i'll just. take. the. police in northern thailand say a soldier opened fire inside a mall killing at least a dozen people hostage situation is under way. hello i'm convinced this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. over understanding is really impossible to predict where it is going to. dial warnings from the world health organization the fight to stop coronavirus is far from over last. stand up

or trap for frederick the truth. candidates during the u.s. democratic presidential debate lash out at donald trump for the firing of 2 witnesses from the impeachment inquiry also of. the generations for which politics has been dominated by 2 political parties but now the country's poised for a major political upset me bucket with in-depth coverage of our lives general election. we begin with breaking news in thailand where a soldier has shot dead at least 12 people including his commanding officer several others are wounded in the northeast city of court outs and he's holding at least 10 others hostage in a shopping mall the soldiers most of it is unclear is thought to have stolen weapons and ammunition from his battalion before attacking the shopping center when

he joins us now from bangkok for more rain just bring us up to speed what's the latest. yes well this situation is still very much unfolding in the city of korans or not. it's also known which is a fairly large city population around 2 and a half 1000000 around 250 kilometers to the northeast of the capital bangkok from what we understand this situation began at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon local time so several hours ago just over 6 hours ago now when a shooting took place on the military bases you mentioned an active serving member of the thai army is believed to have shot a commanding officer on the military base and at least 2 others on the base before he has stolen an army vehicle more weapons and ammunition as well leaving the army base and then driving towards the center of koran towards the shopping mall way he

has seemingly entered the mall late in the afternoon early evening at a time on a saturday when it would have been very busy full of shoppers and that is where the situation is still unfolding as we speak he is believed to be holding several hostages inside there he had been up until around 2 hours ago posting regularly on social media commenting about his state of mind saying that he was feeling very exhausted asking people who are on social media whether he should surrender now the police and the military have the entire area under lockdown they are urging anyone who lives in the area to remain indoors in their homes to close all windows and doors reinforcements also from the police being sent from the capital bangkok again we don't know the most of for the shooting we know that he is again an active serving member of the thai army the thai police have in fact named him as japan. as

far as his background and again as motives that that news is still to come out from the government or from the police can you tell us what else police is saying about this shooting have they given any more information i believe they've given to a short break. yes not a lot of information yet only confirming some of the details in terms of the timeline as to what has unfolded over the course of the past few hours again not a lot of information came out very early on this was an incident the started some 6 hours ago because it was a shooting involving only a few people on the army base even though shootings in general on the scale of very rare in thailand from time to time because the military is so big here we do see incidents like this taking place on nor near army bases but news or information about the shooting that took place in 3 in the afternoon on the army base didn't really come out it was only when he went to the shopping mall driving some 20

kilometers the distance between the army base and the shopping mall seemingly shooting people. people who live in the area to stay indoors and several people believed to be held hostage inside the shopping mall thanks for that that's wayne hey there life's infections is on the rise again in china and the number killed is on track to surpass the sols are break 17 years ago at least 724 chinese have died of the new virus and an american and japanese man passed away in one hand where the outbreak started as hong kong has begun a 2 week mandatory quarantine for all arrivals from mainland china and japan thousands of cruise ship passengers remain in quarantine doctors in the port of york harbor have confirmed 64 cases on board training you has more from china's capital beijing the others of this luxury cruise ship describe it as a home away from home and for those on board there's now no choice about 3700

people on the diamond princess i've been quarantined for at least 2 weeks after to pads yokohama ports that's after more than 60 tested positive for crude tires. we are all instructed to stay in our own cabin. you know that people from the insurer cabin and allowed up there on yak and they may have had a chance to interact although they've been instructed they have meter apart from each other so it's hard to read. the mood of the other passengers without a contact with them i see you know some people are very worried on the internet and social media japan is already dealing with cases of the virus and has imposed new border controls to stop it spreading it turned away another cruise ship but it's still from china. the world health organization says there's no need for a lot there's over 3700 people in crew and this is after extensive searching for

