al-jazeera. and. this is al-jazeera. hello i'm rob matheson and this is the news hour live from our international broadcast center in doha coming up in the next 60 minutes panic at a shopping mall in thailand as a soldier goes on a shooting rampage killing at least 21 people. a 3 way tie exit polls and islands general election suggest it's too close to call. china builds more hospital

beds to cope with the corona virus outbreak as the world health organization war is about the spread of misinformation. and i'm talk to those hottest day ever what that could mean for the world's water levels. a gunman is holed up in a shopping center in thailand after a shooting rampage that began more than 10 hours ago the latest information we've got is that at least 21 people have been killed the soldiers attack began in the city of course before he took people hostage in a mall when hey as more. late on a saturday afternoon a shopping mall in thailand came under attack a gunman opened fire at a time when it would have been at its busiest. here he can be seen firing

multiple rounds towards people and passing cars. people found what have a cover they could after he entered the mall panic shoppers ran out the day coming to a terrifying hearing and if you look at the number of casualties is not yet confirmed as the situation is still ongoing we have been trying to bring out whoever we can 1st and we will gradually save others who are still stuck inside this was the heavily armed gunman seeming to walk casually through the mall he had earlier be named by police as jack reponse tama a 32 year old soldier in the thai army he began his rampage hours earlier by killing a commanding officer on a military base outside the city as he continued his murderous spree he posted updates on social media including this one where he complained that his finger was sore from pulling the trigger so many times gun violence is common in this country but not on the scale this will be remembered as one of thailand's darkest days and

it's not 5 in the morning in thailand let's go to wayne hay in bangkok wayne we've seen some extraordinary pictures coming out of court at what's happening now. well the latest update we have came through a short time ago from the health minister who you saw in that piece there he is there on the ground in the city of corette where this has been unfolding over the course of many hours and he confirmed that the death toll has risen to $21.00 and the additional fatality he confirmed was a police officer who was killed seemingly in a gun battle inside the shopping mall that gun battle of course taking place with the gunman himself we are not sure though because he didn't go into any further details the health minister about the actual situation that is unfolding there still we do not know exactly what the situation is there whether there are still people trapped or being held inside the mall by the gunman we know we've seen many

people coming out of the more some of them injured including in the last couple of hours or so those injured taken away to the hospitals which are becoming very busy of course because not only do we have $21.00 fatalities but we have many people who are injured and the government officials have been calling for people who live in the area there to go to their local medical facilities to donate blood so the situation still very much unfolding it seems as if the gunman is somewhere inside that mall the security forces seem to be closing in on where he is but so far he is alluding capture we're in do we have any clearer indications about the gunman himself who years and what might have motivated them. certainly no indication yet of any motive no doubt that investigation is already well underway even though he is still at large somewhere inside the shopping mall

he's a 32 year old serving member of the thai army he's not from corette from a town not too far away he had a rank of sergeant major so clearly he has been in the military for a while and there is no clue yet as to what his motive might have been it seems as if judging by that 1st shooting that took place where he killed his superior officer at around 3 o'clock on saturday afternoon that this may well have started as some sort of personal grievance perhaps a grudge but obviously it is become a lot bigger than that is he then after that in the hours after that went towards the central part of the city to the shopping mall and has continued his killing spree he did post many messages photos videos to facebook as he did this which ultimately taken down by facebook but really no clues in those messages either other than one vague reference to some sort of corruption issue but that really is

the only evidence at the moment pointing towards any sort of motive it doesn't appear as if he's a member of any sort of extremist group or support any sort of group so i think that this stage that as a motive could be could be ruled out we're no we're going to be checking in with you as this story continues but for now thanks very much indeed. well voting ended just over an hour ago in ireland's general election with exit polls predicting it's going to be very tight there's nothing between 3 parties with leo a vote i because finally if in a gale on 22.4 percent the left wing nationalist party shin fein have 22.3 percent in the main opposition fed a file has 22.2 percent paul brown and brown and has been following the vote for us in dublin this result if they exit poll is to be believed is one that people didn't really expect all. know the polls the opinion

polls leading into this election. ending its campaign somewhere around 25 percent because fianna gael dropping potentially as low a 17 percent now those are pinion polls and of course when you get to the ballot box 'd it's somewhat different when it comes to the crunch where are you going to put your number your preferences 1234 and on what's that said for them all to come so close together is momentous it's a it's a big performance by faint this nationalist republican party traditionally seen as a fringe party as far as mainstream politics goes so for them to poll and match the 2 big traditional parties who've seen power swap between them backwards and forwards finale 100 years is extraordinary what we did though was that voters want to change and that's why it's perhaps no surprise that chin fein did so well let's have a look at my report. the buzzword of this election campaign was change ireland's

