especially the kurds in other syria the iranians moved in of course with assad and so on and so forth and the israelis had their of course their own interests against the iranians and the assad regime and sold so for so everyone over the last several months have been jets the positioning visibly the other within the country mostly using either the air force or there are lies on the ground in order to both influence and

ensure a sort of authority of kind within the country moving forward for the americans they want to make sure that you know through their kurdish allies they have a say in the future of syria especially if the iranians sin thing for the israelis and for the arenas and the russians they want to make sure that the war that they think they won you know that it will bring to them the cons of advantage such a joke ones in the country so the last episode the israelis versus what they call the iranian expansion of influence in the country and the development of missiles that would be threatening israel is all part of this jex the strategic juxtaposition and forces in and within syria we heard a reportedly from an israeli spokesperson using this sort of language saying syrians are playing with fire when they allow it raining to attack israel do you get a sense that this kind of tone might build what will set

a new no the iranians and the syrians are saying. that this is or the spain with fire and that unlike the last several years when israel could basically expropriate the airspace of syria and violated over one hundred times bombing various targets over the last several years that this is not just the exception visibly the bus that this would be the norm moving forward in the future so now we're hearing spokespersons for the iranians for the syrian regime and for their allies hezbollah is saying from now on israel has to be careful how to move forward within syria and lebanon because this incident that the the shooting down of the israeli f. sixteen will be the norm moving forward because apparently or perhaps there is a more sophisticated weapons in the hands of syria's and hezbollah with the help of

iran. thanks thank you. and meanwhile a turkish military helicopter has been shot down in northern syria during an operation there against kurdish fighters that this video is said to show the helicopter just moments before it was downed killing two soldiers who were on board at the time mo turkish president range of time says it happened near the southern hatay province tomorrow sheilds joins me live from the texas city of kathy antipas near the border with syria hi there jim what are the other details that we know right. well as you mentioned the helicopter was part of what is known as operation olive branch that is a military operation that was launched three weeks ago by the turkish army together with their allies their proxies on the ground the free syrian army to essentially push back kurdish fighters belonging to the wide p.g.a. now the y.p. . group considered to be a terrorist organization by charkhi because it's continuously systematically

attacks turkish interests in fact has been launching rockets against our q four so for weeks now killing at least seven civilians now this operation after today's death toll in terms of the true military personnel that raises it to over twenty the number of turkish soldiers who are being killed by the white p.g. fighters since the operation began three weeks ago on the other hand turkey has killed at least one hundred fifty p.g. kurdish fighters in that same amount of period there have been accusations that the turkish military is also killed civilians in its attacks however that's something that i'm correct strongly denies aside from this latest development which is a significant one in that the downing of any sort of by a militia is something that it will surely incur the wrath of the military and essentially maybe i will read them to be more aggressive something that's already one himself has promised on the ground in terms of a advancements this all this operation is to try and capture the city of are free

in northern syria that is the stronghold of the wire p.g. and advancing on so that's the syrian free syrian army the f.s.a. who as i say have been fighting with the targets managed to take a town on the road towards that so there have been some advances and it does appear that the y. p.g. despite its being able to down this helicopter is on the back foot and jamal so how do you think summing up if we can operation all those branches seem to be growing. well there are still a lot of supports amongst turkish society for this operation not least because of the resentment they hold towards the white p.g.d. who they see as just another branch of the kurdistan workers party an organization anchor also considers to be terrorist has been fighting and bombing several tarka cities for decades and also there is still supports for that however the advancements is being considered to be sluggish considering the might of the

turkish military it is the second largest nato member in terms of military size the turks say that the reason why you dislike bush is because they are trying to prevent civilian casualties not something that the currents would contest but having said that i mean within the space of three weeks several towns and cities have been captured it does appear to be a stable advancement by the turkish army and it would seem that their targets of capturing are free and is something that is very much within their grasp to child their life that forgot their invitation to the south korean president to visit him dag and then hosted kim system for talks in seoul on the sidelines of the winter olympics it's actually going to aim has more now from call no. in the presidential blue house in the capital seoul relations between the two koreas continued to thaw the meeting had two firsts jiang 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 mungy in to come to pyongyang at a convenient time soon little newlands key president moon said early talks between north korea and the united states are essential to improve relations here just 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 lose 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. jordan because of all the global attention i believe for

unification 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 quiet 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 forty. on you know i think it shows it opens opens the door maybe just a little bit critics say they doubt that door will ultimately open much more for now there's hope that the pyong chang winter olympics is the catalyst for a reboot in turkey and relations natasha going to aim el jazeera south korea still to come on the program protest as a military china to stay out of their territorial waters cancellations in sri lanka threaten to split the pot the country's ruling coalition all that more when we come back.