cases and testing and testing of many many people so if i don't get my month's wrong that's that's less than 2 percent of people so. it's still a bad it's not a great number it does show the virus has spread in the ship but again let's be careful here not to overreact the outbreak that began in china has spread to at least 25 countries in kazakhstan there were reports of violence between cossacks and the ethnic quake a meeting of if he is of coronavirus chinese restaurants and businesses have reportedly been burnt down to the pool has increased it's a lot level after new cases of coronavirus not going to previous interactions or travel to china put it. people are rushing to supermarkets to stock up on food and essential goods and around the world more people are buying mosques and what's called personal protective equipment or people pushing up prices increasing shortages the world is facing the severe disruption in the market for person and

for person and protective equipment the mondays are 200 times higher than normal and prizes then up to 20 times higher. the un agency says more than 80 percent of corona virus cases globally reported could be considered mild and is calling the nations to work together to fight the outbreak in ruhani a 2nd emergency hospital beds for 1600 coronavirus patients has been opened china's president xi jinping has declared what he calls a people's war on the virus saying no effort is being spared in fighting the epidemic but there is growing criticism of the chinese government's handling of the crisis social media is flooded with complaints of attempts by police and other government officials to nationally cover up the outbreak then silencing the doctors who 1st sounded the alarm for china's leaders this is increasingly a battle on 2 fronts against the virus itself and the discontent it's part katrin

e.u. al-jazeera bating russian and turkish delegates amazing to discuss the fighting in syria turkey's military is warning of retaliation against further attacks in italy province 8 turks were killed by syrian army shelling on monday let's go live now to hashem about a who is an istanbul hashem just what's at stake here who would basically the top russian and turkish diplomats going to negotiate the potential to the escalating the growing tension in now turkey is frustrated over what you described as local cooperation from russia they say the russians have not been able to rein in government troops of president bashar assad and they haven't been able to stop him from taking over so dark that he is violating constantly the demilitarized zone this was an agreement by the russians their body is into

a 1080 now the turks are preparing for all scenarios including the potential for a military confrontation with the syrian army and this explains why they are sending. more reinforcement into. also setting up a new military outpost now there is an agreement today between the russians and the turks about the. growing tension in lives that could pave the way for more political talks if that doesn't happen we are most likely going to say to see further escalation and the potential for a military confrontation is big many people are concerned the 4000000 civilians who live in italy are more concerned than ever and they fear that this time if the syrian government decides to go ahead and take over the city of idlib the civilians want to have anywhere to go because the have c. already sealed the border with syria thank you that across developments there that's about

a live from istanbul. well still ahead on al jazeera struggling through winter where at a syrian refugee camp and 11 on where they're at an economic crisis is forcing families into a difficult situation. plus could a black comedy from south korea take the top prize at this year's academy awards. hello again it's good to have you back well roic for more snow here across parts of japan over the next few days and some that snow could be quite heavy across that western parts of the country we call the sea effect snow as that colder air pushes across the relatively warmer water of the sea picking up a lot of moisture and then dumping it here on that west coast mostly in the higher elevations and we could be seeing anywhere between 40 and possibly $67.00 we just

know possibly by the time we do get towards monday down toward shanghai better conditions for you a little bit warmer to where the temps are there of about 14 degrees or we are watching some storms here pushing across the south china sea we will be seeing some those storms affecting parts of vietnam but we will also be seeing those storms making their way even further towards the west and for kuala lumpur you could be seeing some very heavy thunderstorms by the time we get towards monday night we do expect to see a time for the of $31.00 degrees singapore it is going to be 33 and your forecast high there and then here across parts of india the rain is on the decrease of the next few days we're going to be seeing still rain showers here on sunday but by the john we do get towards monday it is going to be getting a little bit less rain across much of the area still clouds in the forecast and it is going to be a cloud today with a temperature of 32. gives

you a deal dead and did you get the peace prize too soon. is this going to hurt or help donald trump's reelection chances and in theory for one thing you could shoot somebody on 5th avenue and not have any consequence this is not a muslim issue this is a human colony issue join me mary huff and as i put it up front questions to my special guests and challenge them to some straight talking political debate here on al-jazeera. you're watching al-jazeera a reminder of our top stories this hour a soldier is holding people hostage in