economy may be the fastest growing in the e.u. but the people here are struggling with soaring house prices and years long waiting lists for public health care the desire for change is one of the expected to oust the t. shirt leo veronica of the fianna gael party who nonetheless put on a brave face as he cast his vote his main challenger me haul martin of pheno 4 will also try to look relaxed as his polling station in the city of cork but it seems the tide is turning against both the main parties this young person carrying out i have a lot of fears about what the future is going to be with climate change and how that's going to affect my life in the future so i hope that the greens can have a fair amount of say in how arlen shapes a teacher. i'll turn has to. go independent but basically just some kind of alternative to the status quo have a prayer. chin fane is the left wing nationalist republican party

previously regarded as the political wing of the paramilitary group the ira now shedding those associations and remolding itself as a progressive alternative to it's very important to say today's the day that the people are in charge and every single vote people have told this campaign that they want to change nonpolitical factors by also influence the outcome of this election is the 1st saturday poll since 1918 store wins a sweeping across from the west bringing gusts of 120 kilometers an hour slap bang in the middle of polling day a major rugby international. morning got a few jobs done and i got up there about 9 o'clock this morning and have you voted already. imagine that gave is more important vote i'm sorry i can't believe it. but it's important we vote counting of the ballots won't start until sunday morning

and the most likely outcome of this election is a coalition government ition fein chooses to enter that coalition government it would be an extraordinary outcome and could open the door to a referendum for a united ireland and even if the party chooses to stay in opposition the days of 2 party dominance here appear to be well and truly over. now maybe they're talking about shin fein in those terms is perhaps putting the cart before the horse but to analyze the early indications from that exit poll dr lisa keenan joins me she's a. star a lecturer in political science from trinity college it was almost a bit of a wow when those those early results came out these are 1st preference with 22 percent for all 3 of those policies is pretty extraordinary yes i think it's a very interesting result for those of us who are interested takes and also for the electress it's going to make it very difficult to know at this stage which parties

and pole position to form a government why it's down to the single transferable votes and the permutations they're after isn't a yes it's a very complex but essentially at what we have here the exit poll is the 1st preference votes but obviously at people who are looking at their policies are free to rank on any other party and any other position on their policy so what's really could be important is where the transfers are going there are people willing to vote number one should they number 2 in a gale for example and if that's the case then we may see it again do need to be wow we should not expect that to happen right they are going to create this governing penalty essentially which is going to punish them for being in government i think on balance are probably still best place to be the largest party and it could take a while for government to form so it's very difficult to work out what form about government it might take but internationally speaking. what implications are there for foreign policy international politics bearing in mind that power. i'm going to feed a full now probably on the basis balance of probabilities looks the most likely to

be the t. shirt the whole market well unfortunately and if we're thinking about kind of the big foreign policy issues that are the need still at which is ranks in the direction that i see ations the political parties in ireland are sitting generally in agreement about the approach that should be taken this is one of the reasons why i asked in a gal's campaign when he didn't get off the grind essentially iraq was trying to convince people that his party had done well in the negotiations and know what their party would've been able to do the same that just wasn't credible given the fact there was such a high degree of agreement among the political parties thank you very much indeed for joining us nice of staying up so late but the actual counting of the votes doesn't start until 9 am on sunday morning and it could be a long process as i say transferrable votes this 1st 2nd 3rd and on preferences it could be a while before we actually see a firm government but nevertheless the really early results that we got from this exit poll up pretty momentous back to you and thanks paul. but of more ahead on the

news hour including as yet more talks between libya's warring 'd sides and without a cease fire agreements realize what it will take to end the conflict. i'm alex yeah brian in new south wales a stray which is seeing some of its biggest rain since the fire season began find out why that's got some scientists why are 8. 100 sport less than a week after the super bowl of wyvil football league is underway in the united states details coming up later in the program. the world health organization is sending an expert team to china next week to help beijing cope with a walk on the corona virus outbreak in mainland china 780 people have died after becoming infected that's out of more than 34500 confirmed cases there on top of that at least 288 people have been infected in 24 other countries and hong kong

