each to serious debate. up front at this time on al-jazeera. we understand the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how you take it al-jazeera will bring you the news and current affairs that matter to you al-jazeera. attacks leave dozens more dead and syria's eastern good. at it amber oracles al jazeera live from doha also coming up a major setback for the pro-democracy movement in hong kong's local election.

protesters are back on the streets of there's a demand the release of jailed politicians island i'm a clock reporting on the multiple threats to wildlife here in antarctica from climate change to tears in. his carriage a council to discuss plans temperament a ceasefire in syria to allow aid into eastern ghouta on monday terrorists is expected to brief members on the situation in the rebel held enclave three weeks of government bombardment has killed more than one thousand people in a haunted house war. for three weeks the syrian army's bombs have fallen on eastern good while its troops have moved in easing into rebel territory i just thought it was sort of on the level of a bunch of the syrian arab army continue their operations in eastern guta

successfully day by day other areas in vast spaces of eastern ghouta are secured. and the last week rebel held territory shrank and split into what syrian state media saying the army had completely surrounded the town of duma now those same government forces have reported they kept the way even further into opposition territory splintering the rebel held territory into three the bombardment has been ridiculous and indiscriminate monitors and activists say more than eleven hundred people have died since the government offensive began the syrian civil defense accuses government forces of using chlorine gas phosphorus bombs in one u.s. defense secretary james mattis wants syria against using chemical weapons situation in eastern good very very powerful and miserable. another rebel held area feeling the bite of syrian government advances is edlund the largest chunk of

syrian territory currently held by the opposition this footage shows russian and syrian government gets striking the central bank an adlib city syrian government supporters sit it was the command center for the group in charge of it hyatt studied al shan an opposition tweet described it as the base for a syrian risk you teens. many areas in the province of being targeted al-jazeera arabic scurrah spondon to adam abou her same witness the bombardment of the town have been nice. were being at the among the targets where these residential areas several people were killed others wounded civil defense units have been trying to get people out from underneath the rubble they were being global calls for cease fire in syria but syria and russia have paid little mind to the outcry it's a familiar government strategy and intense unrelenting bombardment designed to weaken and ultimately divide the rebel held region and this strategy appears to be

working but at an enormous human cost million hand out to syria. i says have called on civilians to volunteer to form a human shield around the syrian city of affray in turkish troops and free syrian army fighters have surrounded the city and warned they will enter soon to hear lorson offensive into the area in january saying it wanted to clear it of kurdish why p.j. fighters pressure has more from gaziantep on the attack in syria border enough rain we're hearing that the wipe e.g. the kurdish militia are calling on civilians to help form a human shield to police themselves between the white p.g. and the advancing free syrian army which of course are backed up by the turkish military no it's not just cards who have responded to this call and we hear that there are buses heading towards africa but also groups here in turkey clued in women's groups and socialist groups or how they will get across the border which is

currently closed is another issue entirely in our friend city we see that there is no water no internet and up to three or four families are no sharing a choice because families that move from the early stages of this assault are no seeking shelter with friends and relatives seeking shelter essentially where they can the leader of the council in a frame says the situation is dire and it's called on the united nations not only to investigate but to intervene. hong kong's pro-democracy campaigners have lost ground in a crucial byelection kansas recaptured only two out of the four seats up for grabs that means the opposition won't be able to block any bills in the chamber seats were vacated two years ago when pro-democracy candidates were ousted from office for using their oaths to defy china. just because of. the head of the city and those two dolphins are free. and really very sad to see it all fall out there will be about the agency

of the government and the result today is this. second go to government don't you write have any. repression at people. speak now to keith richburg he's director of the university of hong kong's john is a media studies center good to have you with us so a great result for the pro democracy movement why did it lose these seats. well it's a combination of things first of all this was a by election so turnout was actually quite low it was only really forty three percent compared to something like fifty eight percent before but you know this number by election didn't even need to be held except for mistakes made by the pen democratic and the locals candidates. by election was necessitated because these candidates kind of mangled their oaths they deliberately when they were taking their oaths of office after the two thousand and sixteen elections deliberately

