bernie sanders leads the democratic primary in new hampshire as voters decide who should challenge donald trump for the u.s. presidency. watching al-jazeera live from a headquarters in doha i'm doubting you know bill gates also ahead prosecutors investigating a close ally of the u.s. president have quit after the justice department scales back its sentencing recommendation. the palestinian president tells the u.n. security council the donald trump's middle east plan would end the hopes of a palestinian state as israel questions his commitment to peace. the world health

organization says the china coronavirus probe poses a great threat to the world and should be considered public enemy number one. hello early results are coming in for the 1st democratic primary in the us presidential election with more than half of new hampshire's precincts and bernie sanders is in the lead followed by people who judge in any close are no democrat has become the party's presidential nominee without finishing 1st or 2nd in new hampshire or we have 2 correspondents on the story chris salumi standing by for us in nashua but 1st we'll bring in particular hain joining us from manchester so the result of early numbers seem to indicate that bernie sanders is in the lead party.

he is but not by as much as he was the last time the last time he faced off against hillary clinton in the state he took 60 percent of the vote so right now he is in the high twenty's but again it's more competition than just hillary clinton he's facing a whole lot more democrats 30 sanders was expected to gray because his progressive idea goes over well here and also his family for miliard he's run here before and he's a senator from a neighboring state the more surprising thing to me is former mayor of south bend indiana people judge he's really close behind sanders just a few 1000 votes separating them we saw him come out on top with the delhi delegate count in iowa this is expected in the sense that the polls expected this outcome but about a month ago 2 months ago 3 months ago at the beginning of this race no one thought these 2 were going to be the top 2 candidates we've seen a former vice president joe biden and senator elizabeth warren really fall pretty dramatically in iowa and new hampshire so people to judge 2nd place and another big

surprise that i don't think any of the pollsters or pundits are covering senator from minnesota any closer church she said there's a strong 3rd almost 20 percent of the vote at this point and she was polling in pretty much single digits just a couple of weeks ago what's been really fascinating for talking to voters are voters here in new hampshire and they were all peaceably cross the board torm they were saying they might vote for this candidate for that candidate and they said they were going to decide right when they went into the booth because what's going on here is this is a fight for the soul of the democratic party over what overwhelmingly people are saying their most important priority is somebody to be donald trump but the question is that going to become someone from the center the more moderate can be from the far left were bernie sanders that is if you look at the vote differences between centers and bridges right now it's clear that the voters are still pretty much split on that yeah and it is looking like another loss for the former vice president joe biden because he left new hampshire before about voting took place

and he's now campaigning in south carolina here's how he reacted to the early results in new hampshire last. we just heard from the 1st 2 of the 50 states to and not all the nation not half the nation not a quarter of the nation not 10 percent true. all right come from that's the opening bell not to close it grow. why. yes. so how do you you know joe biden he sounds hopeful but is his campaign losing momentum because he's had back to back disappointing finishes and i want as well as new hampshire. well it's not over yet for the former vice president and the point he's been making a round the clock basically any time he's in front of a camera is that he doesn't believe that i would new hampshire are representative

of where the democratic party is just to put it very bluntly no democrat is going to win the nomination or the white house if they don't have the support of his biden put it in a brown and black people and this is state new hampshire it's really overwhelmingly white same with iowa so it's not over for bios but he needs to do well in the next contest of that in south carolina where the minority population is much bigger than it is in these predominantly white states that said money is a concern for him and he is starting to show weakness with the african-american vote there is a dark horse in this race that no one is talking about and that is former mayor of new york city michael bloomberg he got in very late he said basically missed get by with new hampshire too late for that and he has been pouring millions of his own money and he's a really really rich guys worth billions and billions of dollars but i've been in new hampshire for several days now the only ad i've seen on television is michael bloomberg and he is doing that across the states that are going to be voted later

