straight the artist. a pilgrimage to discover his hero inspires an awakening that it's more rewarding to create than to imitate. dreaming of vincent a witness documentary at this time on al-jazeera new yorkers are very receptive to alycia because it is such an international city they're very interested in that global perspective that al jazeera provides. israel holds iran and it's syria responsible for to this group. an israeli fighter jet is downed after a raid targeting iranian assets in syria. richelle

carey this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up at talks on the sidelines of the winter olympics south korea's leader is invited to visit the north. and northern syria turkish helicopter shot down as anchor his offensive against kurdish forces continues and breaking barriers in sri lanka a record number of women campaign to be elected. and the downing of an israeli fighter jet by syrian forces has raised tensions across the region the israeli f. sixteen was on a mission inside syria targeting what israel says are iranian bases there the plane's wreckage in the pilot's land it in israeli territory so this all began when israel says it spotted an iranian drone flying into its airspace and perceptive it israel says the drone the originator that it is from syria it responded with a major air raid in syrian territory with its air force targeting alleged iranian

bases israeli jets then came under syrian anti-aircraft fire and that's when that f. sixteen was hit. israel then launched a second series of strikes attacking at least a dozen syrian and iranian bases inside syria israel's air force says it's the most significant attack against syria since the one thousand nine hundred two lebanon war emraan kong reports from mr islam. in the early hours of saturday morning syria's war escalated to a new level for the first time in thirty years israel lost a fighter jet to enemy fire as israel confirmed syrian air defense shot at one of its f. sixteen fighter jets these really play minister was blunt israel iran and its most responsible for today's aggression we will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect our sovereignty and our security the crash followed the shooting down of a drone israeli army video shows what they say is the iranian drone flying towards

the north and golan heights before it was downed in retaliation israeli air force at twelve targets in syria including the suspected drone command center iranian targets and syrian air defense syria alone surface to air missiles during the israeli raid and says it shot down the f. sixteen which crashed in northern israel at the hands of. the syrian political leadership took a decision at the highest level to face to thaw simply any israeli military aircraft of a syrian in space today syria did what it promised to put down in israeli plane and striking at other planes this is clear for syria it is a decisive decision to confront the israeli air force and its careless behavior. both pilots ejected and parachuted to these race side of the border one is critically injured the israeli army spokesman said it was wrong it was behind the launch of the drawing but didn't say whether it was armed or not the iranians have reacted they've said that they are going to stand with syria against any fully snus

by israel the russians have also reacted saying that israel needs to respect syrian site to state sovereignty all. so what we're hearing is that the israelis want to send a strong message to the russians to get iran out of the region iraq on al-jazeera western islam now saying that's probably has more in reaction to the incident from the iranian capital tehran iran's foreign ministry said that the assertion that iran would fly a drone into israeli airspace is a ridiculous lie but iranian leaders celebrated serious retaliatory response to israeli airstrikes speaking to all jazeera the parliamentary spokesman on national security and foreign policy said that the downing of a fighter plane was just a taste of what is to come if israel continues its aggressive policies. this shooting down in confrontation has some important messages first to design this regime should know that the era of hit and run tactics is gone and regional

powers including syria lebanon and hezbollah have enough capabilities to confront aggression and these capabilities belong to these countries the zionist regime should not associate these capabilities with iran or other countries they are saying that an iranian drone shot down the warplane or an iranian military force did it this is a distortion to divert public opinion. with so many different actors in the syrian conflict with often simultaneously converging and verging agendas there is always a worry that an incident like this could open another front in the fighting speaking at a news conference president hassan rouhani said that israel's policy of bombardment is a mistake and that while iran is prepared to defend itself and its allies in the region he said that the best way for neighbors to get along is to cooperate turkish military helicopter has been shot down in northern syria during an operation against kurdish fighters this video is said to show the helicopter moments before

it was here near a frame killing two soldiers on board kurdish led syrians in a crowd of horses say its fighters shot down an aircraft but turkey says the cause is still unclear the total of eleven turkish soldiers were killed in fighting on saturday making it the deadliest day for the country's forces since they began the campaign in a frame last month. and causing on tap near turkey's border with syria. the downing of this tarkus manufactured attack helicopter that was killed to sucker soldiers is a significant development in this three week long military operation that brings the number of turkish soldiers killed by a z y p g kurdish militia group to over twenty years far as the turks are concerned they've killed at least one hundred fifty kurdish fighters now some advances have been made on the ground in the past twenty four forty eight hours as the free syrian army which is fighting alongside turkish military in order to advance