a shopping mall and tyler at the shooting dead at least 12 others the victims in the northeast city of quota to include the soldiers commanding officer. hong kong has begun to weeks of mandatory quarantine for all arrivals from mainland china the restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of corona virus which has killed at least soon 724 chinese nations white. russian and turkish delegates are meeting to discuss fighting in syria turkey's military is warning of retaliation against further attacks in the rebel problems a turks were killed by syrian army shelling on monday. a winter weather has worsened conditions for syrians living in a refugee camp in lebanon's bekaa valley it comes as the ongoing economic crisis in lebanon is having a serious impact on humanitarian programs the shortage of funding means fewer families are receiving support the scale sorry courage is joining us now live from a camp in bekaa valley sorry just tell us more about where you are and what's

happening there. wearing plenty of layers but i'm shivering it's super cold here it's absolutely perfect so the wind just whipped up and you can see there's snow if your home is just started snowing but they're all about probably 300 people living in this refugee camp it's one of many in back of ali. a few of them they said that the conditions are so harshly would prefer to die now these are people who have left the war in syria some of them in have been here for years and the conditions are getting harder and harder each year funding has been cut for. an economic crisis is made life so much harder and they've also received a lot of hostility from the lebanese government as well as some lebanese people who feel that they have an extra strain on the economic crisis where lebanese themselves are suffering from so there's about a quite close to

a 1000000 syrian refugees here which is a large number and 3 quarters of those syrian refugees live and below the poverty line. the shortage of dollars as well has affected some of the money that they've received through cash aid from you know you see also the conditions have been very tough here and the lebanese government just a couple of days ago and their policy statement have made it clear that a lot of them have to return back home they believe it's safe for them now thank you for that update status sarkar there live from the very cold bekaa valley lebanon. ireland's snap general election is underway helping in polls are predicting a shift away from the 2 main center right parties towards the left wing nationalist same party while ireland has the fastest growing economy in the european union the main concerns for this is the public health care crisis and housing shortage of ports from dublin. there's growing discontent on the streets of dublin people

are struggling with soaring house prices a crumbling health service and the spiralling cost of childcare for generations i wish politics has been dominated by 2 centrist parties the ruling family gale party and the largest opposition in a fall many now see them as being part of the problem but it's time for our a change in our. 100 years with finn a full. time for change they make endless problems they don't have any of them so we're don't expect them to take in this time when all we can do is hope and we need to get down to business very quickly ireland's prime minister and leader. has presided over a period of cultural transformation is the country's 1st openly gay leader and in only a few years the socially conservative and traditionally catholic countries legalize same sex marriage and abortion fraud has also led tough breaks in negotiations with neighboring britain but he's also been accused of

a lack of political vision in the failing to confront concerns of home he's had his finger on the pulse of bragg's a for a while and he's actually done quite a good job of it there needs to be a heavier emphasis on i suppose the important issues housing you know health care education things that he hasn't really been so so good on for the 1st time in modern irish history opinion polls are predicting a shift in power away from the 2 traditional parties towards left wing nationalist chine fane and i think you will be my number one they put housing and health care at the heart of their campaign they also want to referendum on irish unification with. in 5 years northern ireland's part of the u.k. during the conflict in northern ireland the party was regarded as the political wing of the republican paramilitary group the ira 3 and a half 1000 people died in the violence that ended 20 years ago she feigns has it's time to move on this is about the future you know if we keep continue to look in the past we'll get nowhere this is about the future to future generations and on

the children today as to what kind of society what kind of contrie day will and can live and this is where it has been gaining ground poaching support from other political parties and attracting an entirely new generation of 1st time voters with promises to solve some of ireland's biggest problems health care housing and homelessness islands political landscape is changing no panties expected to win the election out right coalition building is inevitable new partnerships could emerge as age old political distinctions fade leave parka al-jazeera. u.s. president donald trump has fired 2 major witnesses in his impeachment trial barely 48 hours after the senate acquitted him the ambassador to the european union gordon song that was recalled just als off of the tenant colonel alexander vandeven was a scorcher from the white house both men were critical of president trump's handling of military aid to ukraine and gallica reports from washington. gordon

sunland was considered a close ally of president trump's the 61 year old businessman gave trump's inauguration committee a $1000000.00 became ambassador to the european union and is said to have had the president's number on speed dial all that changed after someone's explosive testimony to the president's handling of military aid to ukraine was there a quid pro quo as i testified previously with regard to the requested white house call and the white house meeting the answer is yes another pivotal witness in the impeachment korean to president trump was lieutenant colonel alexander that mn was a highly decorated soldier an expert on ukraine been man's testimony was said to have been breached the president is improper for the president of the united states to demand a foreign government investigate a u.s. citizen and a political opponent it was also clear that if you create pursued an investigation