and the most recent polls show that his support among african-americans is really rise it was up to about 20 percent so that is a concern for joe biden bottom line for joe biden iowa new hampshire that means money momentum he's still in this race but if he doesn't win or place incredibly high in the upcoming contests of nevada and south carolina it's unclear that he has any path forward and the same pretty much goes holds true for elizabeth warren as well ok patty thank you for that update let's bring in christine salumi now she's joining us from a watch party for over a not so it seems to be coming in 2nd person. absolutely and the cheers of president pete have been getting louder and more excited as the results have been coming in tonight the race appears to be tightening between him and bernie sanders now just a few percentage points away as the polls are closing in the votes are continuing

to be counted i talked to a lot of people here tonight and they're excited about this man who is the mayor of south bend indiana and a relative unknown just a few months ago but has really been coming on strong since iowa and i talked to them about what it is they like about this guy and a lot of them said that they were looking for someone who can bring some stability back to the white house someone who would be maybe less polarizing more middle of the road than a bernie sanders more willing to compromise that's important to them why him as opposed to someone like amy clubbish our however the senator from minnesota who's now coming in strong 3rd clearly there's a race for that kind of middle of the road voice now that joe biden is slipping and that seems to be the choice that a lot of the people here were facing a lot of the people i spoke to said that they like clovis are one gentleman told me that he was going back and forth between the 2 but it was the fact that he was

a veteran like him that brought him over and made him decide to go in that direction he thought that's an important perspective for the commander in chief to have now. when it comes to the criticism that a lot of good judges competitors have been leveling at him his fellow democrats have been decrying his lack of experience but the people i spoke to here really were concerned about it they said this he's a smart guy he's harvard educated rhodes scholar. he can do this they say it's more important to them that some new blood in there one woman told me she likes the fact that he's young and genuine and that they need just a change something new. at the end of the day however most of the people i spoke to here said that they will support whichever democrat is not native in the one woman in particular told me that she would support a potted plant rather than vote for donald trump but clearly here they're hoping

that there will be people who to judge and we could be seeing him come out here and not make a speech any time now all right chris and we'll let you go for now thank you for that update let's speak to gear and mickey he's an associate professor in presidential studies at the miller center he's joining us via skype from charlottesville over in virginia hi there thanks for speaking to us on al jazeera so some reporting seems to suggest that sanders is leading buddha judged by 3 percentage points right now in new hampshire are you surprised by how tight the race is appearing to be between these 2 candidates. you know i i really actually. anticipated that sanders would likely win but i thought the margin might be a little bit bigger i would want to take anything away from his performance for really is this striking restrung follow up to iowa for people to judge and also the 3rd place candidate include shar that's probably in a lot of respects the big biggest surprise of the week just coming out of the

debate on friday night she's really staged a remarkable served to put herself in the top tier of candidates and what about the former vice president joe biden you know a lot of focus on sort of his disappointing back to back results both in iowa and new hampshire how does his his campaign fare going forward. you know this is one of the fascinating developments again the volatile nature of this race so far this might be one of her maybe her biggest surprise that biden has fallen off this badly looking ahead he has 2 very different states to move to next nevada and been sent to south carolina later both later in february and these are very diverse states in particularly south carolina many many african-american voters and to this quickly biden has been very strong among black voters there is now the real test though will that support continue or is this disappointing results going to make black

voters who've been really the crew or are of his support reconsider and start to look at these other candidates for whom they generally speaking have not been that interested in to this point he has so what's at stake for him if he doesn't show a strong performance in nevada well you know i think he can hold on through he can hold on through nevada to south carolina but it gets harder and there are more doubts that the voters will have about him as he moves ahead. to south carolina and then on to super tuesday on march 3rd so he really needs does show that he can correct this this downturn that he had before voters really lose confidence and start looking for alternatives and there certainly are a lot of alternatives in the in the campaign and just looking at the bigger picture i mean elizabeth warren just said that a victory over president trump would be possible only if the democratic party was