towards the y.p. cipro just stronghold of our free and i have managed to capture some villages on the road towards there as far as the turkish army is concerned and the listening to president merchant tehran they will respond the same to those who were behind that attack what's important to note here is that although the. kurds are sources in the y.p. ji claim that the turkish military has killed civilians in its operation ankara denies that they say the reason why this operation isn't going as fast as they wanted to is precisely because they have been trying to advise any deaths of innocent civilians that have been reports that the y.p. g. and the p y d that's the political wing of that car just militia have actually bussed in kurds from other towns and cities to use them as human shields the kurdish officials there would say actually this is just the natural response of the kurdish population in order to protect their town against what they see as

a foreign aggression. three weeks now into operation on a ranch that does seem as i say to be a steady advance made by the tarps and the free syrian army towards are fine but this downing of a helicopter will be shorter and carve the rest of the targets from the tree. also in syria the u.n. says two hundred thirty civilians have been killed by syrian and russian airstrikes and just the past week and commissioner for human rights just cried as some of the worst violence during the almost seven year long conflict save saying says the strikes may also constitute war crimes he confirmed his office had received reports of the possible use of toxic agents earlier this month in the rebel held town of mar a cat. north korea's leader kim jong un has extended a rare and the taishan to south korean president. to visit. new host of chems sister for talks in seoul on the sidelines of the winter olympics. has more

from. him 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 moon jay in to come to pyongyang at a convenient time soon little kiddie 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 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 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 ultimately open much more for now there is hope that the winter olympics is the catalyst for a reboot in intercourse and relations natasha going to aim jazeera south korea.

so it may be all smiles and handshakes between south north korea but the fiery rhetoric between pyongyang and washington that has not died down as vice president mike pence started his visit to the winter olympics saying he only had a message of maximum pressure for appealing a north korea or toward it saying it had no interest in meeting him either but chang it's a small place on tact as inevitable for the current leader kim jong un sister kim jong was seated close to pence at friday's opening ceremony they refused to engage with her or any other north korean official just before he left the games hence tweeted saying the u.s. would not allow the propaganda charade by north korea to go unchallenged and that the world cannot turn a blind eye to the air pressure and threats of complying as regime north korea quick to respond accusing the u.s. vice president of shameful and snobbish behavior and foster carter is a korea analyst he says kept on going to trying to drive

a wedge between the united states and south korea i think that a great deal of it is about the i must say kim jong un and north korea who we don't always associate with subtlety and troll of play the blind they both come in the last minute well mistaken lovo made themselves the center of attraction politically but that of these games and it's left to the u.s. vice president mike pence to look like the grumpy old man standing up for what is the international community's position so kim jong un's game really is to drive a wedge between the u.s. and south korea and but potentially she keeps reiterating that there is no daylight but i think now that the invitations being made for the summit all kinds of questions arise should go with should he go unconditionally should he insists that north korea should also talk to the u.s. well those kinds of questions will be vigorously debated i think between the allies and in the south korean media. votes are being counted in sri lanka after its most

peaceful election in decades it's the first vote since luck torah laws change that a lot of record number of women to campaign for a seat and local government will fernandes has more from column. choosing members of three hundred forty local government needs to sions observers say voter turnout was higher than expected some districts reporting eighty five percent of 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 would say you can turn and of course somebody with the return can do something for the community another voters said changes to the literal system has made things easier to. review system do so much more simple system for the water it's a new mixed results 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 mean pigmies rio if you care good the people not to break the law through the law enforcement of the law re. conduct of prepared. 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 cena prime minister i know become a singer and the man the united to defeat by and 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. still ahead on al jazeera desperate to get out but now a bit as well as neighbors are tightening border controls after forty years leading the irish chain famed party controversial figure cherry adams hands the reins to a new generation. beneath speaking sky spy the taj mahal. or is the sun sets in the city of angels. hello there we're seeing a fair amount of cloud across the middle east at the moment most of it's working its way in from the mediterranean just toppling its way eastwards still giving us a great deal of very active weather at the moment it's

a more active system that we've got a bit further east that given a fair amount of snow and that one's gradually going to edge of way towards the east as we head through the next few days behind it though that other system will be pulling itself together so we'll see some heavier rain making its way towards lebanon there all monday and then more making its way across parts of iraq and into iran plenty of cloud hanging for the south though and some of that it's making its way into saudi arabia here in doha though no major problems for us in our weather we're looking at a top temperature of around to twenty seven degrees so pretty pretty warm for riyadh will be up to thirty two that will despite the cloud is likely to be lingering around as we head through monday as well so all of oh should be in the sunshine or temperatures hovering at around twenty eight or twenty nine advocate tom we've had some excitement recently we've had a bit of rain certainly welcome rain here no more rain on the horizon it looks like twenty eight degrees will be our maximum on sunday and then the temperatures will gradually rise over the next few days elsewhere though there is some more active

weather that stretches way down across towards madagascar some heavy showers here there with sponsored by qatar airways. in twenty twelve al-jazeera traveled to iraq people here are definitely scared to speak on camera they're saying that fifty two. they think they'll be arrested down the line to take the pulse of a country ravaged under us occupation some of these graves are completely destroyed it's one of the most holy and sacred sites in all of iraq turned into a battleground between the mighty army and the americans six years on rewind returns to iraq after the americans at this time on al-jazeera.