a 2 week mandatory quarantine for all arrivals from mainland china has come into effect and in japan thousands of cruise ship passengers remain in quarantine doctors in the port of your hama have confirmed 64 cases on board katrina you reports from beijing the owners 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 have been pointing frank least 2 weeks after japan's yokohama push that's after more than 60 tested positive for corona virus we are all instructed to stay in our own cabin. you know that people from the insurer cabin been allowed up there on yak and they may have had a chance to interact although they've been instructed to stay a metre 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 that had sailed from china. the world health organization says there's no need for alarm 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 cars and the ethnic quake moving over fears of coronavirus. chinese restaurants and businesses have reportedly been burnt down to the pool has increased its alert

level after new cases of corona virus not linked to previous infections or travel to china of course it. people are rushing to supermarkets to stock up on food and essential goods and around the world more people are buying masks and what's called personal protective equipment or people pushing up prices and creating shortages the world is facing severe disruption in the market for person and for person and protective equipment the mondays have 200 times higher than normal and prizes and up to 20 times higher. the un agency says more than 80 percent of corona virus cases globally reported can be considered mild and is calling for nations to work together to fight the outbreak in ruhani a 2nd emergency hospital with 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 nischelle 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 dating the w.h.o. says one of the major battles in fighting the infection is countering the spread of misinformation. while the virus spreads misinformation makes the job of our heroic health workers even harder it's diverting the attention of decision makers and it causes confusion and spreads fear to the general public doubly we're not just battling the virus we're also battling the trolls and conspired as

a conspiracy theorists that push misinformation and undermine the outbreak response what is the virus spreads around the world members of chinese and other asian communities say fear and racism are spreading to chinese tourists have spoken of being spat at while visiting european cities like venice some mothers in milan have used social media to call for their children to be kept away from chinese classmates while a petition to ban chinese people from malaysia received almost half a 1000000 signatures in one week they join is a program associate specializing in u.s. china relations at the wilson center she says discriminatory discriminating reactions to the virus happening both in and outside of china. i think that in this time of crisis people really want to reach for. answers that seem really really convenient for them and this actually starts i think in china

because the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis is in the presence of who bay you are seeing in china villages blockading people from who bay. undergoing manhunts or people that are from the province or from will on so on and so forth and here in the united states where i live. this reflexively ching for easy answers extends to the racialization of people of east asian descent of chinese descent and seeing them as disease vectors whether or not that's accurate is not necessarily the 1st thing on people's minds overall it really comes back to different communities around the world reaching for their working together to try to resolve this issue or continuing to reach for those really really simple reflex of

conclusions and that's that's something that i think the east asian communities experiencing racism can't fight alone peace talks between representatives of libya's u.n. recognize government on wall street for have to have again ended with no agreement senior officials from the warring sides gathered at the united nations in geneva this was the latest in a series of talks to ease his status he's in the country are down the hamid is at the talks in geneva and he says both sides with a longer heads over what to do about the various on groups in their view and on the withdrawal of hostiles forces. an internationally recognized government in tripoli has been calling for the troops of have to pull back 2 to 3 april 2019 position that means all the way back. pulling out of south of tripoli pulling out of sirte that is something the general have to has been the former general rather has been saying no to and continue to say no to we don't know

much about how did what was going on during those meetings simply because they kept it secretive at no point did read the report does see any of these delegations coming in and out of the u.n. building behind us but we do know that there were some points where they didn't see eye to eye and the 2 main ones being what to do with the few diffusion of these armed groups and pulling the debris out of the clear libyan national army that needs to go back to the east now to communicate that was issued at the end of this round it says that the 2 parties agreed that. thousands of displaced people need to go back to their homes but they also did not agree on ways to bring back some normalcy to those areas that had been evacuated by civilians with some hundreds editor in chief of the international interest it's an online political

analysis site and he's joining us by skype from sitting in thank you very much indeed for your time sir both sides in this seem to be so far apart in your opinion what's the tipping point that would actually bring these sides together is the one particular element that if they can agree on that everything else could start to fall. we need to convince have that a military solution is not possible the reason why there is no political settlement is because half that essentially believes that with the support of france with the support of the u.a.e. with the support of egypt as long as france can continue to block any diplomatic efforts from the e.u. as long as the u.a.e. can keep giving him weapons as long as providers are just ticks across the border that eventually he can't he can't take tripoli he believes it's a very real possibility all he needs is some one month and he can take tripoli and he believes if he does then everybody talking about the diplomats assume solution

a political solution will change and they will recognize him they were recognize his role over libya in the same way that recognized sisi in egypt said raj is has his back to the wall so large once they put it that he wants have to push back and the reason he's not accepting the demilitarization of the militias in tripoli is because he knows best ascension made in the coffin essentially removing his armor removing his weapon to allow him to be wide open for half the result so the tipping point is to remove the prospect of a military victory from have that because he believes it is on the curing what we are getting a little bit of drop out on the audio on your skype signal but we are going to continue for the moment so bear with us if i understand avoid what you're saying is go if i understand what you're saying correctly then the the pressure should really be directed towards the countries the external countries which are supporting hafter to try to persuade them to remove that support and therefore take his confidence in a military solution away what kind of pressure could be put on those countries.