united. how likely is that and well the democrats a candidate to be able to unite ahead of that election because up until this point we really have seen a divisions amongst them. i think that they will you know we are in the heat of the campaign very early stages we have lots of candidates and but democratic voters are extremely motivated. and once you have a nominee emerge and it's certainly better for the party i think if that happens before the convention i think you'll see a coalescence of support for the nominee i think the interesting question moving forward immediately though is the sanders vote versus what we might call the non-singing vote all of these other candidates that are now splitting the vote that might not be satisfied with bring sanders as the nominee so that's my immediate question is whether you start to see coalescence around one alternative to sanders

. we thank you very much for speaking to us from charlottesville thank you for having me. all 4 prosecutors investigating a close ally of president donald trump have quit the case after the u.s. justice department overruled their sentencing recommendation so roger stone was convicted on 7 counts of lying to the u.s. congress obstruction and witness tampering. reports from washington. roger stone his flamboyant a provocative ruler and the man who shaped donald trump's political image and encouraged him to run for president he's also been a close personal friend of the president for decades so when federal prosecutors from the justice department recommended stone serve 7 to 9 years in prison trump took the unusual step of intervening in the case i think it's a disgrace stone was caught up in special counsel robert muller's investigation into russian interference in the 2016 election

a grand jury indicted stone on 7 counts including witness tampering and lying to investigators prosecutors also accused him of threatening witnesses stone was found guilty last year and is awaiting sentencing on tuesday trump tweeted the sentencing recommendation of 79 years was a miscarriage of justice later in the day the justice department revised its recommendation percent its ink prompting criticism that the president was abusing his power no i have not been involved with him at all by tuesday evening all 4 federal prosecutors here at the justice department that were working the case have reportedly stepped down in protest and the top democrat in the senate is accusing the president of acting inappropriately roger stone should get the full amount of time the prosecutors recommend it all comes less than a week after the president was acquitted by the senate charges of obstruction of

congress and if use of power some critics now feel the president feels emboldened by the acquittal so he's basically saying he will wield the instruments of power. to favor his political friends and punish his political enemies trump voters likely won't see this is the president doing anything wrong however democrats in congress might see otherwise and argue it's another example of the president getting involved in something he shouldn't gabriel's on dough. washington. still ahead on al-jazeera a short lived victory for syrian rebels against government forces they show they won't give up without a fight. us doctoring death toll climbs another massacre the u.n. issues an urgent warning about violence in the democratic republic of congo.

we've got some very heavy rain moving across the u.s. at the moment through the deep south lot is to say some flooding just out of the race aside of texas pushing across into louisiana mississippi saying some very heavy rain pushing up towards tennessee and kentucky illinois them flank of the system there's a fair amount of snow at a low make its way further east which in most cases we go through wednesday bushnell's of the border because see some snow fall there into one terrio acrobat pushing through new england as we go on through the 2nd half of the week still a fair bit of wet weather down towards the deep south towards the panhandle dry weather coming back aim high cool enough in dallas still struggling to get into work double figures for the west it is generate dry now wintry mix across the pacific northwest into approaches columbia well with some sunshine plenty of sunshine across the caribbean meanwhile quite a brisk wind having said that

a keen easterly wind will drive some showers into the leeward since we go through wednesday maybe want to choose showers pushing a little further west as we go on through the course of thursday temperatures typically getting up to around 30 to decrease there as you can see a 4 gangsters should be largely dry for the east of dallas as we go on through thursday so looking good in this ridge down 27. radicalism is on the rise across the globe and we're told it's everywhere 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 youngsters to the fringes of society the impact is you don't belong and there's only so much we can try before you say ok that's me rethinking radicalization part of the radicalized huge series on al-jazeera.