watching al-jazeera let's take a look at the top stories this hour russia and the u.s. say they are concerned after israel launched a second series of air strikes in syria after one of its f. sixteen fighter jets were shot down by president also its forces strikes targeted syrian government and money assets in syria israel says it's the most significant attack against syria since one thousand nine hundred two both korea's kim jong un has asked south korea's president in showing him in pyongyang for talks and jay and hosted ken sr in seoul on the sidelines of the winter olympics votes are being counted in sri lanka after its most peaceful election in decades it is the first vote since the torah last changed allowing a record number of women to campaign for a seat at local government. or into modi has wrapped up the first official visit by an indian prime minister to the palestinian territories call center president mahmoud abbas told moody modi that is that he needs to support during future talks

with israel bosses government is seeking new allies after u.s. president donald trump caused an uproar by recognizing jerusalem as israel's capital for its with reports. this first visit to the occupied west bank for an indian prime minister was also very short just three hours it ended with a media briefing no questions allowed when one hundred modi off with the traditional indian support for the palestinians. president abbas i assured president abbas that india is committed to no national interest india hopes that palestine will become an independent and sovereign state in the future building of the state comes through peace. well means and through dialogue and understanding. but there was no mention of east jerusalem as the capital of a palestinian state something previous indian leaders always referred to from the palestinian president came the hope that india might help in mediating future talks with the israelis. we exchanged views about the current dilemma of the peace

process that resulted from the continuity of the occupation and from the blocking of the political horizon following the decision on jerusalem and the refugees. there was no comment from modi on that. how different the relationship was when yasser arafat was alive modi paid his respects at the former palestinian leader's mors a limb in one thousand nine hundred eight india became the first non arab country to recognize the state of palestine india suffered under colonialism and felt the palestinians were in the same boat thirty years on india vice forty one percent of israel's arms exports israel's prime minister was in india for a weeklong visit in january making new trade deals. in light of israel indian relations palestinians wanted to reintroduce balance to the relationship and bring back india as an important ally but modi invaded talking directly about with

india was ready to take up such a role after his visit modi flew back to jordan and on to the gulf mody within israel last july but he didn't out on a visit to ramallah which is what most leaders usually do india wants to dealing gets relations with the israelis and the palestinians which is why there was a separate visit here now the palestinians hope this means they can still rely on indian support even though strong relations with israel are now a new delhi's priority burn its way out his era. the irish republican party has selected a new leader to replace him cherry adams who announced he was stepping down in november early make donnel says she's committed to pushing for a united ireland but as a dame reports from dublin she has more immediate challenges. taking over from a man she calls a political giant mary lou mcdonald paid tribute to gerry adams who became shin fein president when she was a teenager and he was instrumental in northern ireland's peace process that led to

the good friday agreement two decades ago he has defined politics on this side and for a generation or more and when the other said it was impossible gerry and mark mcinnes along with john hume and others bravely walked the path to peace macdonald and out of his have been involved in talks on reconvening northern islands devolved government which broke down a year ago shin fein which shared power with the unionist do you wants movement on issues such as irish language rights. i mean really facing us as the war is on over there is no matter your anger and a thing in the way. we don't have to agree on the past the reason you're seeing other historical narratives. we will see how we agree that the past is never again he says other things we can agree to disagree like mcdonald the party's new

deputy leader michel o'neill represents a younger generation of activists hoping to get shin fein into government on both sides of the border. this conference represents not just a handover of power but a move towards a more modern noised policy in fein it comes at a time when there are a real challenges for it's both in northern ireland and here in the irish republic how do we become the party that is seen by those people who are in full time employment and average wages those people a part time employment a poor wages and also you know polite how do we present ourselves as the champion of their needs and their interests the party's also being hit by resignations over alleged bullying and mcdonald says she's listening to complaints here in the south she's also backing a change in the law to allow abortion ahead of an irish referendum later this year but she inflames long held aim of a referendum on uniting the island of ireland remains some way off the al-jazeera dublin thousands of anti-fascist demonstrators have rallied in the italian city

have a serato where six africans were shot and injured just over a week ago schools and shops in the city were closed for public transport suspended over fears the march could trigger violence a far right sympathizer being held by police is suspected of carrying out the drive by shooting anti-racism rallies also took place in rome milan and palermo comes less than a month before a national elections with far right parties expecting to make a strong showing and as a dairy as a research analyst at the think tank open europe he says many parties are political movements in italy are being wrongly labeled as far right. the far right and in general decent idea of. a revival we need to do shouldn't be exaggerated the far right is definitely quite strong. in italy but i believe especially abroad the reason a tendency to generalize and put