i think it's very difficult because it's not an easy question to answer the e.u. does not want to pressure france too much because france is a leader in the e.u. france and germany are essentially the leaders of the e.u. you have 2 leaders at loggerheads who can't agree with how to proceed with regards to libya in terms of the u. egypt and saudi arabia that's much more easier one order from the u.s. and they will pull out immediately because they will not compromise their relationship with donald trump for the sake of have to in libya it is u.s. apathy that gives these countries confidence to operate in libya france is the real real problem because france believes it's in a crisis in africa it's losing influence in west africa and west african countries are calling for the ousting of french influence out geria has a change of regime it's out of the french strongholds it's france that is desperate to assert itself in africa and it's willing to even go against the e.u. e.u.

policy in order to ensure that there is no political solution and in order to ensure that its ally is established in libya so that it can get its rewards for bringing nato and to give their feet france believes it has a right to libya and this is the reason why i'm less there is significant pressure to that can be applied to france which is highly unlikely it's very difficult to get any of these international powers to pressure have them to a political solution so we have a we appreciate your time as always thank you very much indeed and the conflict in libya is top of the agenda for the african union summit tell me if your peers capital addis ababa speaking at the meeting the u.n. secretary general antonio has criticized other countries for interfering. for example with regards to libya it's evident the crisis has been seriously aggravated by the presence of forces and equipment from many other countries in clear violation of the mandate of the security council i think we have to reestablish the

sovereignty of international law and the conditions in which the decisions of the security council could be implemented and that countries should understand that their engagement to promote certain conflicts only increases the potential for action by terrorist groups mohammad valls covering this forest from. antonio guterres the secretary general of the united nations also mentioned sudan and he at the beginning he big he began with south sudan praising the efforts to bring about some resolution about the constellation there and then he talked about the republic of sudan saying that it's high time to remove it from the list of sanctions of the list of state states possible sponsors of terrorism listen to his words on that respect jr feel i reaffirm that it is time for sudan to be removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and i call on the international community to help sudan in its efforts to meet its current challenges. there is also talked about

cooperation and solidarity with africa he said he's coming here. in oh he's bringing a central message of solidarity and support to the african union he's aware of the complaints here within africa with regards to what's been perceived marginalization of the united nations or the international community in terms of what's going on in libya and the african union believing that they should be given a greater role in that respect he mentioned the will of the united nations to exactly do that and he said that from now on the african union will be invited to have a permanent representation within the united nations that presentation in libya he also asked the african union to join efforts with the united nations in terms of peacekeeping in terms of combating terrorism u.s. and afghan forces of come under attack in eastern afghanistan the soldiers were taking part in a joint operation in our province when they were engaged by direct fire u.s.

forces have been helping the afghan army clear an area threatened by the taliban in the region. still ahead on al-jazeera what a local vote in india's capital might mean for prime minister narendra modi. the stories of beit lahia we are told are the most delicious in the world i'm stephanie decker in the gaza strip and i will have this story coming up. on in sport pakistan star player shows just why he's become one of cricket's most feared batsman. hello now the latest storm that's gone through the u.s. which is a violent one has at least gone off shore it's going to cause some damage in northern europe and as it goes away what was in the west which was snow from into the cascades the rockies now this across the plains into the midwest was rain

showers the science of that there's a contrast in temperature is not a huge one so these are probably just just going to be xander still rather than thing more vicious than that this is sunday's picture you're looking at which is a much drier and sunnier one in seattle and in vancouver and into nor again haven't seen that for quite a while after turkey and that's true down the pacific coast as well all monday the rain is developed a bit more big showers i think down the southeast once again looks like a repeat performance so i don't think it'll be anything like as vicious and there's not much snow on the northern end or on the back end either in fact is not that cold was either in chicago or minus 3 in minneapolis and the real cold pool is in winnipeg that's gone as well minus 6 as opposed to minus 12 so the back edge of this frontal system is on its way through cuba and the bahamas which means for crosswise it's turning off we're going to few showers left or not very many 26 don't have hours warmed up against slowly 29 and 29 in belize and here the sun

