every. support for opposition leader increases as more than a dozen european nations back president. says he's. also coming up attempting to bridge their differences the greek prime minister june taki will bear disputes on the agenda. a city under water.

and consolation to victims in townsville. and lets the year of the pig begin chinese celebrate the most important holiday. president is calling on the military to allow in humanitarian aid to the country. has received more backing with many european countries recognizing him as the interim leader but russia is accusing them of interference present has also pope francis to help resolve the crisis in america as a new see a new man has the latest from the capital caracas. self-proclaimed interim president chose the day that commemorates former president. one thousand nine hundred two failed coup attempt to send an impassioned message to venezuela's armed

forces he asked them to allow international humanitarian aid into the country. the moment is now patriotic soldier captain colonel navy officer general the moment is now if you have any doubts ask your families what is the right thing to do we have given you assurances of amnesty and we have also told you the role you will play in the reconstruction of this country. at this hour desperately needed food and medicine is being gathered at the colombia venezuela border in defiance of president. the irony is lost on no one for years president has refused to recognize the existence of a humanitarian crisis arguing that it could serve as a pretext for intervention by foreign powers now his opponents in the form of an alternative government have taken the initiative a move that could tilt the scales by forcing the military to choose between.

essential supplies to cross the border. another boost when at least nineteen european nations joined the us canada and much of latin america and recognizing him as interim president after my little rejected in ultimatum to hold new presidential elections. and angry accuse the spanish president of being a servant of u.s. interests he wants. i say to mr. forbid but if one day that. your hands will have blood on them just like the hands of former spanish prime minister. in history will remember you as a puppet who is at the service of the interventionist war mongering policy of donald trump. says he's asked pope francis to intercede and barter a dialogue with the opposition to resolve the conflict. this as human rights organizations are sounding the alarm. we are witnessing what is probably the

largest number of political prisoners in venezuela history between january twenty first and thirty first there were nine hundred sixty six you were. the n.-g. o. which tracks detentions says the majority are accused of instigating hatred and in many cases of terrorism using false evidence. this is opposition leaders prepared to test the loyalty of those who it's believed will ultimately determine the outcome of this power struggle to see in you an al-jazeera that access a bloc of mainly latin american nations is also pushing for it to step down the lima group which met on monday has called on venezuela's military to abandon the door hands of. the press conference and also a briefing disrupted by a couple of protesters who opposed intervention in venezuela a voting member lima group was set up in twenty seventeen to respond to the crisis

it wants to prevent the government from conducting financial and trade transactions abroad. i mean gavin is a senior latin american analyst. she says but as well as military is the deciding factor for next to stay in power or not. at the moment there seems to be a division between the rank and file and the military high command i think you have to remember that maduro himself didn't tales from the military so one after he took office in april twenty third scene he went out of his way really to to ingratiate himself with the military he has promoted about a thousand generals or something like two thousand generals in the venezuelan military compared to say in iran nine hundred in the us so the military top brass is is very large it's very entrenched with the government they've been given a lot of power over food over the oil industry in particular over distribution ports airports and there are also a lot of allegations that you know senior factions of the military are involved in

illicit activities including illegal gold mining and potentially even drug trafficking so to get those factions to move away from the current situation is very difficult for me in the offer of an amnesty isn't going to be enough for for potentially criminal factions to break away so i think from a do or a looking at this as long for him. it's to try and stay in power for as long as he can and you know if he's looking abroad and looking at other situations in recent years in egypt or libya or syria he may just calculate that it's better to hunker down but again you know the question then comes back to what are the military seeing what's happening on the ground will will will stay loyal to him or will gradually start to peel away and that would be the deciding factor. the greek prime minister is due in ankara for what's likely to be a tense meeting with techies present. alexis tsipras the heads of a various issues including to his refusal to acknowledge the name change from north

macedonia and the territory john psaropoulos has to be from athens. the last time the two leaders met in athens fourteen months ago their language was combative president. accusing the greek prime minister of sheltering turkish army officers suspected of plotting the failed coup against him three years ago alexis cheapest reminded that the island of cyprus is divided between greek and turkish cypriots because of turkey's invasion forty five years ago the stage is now set for a repeat performance in ankara turkey's powerful national security council last week renewed extradition demands for the eight army officers seeking asylum in greece despite greek supreme court judges forbidding extradition on humanitarian grounds the soldiers had commandeered a helicopter to escape and landed in greece decides he's treating the visit not doesn't opportunity point to. to reaffirm