threw in phrases about democracy or mispronounced the name of china in a derogatory way and those so those voters got kicked out and the government took a pretty heavy handed kind of vetting candidates who could then run again in this by election to replace those who were kicked out some of the more local as candidates with some of the young candidate to the government accused of supporting independents were not allowed to run and i think voters may have been punishing the pan democrats a little bit for having botched this whole situation in the first place by not taking their seats when they had when they had the chance and you know there were some local concerns as well the pan democrats the democratic party camp candidates thought that just the disqualifications alone might be enough to get them some more seats or some more votes but you know voters really cared about local issues they care about livelihood issues they care about you know employment issues so that could have been another reason why you had i mean much of the loss was only of within about two thousand two thousand four hundred votes or so what was the big

loss but a loss is a loss it is also not of course all that's lost the power to block bills and palm and so that's going to have some far reaching impact. it will have because this means now that the pro establishment or probe aging camp can do things for example like limit the filibuster power now they've got some really crucial bills coming up in this legislative council it's not a very powerful legislature but one of the things it could do is block or delay things but now the pen democrats have lost their ability to do that just that the time when the probe aging camp wants to do things like bring in a national anthem law to make it a crime to disrespect the national anthem or a crime to disrespect the church the flag of the people's republic of china so these things should be able to be pushed through without the pan democratic camp being able to launch much of a rear guard action or a filibuster just because they boxed in these two seats there are two more there are two more possible by elections coming up two more of those six disqualified

candidates are appealing their disqualification if they lose as appears likely in hong kong courts in the b. these other two seats up and if the results from sunday are any indication the democratic camp might have less steep hill to climb and if the broaden it out a little bit we've got the presidency potentially being president for life how is that likely to affect the one country two systems the sas upset that allows hong kong to exist as it does. yeah that's the irony there is you had this kind of setback for democracy going on in hong kong at the same time when you've got xi jinping basically being allowed to serve as president for life you know one country two systems twenty years on it was there to now in the twenty first year we've basically seen china seeing beijing tightening the noose around the neck of hong kong and that really started i would say after the twenty fourteen protests the so-called umbrella movement that's when beijing really decided to tighten the screws even further on hong kong to tighten up on free expression to tighten up to

really get tough for example on these lawmakers by kicking the ones out who mangled their oats so i think now you're going to see just an even harder line coming down from beijing you're going to see basically a lot more emphasis on the one country and a lot less emphasis on the two systems and you see if a government here in hong kong that seems to be willing to go along with that keith richburg very i'm saying to speak to thanks for joining us there from hong kong. now around fifty thousand farmers have reached india's financial capital mumbai after a five day protest march that demanding financial aid from the government better prices and more access to land many of them have fallen into debt stu's a drastic increase in the erratic weather passons almost thirteen thousand farmers an agricultural laborers committed suicide across india in two thousand and fifteen . new satellite images appear to show rang the bell it is in min miles rakhine states being cleared to make way for military use since national released these

images believed to be of a military base being built on one of the townships that security forces a suspected of burning to the ground last august other shows the construction of a road directly over the top of more homes that were destroyed during the violence the images raise questions about the minimal government's pledge to repatriate hundreds of thousands of ranger who fled to neighboring bangladesh to escape the military crackdown many of the refugees are refusing to return in fear of violence the next few hours the lawyers of a catalan pro independence leader will ask the european court of human rights to rule on whether he can become the region's next president who already sanchez is in the spanish prison awaiting trial on charges of rebel in addition and his parliament was expected to elect him president on friday but the vote was postponed pending the court's decision on saturday fifty thousand independent supporters marched in barcelona demanding the formation of

a new government called panel has this report. they're marching for their own breakaway republic but they're going nowhere fast do we mean. i'm in the band members. songs of freedom ring out but the political reality is discordant. it's been five months since many catalans voted to split from the rest of spain the spanish central government to so far block the move it declared the secession referendum illegal and jailed some catalan leaders while others fled. the politicians are being a bit indecisive they need to be more daring to make progress. demonstrations like this seem to be an indication that diehard supporters are growing impatient with their leaders failure to declare an independent republic as promised and this is