shines brilliantly. radicalism is on the rise across the globe and we're told it's everywhere asked we're told we're supposed to be highly suspicious of everybody and everything but our government policies aimed at tackling radicalization in fact pushing the youngsters to the fringes of society the impact is huge i don't know there's only so much we can strike before you say ok that's me rethinking radicalization of the radicalized few syrians on al-jazeera around the world powerful entities are working to manipulate and influence us trolls thoughts fakey just algorithms that a tree developed and designed to push content that says click me every click we make is value just sold off one and in the further 5 part series i do 3

is in mexico examining how propaganda and proper shape content all the algorithms on the i just feel. you want to know it is either a reminder of our top stories this hour in thailand security forces have stormed the shopping center after a mass shooting which has left at least $21.00 people dead more than 30 people have been wounded after a soldier went on a gun rampage in the city of caught. voting is over the nolens general election with exit polls predicting a very close result of party fin a gale has 22.4 percent of the vote that's less than

a percent ahead of its 2 main rivals. an international team of investigators led by the world health organization is heading to china to help with a wood called on the virus outbreak more than 780 people have died from the virus so far and the number of those infected has risen past 34500. turkey has sent reinforcements across its border after syrian government forces advanced on the last rebel held province talks with russian officials have been taking place in ankara to try to deescalate the situation in egypt last week turkey's said it had killed dozens of syrian government soldiers in response to an attack the regime ignored warnings to retreat and has now taken the set of cake. down gives the government forces access to 2 major highways the m 4 and the m 5 that could open a direct route to rebel positions on the western outskirts of aleppo and into the

city of it live in violence of government forces and the capture of saddam no means for new turkish opposite observation posts aren't are surrounded. us following the story from istanbul he says turkey is losing patience with russia and its allies the turkish government has been frustrated over way described as lack of corporation from the russian government says that russia has not been able to rein in president bashar his troops who have taken over and seem to be determined to move forward towards the city of. this meeting is more about the need to see whether. the russians will be able to convince the syrian troops to back away from. and the men in the turkish military outpost that were operating around and also on the outskirts of it live that's very

crucial for turkey and this explains why they have been sending more reinforcements . however if you look at the situation on the ground you have the syrian army sending more troops all the way towards some sort of as it could potentially move towards must have to move ahead to words to words. and this explains why the turkish army is setting up new outposts in those areas and the turkish military has said its troops that are equipped enough and ready to retaliate if the syrian government decides to go ahead. well 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 a shortage of funding means fewer families are receiving support this year so hi dr

paul it's from a syrian refugee camp in back of ali they're all about probably 300 people living in this refugee camp it's one of many in back of ali. so 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 into been here for years and the conditions are getting harder and harder each year funding has been cut for. an economic crisis has made life so much harder and they've also received a lot of hostility from the lebanese government as well as some nova nice people who feel that they have put an extra strain on the economic crisis where the lebanese themselves are suffering from so there's about a quite close to a 1000000 syrian refugees here is a large number and 3 quarters of those syrian refugees live. 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 and the lebanese government just a couple of days ago in their policy statement have made it clear that a lot of them have to return by coach they believe safe now burton says is hoping to finalize a trade deal with japan before the end of the year foreign secretary dominic robb has been in tokyo for talks the u.k. is working to secure trade deals with major world economies after brags that as part of any negotiations japan wants britain to drop utopian union restrictions on japanese food imports which were imposed after the focus shima nuclear disaster 9 years ago. voting has finished for a regional election in the indian the state of delhi being seen as a test for the national government with all those weeks of often violent protests against a new citizenship law some of the largest demonstrations but in new delhi it is about put on them is there and sent this report. determined to have this same

millions in india's capital region headed to polling stations after a campaign. from the very old to 1st time voters they told al jazeera what matters to them i think we need to shift. from. from community. from china. for that matter and. talking about an. issue. to be prime minister that in the modi and has bought at the party of b j p have campaigned to end weeks of widespread protests against the citizenship including in the shopping bag neighborhood to be j.p. politicians were banned from campaigning after comparing protesters to rapists and murderers saying the demonstrators were determined to make india a muslim country. another politician said protestors should be shot they were 2