hello there is staying cool for many of us in the southeast in parts of china at the moment during the day the temperatures aren't doing too badly we're looking good about nine degrees there in shanghai and around twenty in hong kong but at night they're still dropping down to below freezing in shanghai so certainly feeling cool here again dancing back up as we head through monday to around seven degrees further west a little bit of cloud is building here but as yet not various too much in the way of what weather what chad if you're in the philippines though the increasing cloud of rain here is ahead of a tropical storm that's galloping its way towards us over towards india plenty of cloud snaking its way across us and across bangladesh at the moment but it's not really giving us too much in the way of significant rain the next feature though that's working its way towards the northern parts that is going to give us some

more intense rain so but whether they're over parts of pakistan or on sunday then that gradually pushes its way towards the northeast on monday turning wintery over the mountains as you'd expect but still plenty of rain here and that also pushing for the southeast as well so not poor we could see some role the shop showers here on monday not for cold cuts or not yet anyway even further towards the west and here in doha pretty warm at the moment for this time of year twenty six degrees our maximum on sunday little bit of cloud perhaps coming and going. 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 is that controlling one 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 investigate disinclination and democracy part two but this time on al-jazeera. the mind of the top stories here on al-jazeera and israeli fighter jets been done on a mission in syria crashing back inside israeli territory after coming on m t aircraft fire. military helicopter has been shot down in northern syria during an operation against kurdish fighters to turkey soldiers on board were killed. south korean president has received a rare invitation to visit from north korea's leader kim jong un. the votes are being counted in sri lanka after its most peaceful election for decades it's the

first full since the electoral laws change that so loud a record number of women to campaign for a seat local government but now finance has more now from colombo choosing members of three hundred forty local government institutions observers say voter turnout was higher than expected some districts reporting eighty five percent. voters had a clear idea of what they wanted from their local representatives corruption is a big problem so somebody who is less corrupt somebody who is educated and of course somebody with a return can do something for the community another voter said changes to the electoral system has made things easier compared to. previous system do so much more simple system for the water it's a new mixed result system which candidate wins the most votes and which party has the most support the changes also included a quarter of twenty five percent for women this election monks'

a number of firsts the first time so many women have contested the first time votes are being counted in polling centers like the one behind me and the funds time election violence has been so low observers say there is a marked change in the conduct of campaigns and the election the main election organize a credits hard work main thing is real if you care good the people not to break the law through the law enforcement of the law recon. conduct a pretty. despite being a local election which is usually about issues in local neighborhoods the campaign took on the flavor of a national election prison mighty palace city saina prime minister i know became a singer and the man the united to defeat by in the rajapaksa were heavily involved in the campaign traveling around the country to support their respective candidates

the stakes for each of them are high and the results of this grassroots race will point towards the political board in the run up to the general election in two years and have an end as al-jazeera colombo. mary lou mcdonald is set to become the new leader of the irish nationalists political party should same but donna will take over from the controversial politician gerry adams who led the party for thirty four years adams announced his intention to quit the will in november in a move that passes the leadership to a new generation of seven should favor them. that mexico is in the grip of a war on drug gangs acapulco was once a sought after holiday destination now though it has the highest murder rate in the world despite the best efforts of police and aid groups it seems as if the social fabric by becoming undone from acapulco john holeman reports. the shadow of death has lain across a couple of years the full maturity is one of the highest murder rates in the world

and behind the military patrols police sirens and daily crime scenes live a townspeople struggling with fear and grief knowing my in the first of last year francisco's wife was caught in the midst of a gang shootout and killed now he's raising their food children alone we hid his identity speaking out here is dangerous which of course. this. is. me is this. a decade or more than one hundred twenty thousand victims into the drug war they still no federal program dedicated to psychological support for the families left behind. in acapulco and n.g.o.s doctors without borders is filling that gap their team of community workers and psychologists go to churches community centers

basketball courts anywhere people gather to train them to support each other and. the violence gets to such a level that the social fabric is destroyed people don't trust their neighbors and little by little things deteriorate so we see. those suffering particularly painful experiences like francisco to meet one on one with psychologists. doctors without borders are also training teaches to recognise children traumatized by violence or sexual abuse the aim is to convince the government that programs like this a needed on a national scale makes chris but huge amounts of money a man power into combat in organized crime in comparison very little has been dedicated to treating traumatized victims and according to psychologist that shows a real lack of foresight because those affected by violence if not attended to