certainly the largest process session demonstration here so far but it's seven o'clock live from the days leading up to the october referendum last year when you independence was able to put tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets i the cattle and parliament had been due to elect a new first minister for catalonia. but the top candidate sanchez is in jail facing charges of rebellion the judge refused to release him. the two largest cattle and separatist parties are now considering a legal appeal to european courts the smaller ally the leftist c u p party and its head carlos really had a favorable radical action last i do with those he said i know that all struggle is peaceful nonviolent but the only way to win is through civil disobedience and that means we'll have to suffer more state repression a. chance to occupy the streets some demonstrate to seem

ready to heat the cool for direct action than it was it's not even money first. we have to turn out and demonstrate every day and night until our voice runs out until we can sit up our republic as soon as possible. but others clearly did not share the same urgency and headed home the pipe has lost. only the stragglers penholder al-jazeera boss alone so has hair on al-jazeera elections in colombia and peacefully despite a deep divide over the fox arrival in politics. and oppositional madson is leading to an increase in the number of amputations in south sudan.

hello there we go quite a large area of low pressure affecting europe at the moment that means things are pretty wet and pretty windy for many of us there's that area of low pressure then there's all the cloud that spiraling out from it and it's giving us some very strong winds those are whipping up quite strong waves there is in the northwestern parts of spain english and that system is also bringing in some quite mild as so this is what it looks like in st james's park at the moment all the disability out so mild and wet really the thing for many of us across europe in that mild air is also spreading further the true word to the east warsaw off a fifteen that all monday and then that malta extending further east as well by choose day moscow should be above freezing and that's the first time that's happened since around the third of february so it's all changing across europe and it's mild but it's also wrong in the way for the other side of the mediterranean though the weather here is quite quiet generally fine unsettled for the eastern parts in the west well here there's

a few more bits and pieces of cloud but largely is looking dry here to now someone is going to stay as we head through chews day ribot should be pretty warm up at around twenty one degrees over the towards the south we go quite a few showers here a video and those are going to stay with us for monday and tuesday to. the big.

and again you're watching reminder of our top stories dozens of people have been killed in government attacks in syria. had been under government two thousand and thirteen u.n. security council is set to again discuss the possible a possible ceasefire in the coming hours. hong kong's pro-democracy campaigners have lost ground in a crucial election that's recaptured and need to out of the four seats up for grabs i mean the opposition won't be able to block any bills in the region. and the noise of a council on true independence leader expected to ask the european court of human rights to rule on whether he can become the region's next president. present awaiting

trial on charges of rebellion and sedition. colombians cast their votes on sunday in the first election since the signing of a peace agreement with fox rebels and the results show a resurgence of right wing parties opposed to that deal as he reports the polls to elect a new congress sort of as a preview for presidential elections in may. it's an image for the history books former rebel commander. and running for office in colombia all those who were did not think that this would happen so soon but we must think but these things to the peace agreement signed in a momentous event all of us colombians hoped for. but not everybody in the country agrees the peace deal guarantees the fark party ten seats in congress even if you colombians actually voted for them. and the peace deal still profoundly divides

voters for candidates were pelted with tomatoes and rocks at campaign events. unfortunately our country is deeply polarized trying to repudiate violence a lot of people and acting violently people have the right to protest but we should do it exclusively through voting these legislative elections set the stage for the upcoming presidential race in may results show a strengthening of right wing parties the peace deal colombians also voted for two primaries on the right of the democratic center party of former president. easily one attracting over tree and a half million votes. and we vote for a country where there is no class based hate but rather brotherhood we vote for a country that has development and that no productive sector is persecuted we vote for a social agenda to close the poverty gap to end poverty we vote for hope. well