a lot of parties into the same box which is not necessarily the case. is definitely a far right and to some extent fascist movement but for some movies bowling very very low is not going to probably enter the parliament unless something unexpected happens. is a part of the city's used to be a separatist and regional party now under the leadership of their salvini as was rebranded the party much more towards the far right positions but the five star movement that many times abroad dispute in the same box as these other parties is there for not a far right movement protesters in the philippines are urging president not to go to territory to stop china's military expansion and the south china sea they marched to the chinese consulate in the mill and. media published photos last week showing china has continued to build installations on the disputed spratly islands . has more from manila. protesters say

this is just the start of a long series of campaign to put pressure on president to be good to government to point out the man. to stop it maybe there is a show on the area in china this month after a new post report shows that china is almost already finished with military stationed disputed areas in the spratleys islands. in the long run it was very damaging to be. you may be losing there would be he was. already going holing. of the disputed area. it is our president who does not have 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 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 minute she 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 dangerous not only because it threatens the country's sovereignty it also threatens the sovereignty of its allies in the asia pacific indonesia's navy has seized more than a ton of crystal meth also arrested for suspected drug smugglers substances or paraded after being found on a boat in indonesian waters or singapore on wednesday they had been hidden under sacks of rice for taiwanese men have been arrested for reports the drugs were bound

for australia brazil and colombia are tightening border patrols as concern meltzer with the growing number of people escaping the crisis in venezuela hundreds of thousands of already fled the country because of food shortages rampant inflation and political uncertainty and reports. officially more than half a million venezuelans crossed into colombia in the last six months of last year but no one knows the truth because only that tens of thousands of venice whalen is now trying to scrape a living across south america and not just numbers in neighboring brazil and colombia. game which i hear there are many mechanics doctors college graduates and look at us cleaning windows selling chargers and air conditioners sewing soda then as well as future is over but hey you have to move forward i feel really sad really sad because we have to migrate to look for what we used to have in our

country because before in venezuela we had what colombia has abundant and a growing economy they're escaping and the economic crisis is lead to severe food and medicine shortages the international monetary fund predicts inflation this year will reach thirteen thousand percent the president of venice wailin because mcdougall blames the u.s. backed international conspiracy for his country's troubles the colombian president juan manuel santos says nicolas maduro has mismanaged the economy and that could not be i can no longer live with those consequences or you suddenly decide on our starting today only venezuelans who have passports or have in their hands the migration card will enter colombia. he's awarded three thousand more soldiers and police to patrol the border with colombia and brazil said the influx of migrants is straining their social services to breaking points if they my law regarding

immigration what the government once and what the country wants is to achieve orderly secure and legal migration that means foreigners are legal in our country in that way we can plan for the future. but with the situation in venice later on he predicted to get worse the microbes will keep coming even now now face a more formidable. county to close the. time. and visit our web site when you get a moment al-jazeera dot com al-jazeera dot com keep it here for a recap of the headlines. these are the headlines on al-jazeera russia and the u.s. say they are concerned after israel launched a second series of air strikes in syria after one of its f. sixteen fighter jets was shot down by president assad's forces the strikes targeted syrian government and iranian assets in syria israel says its most significant

attack against syria since one thousand nine hundred two a turkish military helicopter has been shot down in northern syria during an operation against kurdish fighters studio set to show the helicopter moments before it was hit near a frame killing two soldiers on board kurdish led syrians in the craddock forces say its fighters shot down the aircraft but turkey says the cause is still unclear . turkey's border with syria the downing of this turkish manufactured attack helicopter that was killed to talk to soldiers is a significant development in this long military operation that brings the number of talkers soldiers killed by the. kurdish militia group through over twenty years far as the clubs are comes around they've killed at least one hundred fifty kurdish fight for north korea's kim jong un has asked south korea's president to join him in pyongyang for talks. to the kim sr in seoul on the sidelines of the winter

olympics. votes are being counted in sri lanka after its most peaceful election and decades it's the first vote since luck or a last change allowing a record number of women to campaign for a seat and local governments the irish republican party fein has elected a new leader to replace gerry adams who announced he was stepping down in november a limit donald says she's committed to fishing for a united ireland and allah and adams have been involved in talks on reconvening northern ireland's devolved government which broke down a year ago and thousands of anti-fascist demonstrators have rallied in the italian city of surat our worst six africans were shot and injured just over a week ago a far right sympathizer and held by police suspected of carrying out that drive by shooting anti-racism rallies also took place in rome milan and palermo it comes less than a month before national elections with far right parties expected to make

a strong showing. those are the headlines to keep it here on al-jazeera inside story is next and then more news. flash point between israel syria and iran suspected iranian drone is shot down then an israeli will plane crashes it's a major us collation of the conflict in syria so what's next in an already volatile region this is inside story.