into the 2016 elections the bidens and it would be interpreted as a parson play on friday lieutenant colonel the newman and his twin brother a lawyer at the national security council risk ordered from the white house by officials both have been reassigned just hours after the president commented on the lieutenant colonel well i'm not happy with it because supposedly happy with the fact that it is midnight in washington senior figures in the democratic party reacted angrily to the firings adam schiff who took a lead role in the president's impeachment tweeted lieutenant colonel that man did his job as a soldier in iraq he received a purple heart then he displayed another rare form of bravery moral courage he complied with a subpoena and told the truth he upheld his oath when others did not. one of the president's senior adviser said the firing sent a clear message that not backing the commander in chief will not be tolerated following the impeachment inquiry and his acquittal it seems that president trump is bent on retribution whitman's lawyer released

a statement saying the most powerful man in the world boyd by the silent pliable and complicit is designed to exact his revenge it came as no surprise to many that 2 key witnesses in what president trump called a hoax and now gone the question is who's next on the gallacher al-jazeera washington. former u.s. national security advisor john bolton is accusing the white house of trying to censor his new book the room where it happened is due out next month and denies it contains classified information but the national security council has warned bolton's lawyer of its concerns told him was sacked by trump and september before the complaint by an anonymous whistleblower it's led to trump's impeachment democratic party candidates hoping to secure the presidential nomination have held their latest t.v. face off in new hampshire before next week's primary there frontrunners judge and bernie sanders faced a barrage of criticism from rivals in the a.b.c.

news to base laura byrd and mentally reports. 4 days from now the voters here in new hampshire will weigh in 7 democratic hopefuls head to head to the hoop to convince new hampshire to vote for them in cheese days primary the debate started with messages of unity and the matter who wins this day i'm putting we're all going to stand together. but it didn't take long for the presidential hopefuls to start trading barbs that hate you old pete footage as was singled out for his to see if experience he was ready for the criticism if you're looking for the person with the most years of washington establishment experience under their belt and you've got your candidate and of course it's not me the perspective i'm bringing is that of somebody whose life has been shaped by the decisions that are made in those big white buildings in washington d.c. and when tsongas addressed social welfare issues you raise the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour was not going to give tax breaks to billionaires foma vice president

joe biden questioned whether money would come from it will cost more than the entire the entire federal budget we spend now when questioned on the impeachment proceedings biden prompted a standing ovation mcconnell alexandr that many a key witness to the trial and fired by trump stand up and clap for veterans to check out. you guys you. are a lot of these candidates the answer is do or die well but your doesn't break in the top 4 here she's out of this race if war finishes a distant 3rd again she's in very bad shape and if biden isn't very close to the top he's really reeling her own foreign policy and put it just was almost if you would make the same decision as trump in killing me again in general cause i'm still a money in iraq that if we learned nothing else from the war in iraq it's that taking

out a bad guy is not a good idea if you do not know what you are doing you cannot go around saying you're a bad guy we're going to assassinate you. and then you're going to have to if that happens you're opening the door to international advocate. to seize primary could very well decide on who stays in the race this was an opportunity for the hopefuls to make their case with sanders a british g.h. seen as the one to beat. out to 0. the polls are now closed in a regional election in the indian state of delhi the assembly vote is seen as a test for the ruling at the j.p. following weeks of often violent protests both in the capital and nationwide against the new citizenship law dozens of indians were killed and thousands detained demonstrating against the law regarded by many as anti muslim our india correspondent elizabeth cohen has more from the capital new delhi. polls opened at