. a controversial but very popular former mayor of bogota and former fighter of the m. one thousand movement was the expected when they're on the left yet the right wing primary attracted almost double the number of voters this piped attention's this was probably the most peaceful election day in the country's history with former fired gravels taking part in it and still active rebels serving a ceasefire yet it also proves that deep resentment many colombians feel towards the feyerick and establishment politicians the results seem to show that the most hard line conservative have a clear shot at the presidency putting at risk the already fragile peace agreement . egypt has extended the detention of al jazeera journalist mahmud

hussein by another forty five days egyptian national was arrested last on holiday in december two thousand and sixteen the same as accused of incitement against state institutions and broadcasting false news with the aim of spreading chaos he has lawyers and al-jazeera strongly deny the allegations this is the twelfth time his attention has been extended and hussein is yet to be charged arm sales are increasing around the world with asia in the middle east leading the demand that's going to a new report by the stockholm international peace research institute it says regional tensions are driving india's growing demand between twenty thirteen and twenty seventeen india was the biggest arms importer accounting for twelve percent of the world's total weapons sale report also found arms imports in the middle east doubled in the past ten years saudi arabia the world's second largest importer increased its buying by two hundred twenty five percent between two thousand and eight and two thousand and seventeen ninety eight percent of those weapons were

supplied by the us and the u.k. as president donald trump seems to have backtracked on his call to raise the age limit for gun sales his new plan to prevent school shootings includes strengthening background checks and funding firearms training for teachers you now says raising the age limit from eighteen to twenty one should be left up to recommendations from a new federal commission on school safety gun control advocates called the plan an insult to the victims of gun violence. a helicopter has crashed in new york's east river on sunday killing at least two people the pilot managed to get out but divers had to cut passengers free from their harnesses in freezing waters three are in a critical condition in the hospital helicopters on a private charter for a photo shoots. i have no health clinics within easy reach across much of rural south sudan many people resort to that as for treating wins but often infections occur and by the time be able to travel to

a hospital it can be too late to treat the injuries. as the only solution ever more reports from i got a little long or has been suffering for more than a year he injured his foot while playing with his friends his mother says she resorted to traditional medicines initially because it was the nearest option but after she saw it getting worse she decided to make the long journey to a clinic to get medical assistance. out of the flesh was getting bad the bone was starting to show so i took him to the clinic they fixed the bone and i don't know if i have already treated him or operate on him and cut his leg doctors are still assessing if longer would need an amputation but that's not the case for a joke a ball who recently had her left leg amputated after an injury became too infected to treat. there's nothing i can do now if i had my other leg i would have been able to help myself now it's a struggle to cook for myself to get water for myself now i struggle in life is

hard i can still feel the throbbing pain with my leg was. a joke is one of more than fifty thousand and petey's in africa standards country south sudan which descended into civil war in twenty thirteen less than three years after its independence from sudan although more than half of the amputees are the result of were related injuries amputations also happen for other reasons. five years of war has affected delivery of health services to rural parts of the country here in a dog where one hundred fifty thousand people live doctors say they perform more than two dozen amputations in the past six months alone one of the main factors contributing to amputation in south sudan is that health centers particularly those able to treat ones and infections are not often within easy reach because of that patients tend to seek traditional treatments and only make the journey to hospitals when it's often too late many of those who come to are from neighboring counties

more than half of the population lives in rural areas where there is limited health care according to the un over fifty percent of health facilities in the country are nonfunctional and while proximity to health centers is the reason doctors see other factors also contribute to delays in getting treatment. from the first. debate goes. on. after. a challenge a joke is already facing and one long mars mother a book fears her son may have to face if he loses his foot he will morgan al-jazeera south sudan. three separate boats of migrants and refugees with hundreds of people on board have been rescued in the mediterranean people were attempting to

make a dangerous journey from libya to italy on saturday say one of the boats was on the verge of sinking when they approached it off the coast of tripoli. business owners and poland fear there may be job losses because of a new law banning sunday trading and ashley trading will be banned on two sundays a month until twenty twenty people breaking the law face fines of up to thirty thousand dollars and jail time for pete offenses polls are divided with some saying they felt exploited under previous regulations for the ban infringes on consumer freedom more aid is arriving in papua new guinea as it struggles to recover after last month's earthquake spent eighteen tonnes of assent eighteen tons of supplies including food water and medicine aid agencies have been scrambling to reach for most villages caught off by the landslides the death toll from the magnitude seven point five quake has risen to more than one hundred and three hundred thousand