the state of relationship he's such a crease his no passion bad too. yield to turkey's demands. if that's a correct assessment then the results will be. a trauma if anything the stakes are now higher last october turkey sent a drilling ship to explore the seabed near cyprus for oil and gas in response to similar exploration by cypriots cyprus says it has the right to exploit undersea resources the turkish government disputes that in another spat greece's foreign minister announced that he was preparing to extend greek territorial waters turkey's response was to threaten war twenty years ago greece lifted its veto on turkish membership talks with the european union and the two countries started exploratory talks that came close to resolving their territorial differences in the

aegean but greece then hesitated to commit to any deal and eighteen months ago turkey pulled out of the talks altogether the two sides now have no forum to discuss differences. setting up a bilateral forum would make the visit a success from the greek point of view but expectations are low jumps are open us al-jazeera athens. jordan is very saying you talks on a possible deal to exchange to fifteen thousand prisoners of war in yemen government delegates and healthy rebel leaders have we convened in amman off the last meeting in sweden in december mascot said james bays has more from the united nations. these talks on a possible prisoner exchange are being facilitated by the un and by the international committee of the red cross the numbers potentially are huge each side the coalition and the who think he's a brazil entered

a list of eight thousand people each that they want to be released although i'm told that some names on the list may be incorrect some others may be dead the un has said that this is an important measure that could rebuild trust between the two sides if you exchange of prisoners in any conflict is highly symbolic. it shows a commitment of both parties to start trusting each other. and i think it's also obviously a very emotional issue for the families involved and i think it's a it's a. it to it's a confidence building measure by any measure and it's a very important one and i think it as i said it really underscores the issue of trust which is something that has been lacking in this particular conflict the u.n. security council's urged both sides to engage with the talks on the prisoner exchange and on the wider political solution to the problems of yemen the security

council was encouraged by that agreement in stockholm on yemen at the end of last year it saw that as a breakthrough but it's worried now that there's been very little progress since his embarrassed have arrested a woman suspected of starting a fire that killed eight people others were injured as residents clambered safety from the eight story apartment building the facts interior minister say this is the same as the woman under less has mental health problems. floodwaters in australia have swept two men to the deaths many homes in townsville in queensland all submerged from mrs scott morrison has visited the city to comfort victims of floods follow what weather forecast is describing as a once in a century rain andrew thomas has the latest from townsville. and all of that pretty wet but that's right exactly some of them like that but it's been a day that's been the problem in townsville well over one thing over here towards

taipei it is because we are seeing that suddenly flow and plenty of sun in your forecast well down towards the southern part of asia we haven't seen plenty of rain across much of the area but for thailand not looking too bad bangkok is going to be a warm day as well attempts are there of about thirty three degrees and then as we go towards thursday we're going to see much of the same there but down towards the south plenty of rain for singapore with a temperature of about thirty two. every attack in europe creates fear and division amongst its citizens where stories of loss go on told. a sweeping association of islam with violence leaves european muslims facing the stark reality of being ostracized by the very communities in which they live. and moon the tragic loss of life twice a victim on al-jazeera. again

you were there as reminder of all top stories this hour venezuela's president is calling on the armed forces to allow in aid to ease chronic food and medicine. has received more backing with many european and american countries recognizing him as interim leader. jordan is hosting mutual's on a possible deal to exchange the fifteen thousand prisoners of war in the yemen government delegate some of the rebel leaders have we conveyed in after that last meeting in sweden. two men to the deaths and submerged many homes in

eastern australia by mr scott morrison has been to townsville in queensland to comfort the victims of the world weather forecasters are describing as once in a sentry brain. the u.s. special envoy on north korea will travel to pyongyang on wednesday to prepare for a second summit between president and kim jong even begun is expected to meet his north korean counterparts. trump and kim last met in singapore in june when the north korean leader pledged to work towards denuclearization but a new report by un sanctions monitors accuses pyongyang of doing the opposite the three hundred page confidential documents seen by the way it is news agency alleges pyongyang is taking steps to protect its nuclear and ballistic missiles from military strikes they're doing so by storing weapons in civilian facilities such as airports and the government is using separate sites to assemble and test their missiles so they're harder to trace says that north korea violated sanctions by

trading in coal and petroleum products and thereby undermining efforts to block funding for its nuclear program gordon chang is an asia analyst he says president trump should focus on sanctions against north korea instead of another summit. there is an escalation and the real story here is not that the north koreans are violating u.n. sanctions or they are continuing their arsenal building up their arsenal the real surprise here is that the united states is not enforcing sanctions vigorously the u.s. since the middle of may of last year has basically allowed the north koreans and the russians and the chinese and the south koreans to violate sanctions and so of course can join feels well why should i give up my missiles and i don't you know one pick one people people can argue oh look you know we should meet with kendra moon to see if we can finally settle this but by meeting with him we legitimize him