shooting incidents against protesters in one week after those comments were made a b j p election candidate said protest is a disrupting every day life yet every year. on race to know we want peace you want to harmony because. if that is entirely peace in your city and your country. the 2 time chief minister of delhi ivan kejriwal from the common man party focused its campaign on development education and health care which. i'm hopeful that the delhi public will vote on the work that we've done and that the common man party can form the government here for the 3rd time analysts say the alternative could lead to more protests but the fear is that if the b.b. comes to power in delhi that the distance for the protests in different parts of the front be would be approved so what we are stating at this some. is some more tension in the coming days so let's see how it plays out. the election result is

due to be announced on tuesday the b j p hasn't been in power in delhi for 22 years the result will indicate whether its nationalist campaign has paid off or if voters are giving the activists to. a 3rd term in office elizabeth for on al-jazeera a new day. a stern is being hit by a tropical cyclone and floods with some areas so by the heaviest rainfall in almost 2 decades the number of rescue operations is more than doubled in new south wales since friday the country's bushfire crisis which has raged for months could be eased by the downpours box the combination of extreme weather is causing new problems including deborah from the fires being swept into rivers that supply drinking water and brian reports from new south wales welcome rain almost blackened land to just waste of sydney. it's not the 1st down pole since the fire season began last year boss it's reduced the number of active blazes and is bringing

relief to areas gripped by the worst drought on record but the deluge is also sweeping piles of ash sought and other debris into rivets lakes and dams that provide drinking water to those living nearby we've never had an experience like this before. during the bush for a period of we had a $390.00 pass and take days off the catchment actually burned and that of us was actually kind down to the water a long time it's a significant impact of what fossil put across say. this is war again but damn it supplies same to sydney's drinking water but could be contaminated by charred debris from the vast bushfires in the area. scientists say it probably won't cause any health problems by. taking any chances but they've put in silk persons to catch any material that could affect water quality and of monitoring the situation

closely contaminated water isn't just a problem for humans small pieces of ash from trees like this can get into the waterways and suffocate the fish by can also cause algal blooms which can produce dangerous toxins all cut the amount of oxygen in the water and that can put all the wildlife at risk. even gave thousands of fish died in january when brains washed sludge into the maclay river in new south wales. and late last year piles of ash called to the beaches as fires raged by. many bushfires a still burning up and down this coastline leaving waterways and water supplies at risk it takes decades for a forest to re grow and to raise stiva laws we will be dealing with different quality water different organic matter coming down sediment loads for many years and i would predict in many cases certainly in sydney's chis decades new growth is beginning to push through the scorched landscape but the cost of this unprecedented

fire season is mounting and it's not over yet. brian al-jazeera new south wales australia deforestation and brazil's amazon rain forest doubled in january compared with a year ago government data shows more than 280 square kilometers of land was destroyed last month destruction of the rain forest tends to slow it this time of the year as the rainy season limits access. meanwhile i'm targeting has just had its haustus day ever recorded the temperature rose to $18.00 degrees celsius at an argentine research base it's on the antarctic peninsula which is jetting up towards south america that part of the continent has warmed much faster than the global average over the past 50 years causing glaziers to shrink by 87 percent scientists fear rising temperatures will eventually cause the ice sheet across the entire

south pole to disintegrate causing sea levels worldwide to rise by at least 3 meters under shepherd is professor of earth observation at the university of leeds he researches the changes in the antarctic and its impact on the environment and he says the damage won't be fixed for a 1000 years. this temperature record from the argentine base is being really powerful for as it's allowed us to say whether the changes that are happening in antarctica in this part of the continent are short term look 2 ations or a long term trend and it's definitely the latter but they also very much like the canadian fires at the moment give us a glimpse into the future and how different parts of the world will be in just a few decades time so we learn a lot about how ice response to changes in climate just because of this particular part of the planet the northern tip of the antarctic peninsula there are

a series of ice shelves and really floating extensions of glass tears into the sea and they've broken away over the past 2 or 3 decades and we didn't think that that was possible until it started to happen and that and they were reversible process they won't grow back again for a 1000 years and this is the 1st time it's happened in 10000 years so this is definitely a signal of dramatic change the ice is retreating called the south are not taught but we learn how really glass is respond to ocean and warming because of what's happened here and we can use that information to improve our predictions of what's going to happen farther south where there's a lot more ice it's strawberry harvest time for farmers in gaza and most of it's been for the occupied west bank but getting the berries there though is a challenge because of the blockade imposed by israel and egypt 70 deca reports from beit lahiya. it's warmer in here than outside on this crisp february morning.