people remain in urgent need of assistance. antarctica is the largest unspoiled wilderness on famous for its wildlife but it's facing multiple threats from climate change a dramatic rise in tourism there clark is on a greenpeace expedition ship in the weddell sea looking at the animals that call the continent home. life in the islands fringing the antarctic peninsula is abundant a place of seemingly endless variety the whole region is richly biodiverse a living example of how things are pretty much free from the influence of man. a place to breed feet and grow. its pristine nations full of marine species including more than a dozen types of whales but getting to see the astonishing wildlife here is by no means straightforward. the weather makes everything a challenge bit of a threat on today it's gusting forty to forty five knots we may bury their progress

in the night we're not back in the antarctic that hoping to get back which is where there's an argentine research station three want to visit that is also a colony of about one hundred thousand. and then by radio the argentine base says the winds have become impossibly strong and it now has enough in the way things to me. mission is aborted and we have to wait another twenty four hours before making landfall on penguin island near the reasonably accessible tip of the antarctic peninsula a colony of chinstrap penguins territory with a large group of seals one making the most of the comfortable feathers of the molten juveniles of course the environment where these magnificent animals wildlife is living is incredibly fragile incredibly delicate there's all sorts of threats that are up against from climate change to cruel fishing and then of course there's

this tourism and the tourists come here the audience close to king george in their masses. some are prepared to pay top dollar to have the and all to experience there are some pressures that come from tourism so in the background we have a two hundred person tours ship take the number of tourist coming down here say the beginning of the two thousands was somewhere around four five thousand a year we're now over thirty thousand people a year. two days later we arrive at hanna point on the southern edge of livingstone island here another colony of chinstrap penguins healthy and in good shape they will look a group of gentoo penguins there's the distinctive beak of the southern giant but showing its young. or elephant seals all different species side by side on a grand scale but across the continent the pressure is building its crazy pace of

change and at the moment colonies like this one seem to be doing ok but all it takes is one bad year and we saw in the east antarctic last year a penguin colony collapse due to chicks born. and and sort of the pace of change so quick we don't want to add additional thrust things like fishing which is gradually expanding and is still in pretty good shape but it's apparent this unique landscape needs to be very carefully managed as multiple threats interludes on the horizon. al-jazeera antarctica. and the fourth part of our antarctic series nick lux talked to scientists looking to see if my career plastics made their way into some of the world's most notes water. this is our top stories thousands of people have been killed in government attacks

in syria's. rebel held enclave have been under government seen since two thousand and thirteen and security council will in the coming hours discuss a possible cease fire. kurdish fighters of called on civilians to volunteer to form a human shield around the syrian city of after three turkish troops and free syrian army fighters have surrounded the city and war they will and. hong kong's pro-democracy campaigners have lost ground in a crucial by election kansas we captured only two out of the four seats up for grabs that means the opposition won't be able to block any bills in the chamber the seas were vacated two years ago when pro-democracy candidates were ousted from office for using their oaths to defy china. because of. the and. and really that all of. our theory of all the asian.

and result is this. go. you right have the. repression in every war. around fifty thousand farmers have reached india's financial capital mumbai after a five day protest march that demanding financial aid from the government better crop prices and more access to land many of them to fall into debt due to douse and drought and increasingly erratic weather patterns almost thirteen thousand farmers nagra cultural labors committed suicide across india in two thousand and fifteen. i would say is that israel has released these images which appear to show a range of villages in many states being cleared to make way for military use the organization believes it's a military base being built on one of the townships that security forces suspects of the burning to the ground last august and other shows the construction of a road directly over the top of more homes that were destroyed during the violence

. those are the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after inside story . facing realities growing up when did you realize that you were living in a special place a so-called secret city getting to the heart of the matter why is activist in jail just because he expressed himself he had their story on the talk to al-jazeera at this time. to get a new president and it won't be a cost stepping down after he and brother good for almost sixty years but is it the end of the cost or will it mean the change of politics of this island nation this is inside story.