give him a lot of benefits and so i don't think that is appropriate to meet with him i think it's appropriate to sanction him into the ground and we have the capability to do that so you know you americans should stop complaining about kim jong rule and start thinking about why we are not using our power to cut off money to camp. donald trump is due to deliver his second and delayed state of the union address the u.s. president was forced to postpone the event last month because of the longest government shutdown in u.s. history the better political battle of a has to months for a six billion dollar border wall with mexico has helped his approval rating sink to a new from washington can be held at how small. for weeks donald trump has hinted that immigration will be a big part of his tuesday state of the union address the white house says trump will try to unify a country divided over the issue but listen closely to the state of the union i think you'll find it very exciting for security without

a wall which is wasteful and doesn't solve the problem that the u.s. president has been in a political standoff with his democratic opposition over his request for five point seven billion from congress for a border wall he hopes to build along the u.s. border with mexico his speech was scheduled for last tuesday. but was postponed by house speaker nancy pelosi during a congressional government funding battle that shut down parts of the government for thirty five days. the short term funding approved by congress to reopen the government will soon run out many will be watching to see if trump declares a national emergency to bypass congress and get the money he wants for his wall you'll hear the state of the union and then you'll see what happens after. investing in infrastructure is another topic the white house says trump will cover as he did last year and calling on congress to produce a bill that generates at least one point five trillion dollars for the new

infrastructure investment but other trump controversies overshadowed that effort on tuesday trump's expected to try again he's also reportedly planning to promise and end to the hiv epidemic in america discussed the trade war with china. and the political turmoil in venezuela. overall the tone of trump speech is expected to be conventional sticking to the teleprompter as he did last year as long as we are proud of who we are. and what we are fighting for there is nothing we cannot achieve in his last two speeches to congress trump appeared willing to reach out to his political opponents to achieve shared legislative goals but within days of each address trunk quickly returned to attacking democrats on his twitter feed a sharp contrast to his appeal for unity still the white house says president goal

is to bring the country together but after two years in office the country remains divided angry and opposed to many of trump's policies polls show the president goes into his state of the union speech with just a forty percent approval rating can really help get al-jazeera washington. britain's prime minister is heading to northern ireland to talk about the main obstacle to solving the brics it chaos. on the border between the north and the irish republic and confusion leaving the e.u. is seeing record numbers of british citizens apply for irish passports. from london . traditional island in a london pub. of course anglo-irish ties go well beyond an affection for each other's cultural stereotypes people have moved across the irish sea for centuries almost nine hundred thousand people born in ireland live and work in the

u.k. . mention to the. richard with students applying for an irish passport anyone with at least warm irish grandparents eligible for irish citizenship this is my grandfather's birth certificate this is my connection with ireland for richard it's a way of holding on to his european identity after. stripped away. perhaps by a majority though i didn't relate to. because i couldn't. wouldn't really understand why people would want to vote out of. an inclusive europe a big part of me wants to stay connected to europe you know i want to feel like europe is my home. outside britain's parliament in london protesters opposed to a new favorite. on the near daily basis this is identity politics in action

as many as six million people that's almost ten percent of the entire population could be eligible for irish citizenship or more of these and irish european union passport ever since the u.k. voted to leave the e.u. hundreds of thousands of british people have applied for them many see them as almost an insurance policy against all of the ups certainties of bricks. unlike other e.u. citizens irish people can automatically work study access public services and vote in the u.k. writes the government's promise to protect after breaks it as more and more britons delve into their family history in search of irish connections i wish people in britain are considering the impact bricks it's having on them. and they were a pains to insist on really be affected by the same things more psychological level i think people do feel slightly less welcome and even though they're paid to say you know you're like good immigrants these are taste i think.