the sweet smell of ripe strawberries fills the green house abu sami's family has been farming this land for generations this is because they're here and all is going on he said 82 years old abu sami doesn't only have a lifetime of farming knowledge sweet but is also witness the con. change of this political landscape couldn't west when. we used to sell our product in israel when we were under israeli occupation but says 2006 when how much took over and israeli imposed the blockade we can't sell in the israeli market so farmers income has decreased a lot now the main market for gaza store breeze is the occupied west bank around an hour's drive from here before the. filmy year israeli product compete with us even in the west bank because my product takes days to get there as it has to follow certain the procedures while israeli produce takes just a few hours to reach the markets the client prefers freshly picked rather than mine

and it's loses 20 percent of quality along the steering this umbrella. certain fertilizer is a banned by israel citing security reasons and that too we're told is affecting the quality of the strawberries but despite that things are moving forward now this is a relatively new way of growing stories they started having them around 3 years ago and farmers are telling us that they get around 3 times more strawberries using this technique rather than just keeping them in the ground and there's less grist of disease because they're protected by the greenhouse and also for from the ground this hanging method also maximizes the use of space and it's also pretty while we're filming a group of visitors arrive but i have not heard that silvio either so are we do i think selfies individuals and i will upload them to social media i did not know that we have these problems they are fantastic and i don't think many people know about it i think we should publicize this and increase awareness of the good things

we have. but the restrictions of the blockade are felt in every layer of this farming process and there is the never ending cycle of escalation between israel and the various armed groups here. the darkest period in our lives after 2006 the siege is really tough and it's meant on our movements it affects every part of our lives and our fortunately things are getting worse you simply cannot predict today what will happen tomorrow. perhaps a small response is the reliable cycle of nature the changing seasons and the harvest they bring and if you managed to drown out the constant buzzing of the israeli drone in the sky you could just about imagine a very different reality stephanie decker al-jazeera and distribute fields of beit lahia northern gaza. still ahead an al-jazeera kind of record setting masterpiece

helped promote peace and one of the world's most violent countries. and in sports some tricky conditions at a world cup ski event in france far is going to hear the details. of. a conflict that is now considered to be the world's worst humanitarian crisis how many did not know how to die behind this horrible stock responses on are really for sale and investigation into how billions of euros are made from supplying arms to saudi arabia a leader of the coalition fighting a war in the south the case is interesting to watch his remarks on money involved yemen war profiteers on al-jazeera. 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 it is very true 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 hudson as i put it up front questions to my special guest and challenge them to some straight talking political debate here on al-jazeera. artisan hundreds of volunteers have created a temporary masterpiece in the mexico city the tradition of decorating the ground with colorful exhibits started in europe but it's now an important part of the culture of mexico and central america 9 year old apollo reports. corn

husks dyed salts and pine needles are just some of the materials being used in this distinctly mexican piece of art. and the canvas for this potential masterpiece is mexico city's central plaza and socolow right in the middle of the city's iconic historic district. it's taking more than $300.00 volunteers to design and execute this one of a kind that bit a monument or monumental mat this style of art has its origins in europe over the centuries however it's become an iconic part of mexican culture on this saying you know everything we're doing revolves around the design which requires made different forms and textures everything is based on harmony love solidarity and peace we want people to come out and join us and learn more about this culture. the clock is ticking to finish the artwork before the weekend when tourists normally flood this part of town only to see it luckily there are volunteers like and don't use a button who have offered to lend

a hand and don't use been creating that bit is like these for 25 years and says he's committed to having this one finished on time and. i took time off work to join this project this interests me and i like it i think everyone here really likes this and makes us feel proud to be able to share this tradition we have in mexico. the final design will feature. a hairless dog with strong ties to mysticism and mexican folklore. but getting all the textures and colors to look just right requires a surprising amount of attention to detail. the choice of materials is one of the most important aspects of designing a traditional debit in this instance we're using dyed corn with all of the materials or organic biodegradable and reusable. a few last minute touches and the final product is complete. a little fanfare to get the crowd

excited and it's time for the. measuring some 3200 square meters organizers see this stuff at the moment could be the largest of its kind in the world. about. mexico city it's time for sports his father thanks very much the access fell a resurrected american football league that's meant to rival the n.f.l. has officially kicked off in the united states a competition features 8 teams and traditional rules have been tweaked to encourage faster higher scoring games it's a reboot of the league which is backed by billionaire wrestling promoter vince mcmahon the original accept folded in 2001 after just one season 1st game saw the d.c. defenders beat the seattle dragons u.s. sports broadcaster michael carlson believes the league faces a huge commercial and sporting challenge. my gut feeling right now is that it's probably going to be

a miss in the long term and the question will be how long how deep the pockets are in able to in order to sustain the league the problem the excess faces is a lack of stars to attract an audience it's going to be perceived as as a as a lower level of the game and what they're trying to do is to make up for that by making it a more attractive game that could work and it could have an influence on the n.f.l. to sort of look at their rule changes and and maybe and maybe take them on board but the n.f.l. right now is is such a. big and dominant business with with the 1st call on players that unless they want to start spending money to track star players i think it's probably going to be something like a minor league there is a big appetite for actual football in america the question is whether that appetite will be a swathed by by a spring time league with players who are not quite up to n.f.l.