8 am here in delhi to time to minister arvind kejriwal and has aam aadmi common man party are expected to be elected by the country's 2 main political parties the bought of the jump the party of on the skin of the movie and the congress party have been campaigning extensively prominent. voters to come out in large numbers the election is taking place after the biggest protest on the stability and the speech at the government since it was 1st elected 6 years ago that after they cost the citizenship amendment act in december the protest against the rule had been a key election issue for the b j c that being very critical the protesters in fact to be to the politicians were banned from campaigning. later as and said they wanted to try and get into a muslim country and a number of potential should be shot and just days after they made those remarks they were recruiting incidents against protesters. in one week now chief

minister arvind kejriwal has campaigned on the solution platforms of development of education healthcare that has resonated with voters in the past has common man on a historic 67 alpha the 70 seats in the last election in 2050 the election results on february 11th are going to be watched very closely will be a key indication of whether the d.j. these recent politics and campaign have what. the south korean film parricide has emerged as a surprise contender at the academy awards this weekend the dog comedy thriller has been nominated for a 6 macbride reports. on those who since its release last year the parasite has had south korea tweet mostly about the social injustice of a younger generation not able to better themselves no matter how hard they study in . it's becoming harder to imagine improving your social status as generally

accepted within our generation. because i found nothing to be fascinated about it equality problem it's been here for a long time kind of a time exaggeration in the movie the movie focuses on a poor family living in a semi basement to trick their way into the service of a much greater family with darkly comic consequences. i don't think in the region people are that stupid but suspend your disbelief for the duration of the movie and parasite becomes an intro all in fable about the struggles of the have nots all too painfully aware of the comforts enjoyed by the haves that they're living alongside it's a theme what resonates not only here but also in a world where the whitening wealth gap that gap is no better illustrated than guru young one of the last shanty areas of seoul starkly contrast with the towers of

neighboring kenya the brashly opulent district parodied in global fame by gangnam style displaced poor families when it was developed many of whom moved to korea and who now scrape together a living doing the menial jobs that gangnam needs much as in parasite i think it was very realistic in the way that it portrayed our society especially in korea and further development threatens to move these residents again locked in an ongoing battle with the government for proper compensation. and as south korea has developed it has become easier for the rich to earn more money while it has become more difficult for the poor to make a living it's an issue that has to be result. from its comic opening parasite quickly descends into in the car tragedy in. rone struggle the people of korea

hoping for a far happier ending rob mcbride al-jazeera sole. result is there and these are the top stories the soldier is holding people hostage in a shopping mall in thailand after shooting dead at least 12 others the incident happened in the northeast city of korra in soldiers most of is unclear but there are reports that he may have stolen weapons and ammunition from his battalion before attacking the shopping center when he has the latest from the thai capital bangkok an act of serving member of the thai army is believed to have shot a commanding officer on the military base and at least 2 others on the base before he has stolen an army vehicle more weapons and ammunition as well leaving the army base and then driving towards the center of coal routes towards the shopping mall

we seemingly entered the more late in the afternoon early evening at a time on a saturday when it would have been very busy full of shoppers and that is where the situation is still unfolding as we speak he is believed to be holding several hostages inside there hong kong has begun 2 weeks of mandatory quarantine for all arrivals from mainland china the restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the corona virus which has killed at least $724.00 chinese nationwide's. russian and turkish delegates a meeting to discuss fighting in syria turkey's military is warning of retaliation against further attacks if the prophets h. turks were killed by syrian army shelling on monday. winter weather has worsened conditions for syrians living in a refugee camp in lebanon's bekaa valley it comes as the ongoing economic crisis in lebanon is having a serious impact on humanitarian programs. ireland's snap general election is underway opinion polls are predicting

a shift away from the 2 main center right policies towards the left wing nationalist party while ireland has the fastest growing economy in the european union the main concern for votes is the public health care crisis and housing shortage. 2 senior officials who testified in the impeachment inquiry against us president donald trump have been fired by him 48 hours after his acquittal or in some learned new tenant colonel alexander event been criticised strums handling of military aid to ukraine those are the headlines news continues here after al-jazeera to al-jazeera we talk about 2 of the biggest problems facing and they are the endemic corruption and we listen so if you really put place china as an enemy of ours and that's really then yours we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that back to 000 they got away with it this week senate republicans voted to acquit president donald trump but can he ever escape the taint

of impeachment i'll ask one of his closest allies. steve cortez thanks for joining me on outfront on wednesday president trump was acquitted on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of congress you must be delighted the white house has called it a full exoneration for the president but given this was the 1st full senate impeachment trial in american history not to feature any witnesses senate republicans did not allow any witnesses it's not a full exoneration at all is it well maybe i.