it's forcing people to question their sense of identity. and for a large number of british people encouraging them to seek out a new one. kashmir day is being observed in pakistan is meant to show support for india and kashmir and we point between the two south asian nations hundred forty seven. across pakistan there are. solidarity with the kashmiri people who have been suffering for all what seven decades the budgets on the president speaking at the. legislative assembly said that india was pushing a false narrative that it was killing militants interests me i already said the real situation was there did the innocent people of being

a bright august dawn has been highlighting the issue of for several years but this particular of great importance because pakistan had extended an olive branch to new delhi to talk about all outstanding issues however the indians remained adamant that this is up by allowed to august on once the international community to realize that this is a flashpoint between two nuclear powers and a settlement of the kashmir issue is pivotal to pakistan's foreign policy on the president the prime minister the foreign minister all the opposition leader i've spoken with one war if they're going to go in a particular issue then they did the issue of read on ridge everybody is unite. now they help to sustain life across the asian constant scientists and warning classes in the himalayas are melting at an alarming rate due to climate change

a study by the international center for integrated mountain development warns that two thirds of the ice sheets or week on by the end of the century unless carbon emissions are drastically cuts the critical source of water for two hundred fifty million people living in the hindu kush region another one and a half billion will lie on rivers flowing from the mountains and studies says the impact on agriculture and supplies could be felt well before the tide of the century with india pakistan and china was affected. how to soften as a researcher at u.c. davis policy institute for energy environment and the economy she says the report highlights the need to take action on climate change that's very much in line with recent news that we've seen showing that the pace and magnitude of climate change is even greater than scientists have said even as recently as in the past five or ten years in october there was a big report from the united nations international governmental panel on climate

change that showed that greenhouse gas emissions are warming much faster than we expect we've also seen a recent report showing that sea level rises accelerating so again very much in line with recent reports showing that actually is needed and needed now with this report shows is that it's critical to take action because if we don't take action and then we could see a loss of the glaciers in the region double so if something bad is going to happen but we can take steps to limit it from being much worse at the same time we can't fool ourselves and think that nothing is going to happen we're already seeing the impacts of climate change today so we need to take steps now to protect those will be affected for instance by thinking about how to reuse water when you won't have as reliable water supplies. and chinese people around the world have been ringing in the lunar new year brown has more from beijing. this is the town park or park in the heart of beijing and

a very popular place to come on the first day of chinese new year now traditionally the year of the pig is a year in which you make friends and make money so that possibly bodes well for the current talks between china and the united states to try to diffuse their trade differences the outgoing year the year of the dog was not such a good one for chinese people the economy here continued to slow and many people lost their jobs so what do ordinary people want in the year ahead. i wish all my family members will have good health and a much better life in the new year. i have one big mission to accomplish in my life for the new year i'm getting married i hope all my family will happily stay together for china's president meanwhile she jinping has been touring a neighborhood here in beijing extending new year's greetings and also trying

a bit of dumpling making eating dumplings at this time of year is of course very popular indeed even amongst chinese these days. and on monday night some eight hundred million people tuned in to watch the annual chinese new year television dollars this is the most watched television program in the world even more people watch this than the super bowl which of course was shown in the united states less than twelve hours earlier many of the people you see here in the town park are domestic tourists they've come from other parts of china to feast and to celebrate and it's a celebration that for many people will last until the weekend. as these are our top stories venezuela's self-proclaimed president is calling on the armed forces to allow in aids to ease chronic food and medicine shortages has

received more backing with many european and latin american countries recognizing him as interim leader. for media. are you going to deny your family's aid are you going to help open a humanitarian corridor or the moment is now patriotic soldier captain colonel navy officer general the moment is now if you have any doubts ask your families what is the right thing to do we have given you assurances of and this the and we have also told you of the role you will play in the reconstruction of this country jordan is hosting new talks on a possible deal to exchange up to fifteen thousand prisoners of war in yemen government delegates and who's the rebel leaders have reconvened in their last meeting in sweden in december the rebels have been fighting a saudi m.r.c. led coalition in yemen for four years. sudan's president says hosting a ceremony marking the end of peace talks between rival factions from central

african republic a deal between the c.a.r. government and fourteen rebel groups was reached on sunday after two weeks of un led negotiations in khartoum a formal agreement is due to be signed on wednesday police in paris ever rested a woman suspected of starting a fire that killed ten people others were injured as residents to safety from the eight story apartment building the french interior minister who visited the scene says the were under arrest as mental health problems floods have swept two men to their deaths and submerged many homes in eastern australia prime minister scott morrison has visited townsville in queensland's to comfort victims the floods follow what weather forecasters are describing as once in a century rain. a new report says the himalayan glass is a melting. raise due to climate change a study warns that two thirds will be gone by the end of the century unless carbon emissions are drastically cut those are the headlines the news continues here on

al-jazeera of the inside story. we'll thailand to deport a refugee footballer to brain his plight spanning three countries and spot an international campaign involving government activists and the football world ordered mounting needs immediate relief this is inside story.

hello and welcome to the program i'm martin dennis and the future of a refugee football player is hanging in the balance as his extradition case plays out.