a much more likely to repeat the cycle. that's the worst nightmare of parents like francisco trying to protect the next generation. in. new york. experts say it could take decades for the wounds of a society grown used to violence to heal the warriors that without intervention that process and struggle to even begin john homan how does it or i could pull co. no engine modi's wrapped up the first official visit by an indian prime minister to the palestinian territories is that palestinian president mahmoud abbas the trip to the west bank is part of a three nation tour to strengthen ties with the middle east earlier he laid a wreath on the tomb of former palestinian president yasser arafat and then to fascist rally has taken place in the italian city of message after where six

africans were shot last saturday schools in the city have been closed and public transport suspended security has been tightened the refuse the far right protest as mike clash with the demonstrators last saturday you could trade tree nineteen was arrested over suspicion of carrying out a drive by shooting in which six africans were injured. protesters in the philippines arjen president were triggered to turkey to stop china's military expansion in the size china sea they marched to the chinese consulate in manila philippines media fabius photos last week showing that china has continued to build installations on the disputed spratly islands the islands are rich in natural resources and are important strategic course for navigational and military purposes jimmy fallon's ogun has more now from manila. protesters say this is just the start of

a long series of campaign to put pressure on president to be good with charges government to point out that. to stop it many there is a shortage of them noted areas in the triangle now they're found after a group called report shows that china is almost already finished with its military zation of disputed areas in the spratleys group of islands. in the long run it was very damaging one has to be stopped while he was murdered or why we may be losing would be he was. already controlling a huge part of the disputed area. it is our president who does not have the consciousness to fight for the old man but it is easier for him to give our really old philippine rice to the chinese. the spokes person of president the therapist says that 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 garrisons that installation 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 danger. not only because it threatens the country's sovereignty it also threatens the sovereignty of its allies in the asia pacific. during chinese new year old traditions are a big part of the celebrations but the practice of eating shark fin soup is proving controversial activists say hong kong imports five thousand tonnes of shark a year which is driving the animal towards extinction they want the delicacy out a restaurant the vehicle pollen before it's. the chinese new year just around the corner it's the busiest time of the year for shops selling traditional dried

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 sculpt 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 a lot as you just have no choice because in order chinese new year menu each of the menu have suffering a bit 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 tested is just a transition they're just forced to either we need the navigation. that they eat for free you can only kill them so that's what the protesters are also highlighting the cruelty and brutality involved a charge finning. the fins 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 are starving its estimated one hundred million sharks us watered each year and seventy percent of birds are killed soley 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 exported to mainland china once a rare delicacy only the inability and a lead to could afford it is now widely available due to improved fishing dick nixon and logistics china's economic boom and growing middle class have also added to the demand but there is an increasing awareness event to lindsay we are having less 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 or 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 are jazeera hong kong and many stories of heroism have been emerging from taiwan after tuesday's earthquake that killed at least fourteen people one of our agency workers in particular is capturing the public attention this dog has become a national hero after finding a survivor on his very first rescue mission to tie his song which translates as iron hero navigated through the wreckage of the marshall hotel in the quad lead a four year old lab was flown in specially for that rescue mission that is called ear infection sadly in the cold weather and he's been receiving get well messages from all over taiwan. the mind of the top stories here. an israeli fighter jets been done on a mission in syria crashing back inside israeli territory of succumbing on the

anti-aircraft fire it came during a major air raid on syria israeli say the raid was in response to the discovery of an a rating from syria flying in their air space iran says that's quote ridiculous it has more the operation is ongoing but we haven't heard of any fresh attacks from anywhere inside syria in the last hour or so but you official line is that the operation is ongoing and they're also not commenting on what brought down the israeli f. sixteen fighter jets there's been a battle a hundred israeli airstrikes inside syria against various targets including hezbollah convoys and the like the turkish military have helicopters been shot down in northern syria during an operation against kurdish trying to see the video said to show the helicopter moments before it was done killing two soldiers on board the turkish president rage of tire borderland says it happened near the southern hatay

province south korean president when j.n. has received a rare invitation to visit pyongyang north korea's leader kim jong un hosted kim system for talks in seoul on the sidelines of the winter olympics which have just got underway there with donald is set to become the new leader of the irish nationalist political party should say the donald will take over from the controversial politician gerry adams who led the party for thirty four years adams announced his intention to quit in november. the interim modi has wrapped up his first official visit by an indian prime minister to the palestinian territories he's met palestinian president mahmoud abbas for the trip to the occupied west bank is part of a three nation tour to strengthen ties with the middle east. you are currently up to date i'll be back with more news in just on the half an hour coming next the people in power with the second part of an investigation into the threat of fate

we'll see in a. recent elections most notably that's of don't trump is us president of my logic the role played by social media in spreading malicious propaganda and fake news in this extensive saga reality fiction becomes fact monies become truths and political consensus becomes almost impossible to achieve in this.