standards football now and there's been a huge upset in syria league leaders eventis respond to one by verona and also on saturday atalanta came from behind to win as they look to qualify for next season's champions league the northern italian side were down one nil against fiorentina before do the equalized on 49 minutes. got the winner with less than 20 minutes remaining his goal sealing it to one the result leaves adolescents of 4th in syria 3 points ahead of the top 4 qualify for the champions league. box on star player bob was one of 2 batsmen to record centuries on saturday as the home side took control of the 1st cricket test against bangladesh shaun masood was the 1st to reach 3 figures the openers for the 100 for his 3rd test century bob van racked up his 5th ton in the longer format he ended the day 2 on 143 not 0

with pox on 342 for 3 they lead bangladesh by a 109 runs in the 1st innings i don't think in international cricket specially in test cricket there's an easy opposition also that we've never played this i had never played this bangladeshi said before and they had some decent cmos and then a very good spin and who ended up getting me out arlin be defending champions wales in rugby 6 nations championship earlier in dublin the home side ran in 4 tries to win it 2414 handing wales their 1st 6 nations defeat in 9 matches wells will seek to get their campaign back on track when they host france in cardiff on february 22nd all the star power of roger federer and rafa nadal help set a new attendance record for a tennis match the charity event took place in south africa almost 52000 people came out to watch 2 of the games all time great at the cape town stadium which was

built for the 2010 football world cup. this is so much more than just tennis. i really hope we can do it again oh prophet could do it again one day come back to this beautiful country i'm so proud to have roots starting here. and thank you very much for coming everybody really is so so special. greywater with his foundation named in india in south africa and all around i think the most in the good values i have been kids that really made and that's the only thing that really matters not after that i had to get back here as much as we can rule had been a very lucky person so just thanks everybody for supporting them for making me. rich. spain of being in japan to book their place in thomas' fed cup finals carlos whereas navarone defeated crewmen are in straight sets 6163 to complete a 3 nothing victory spain are looking to win the top team event in women's tennis for a 6th time

a new look spread cup finals will be held in budapest in april. the president of france's ice sports federation has resigned amid a sexual abuse investigation diddy a gay gay has stepped down after 4 athletes claim they've been would be used by former coaches gay a gay had employed a coach who'd been the subject of 2 misconduct inquiries and had been found guilty of committing serious acts against young skaters a world cup skier that and france saw several of the previous favorites crash out of those involved alexis in no row so he was 4th fastest up to the 1st leg but failed to finish the final run well italy's to follow gros who was 3rd fastest of the 1st run crashed out in the 2nd a total of 9 skiers flounder joining the race it gave the chance for noel to finish top clinching his 3rd world cup slalom of the year the 6 of his career. and that's all your sport for now more later. and that's it for me for this news

hour i'll be back in a moment with more of the day's news or see it bubbling. capturing a moment in time. snapshots of other lives. of the stories. providing the clips into someone else's world that it was due to or. inspiring documentaries from impassioned filmmakers. like

a witness on al-jazeera. the race for the white house has begun this month to 04 states have their say on who they wants to face down in trouble with the election. mr rafiki to continue coverage of the festive to the 2020 u.s. election. on a visit to. the island of sardinia a famously a delay khalid a spot. less well known as a proving ground for war. investigating claims that years of military training and ons testing triggered cancer and birth defects amid the local population. secret sardinia people in power on al-jazeera. we understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the world so no

matter how you take it out 0 bringing you the news and current affairs that matter to you the. counter 0. a soldier who went on a shooting rampage in thailand is still holed up inside a shopping mall at least 21 people are confirmed dead. i'm about this and this is all jazeera live from doha also coming up the death toll from the corona virus outbreak in china climbs to 805 it's now killed more people than the 2003 sars outbreak. i 3 way time exit polls in arlen's general election

suggest it's too close to call. and antarctica is hottest day ever what 'd that could mean for the world's water levels.