to murder to hurt the old. hello again the top stories on al-jazeera early results are coming in for the new hampshire democratic primary bernie sanders isn't in the lead followed by. far and that's with a round of precincts counted but no democrat has become the party's presidential nominee without finishing 1st or 2nd in new hampshire the former vice president joe biden has the smiths the result he says there is still a long way to go. all for prosecutors investigating a close ally of president donald trump have quit the case after the u.s.

justice department overruled their sentencing recommendation roger stone was found guilty last year. a middle east plan that will bring neither peace nor stability leave palestinians with a fragmented states that's how palestine's president made his case of the united nations security council. urged the world to reject the u.s. president donald trump's reposed here's our diplomatic editor james bass with more . this was the day the palestinians chose to fight back against the trump plan in the un security council president mahmoud abbas describing it as a way to completely destroy the idea of a palestinian state as the whole last not really natural this is the summary of the project that was presented to us this is the state that they will give us it's like a piece of swiss cheese really who among you would accept a similar state and similar conditions the palestinians had wanted to get the security council to vote on the trump plan isolating the united states but

washington foot back in recent days to new series the current arab member of the security council in the chair for the meeting their deputy ambassador that's because their ambassador who'd been working on a draft resolution with the palestinians was fired last week under u.s. pressure. after the security council meeting a bizarre media event president obama asked with former israeli prime minister olmert the president made it clear olmert was the kind of man he could do business with even though the former prime minister jailed for corruption hasn't been in office for a decade president abbas left without taking any questions olmert state but the palestinians might have preferred he didn't he said he wouldn't criticize the trump plan even suggesting it could be a good starting point for negotiations there is here economy.

in the plea of president trump and i think that this is something that must be further push you in order to establish the necessary were negotiations the palestinians didn't get the security council vote they wanted and the israeli figure they invited to help make their case didn't in fact back their position this isn't today that pushes the palestinian cause forward james 0 at the united nations turkey's president is warning of swift revenge of his troops in syria continue to be attacked. commons come as syrian opposition rebels recaptured in villages in the province as they try to regain territory lost to government forces as reports. the odds were against the syrian rebels forced to retreat and abandon their strongholds in the more these fighters have suffered major setbacks over the last few days but than they launched

a sudden counterattack and within hours managed to overrun government positions and later the rebels also shot down a syrian army helicopter. but there were no match for an army backed by a russian fighter jets the opposition's military victory was shot lived and president bashar al assad's troops soon regain control of the town. although a nadir holds no strategic importance the rebels needed a small victory to reassure the millions of civilians trapped in it live there the fight is far from over. the rebels gains in and they were largely due to turkey's growing involvement in. the turkish military has intensified is shallowing of syrian army defense lines in and they are there and. more took his troops are pouring into it live establishing military outposts their aim is to prevent syrian

forces from advancing towards the city this. order the syrian regime got what it deserved but that's not enough it will pay a heavy price for attacking turkey soldiers i will announce the actions to be taken about the syrian issue after i meet with my parliamentary group tomorrow. as fighting intensifies civilians abandoning their villages. is a ghost town its population of 80000 has largely left for safer areas around 700000 people have been displaced over the past 2 months as the syrian army continues its offensive but the escalation is raising fears of a broader military confrontation. said me on my russia has called on took it to stop its artillery attacks 2 years ago russia and turkey played a crucial role along with iran in establishing a safe zone in. the u.s.

void james jeffries expected to meet with syria officials on wednesday to discuss the governments of funds have been in the u.s. accuses iran russia shia militias and the syrian government of undermining international efforts to implement a cease fire that would allow millions of syrian refugees to return to their homes . is on board so let's take a closer look at where the military offensive is taking place right now in northern syria president bashar assad's forces are now in control of almost the entire country but that doesn't include opposition controlled areas marked in green on that map on kurdish held parts in the north they're marked in yellow and there are reports that for the 1st time in syria's nearly 9 year war government forces have seized control of the entire m 5 highway by driving opposition fighters out of that

area west of aleppo and this is important because it's the main trade route running from north all the way to the southern border with jordan and it connects the commercial hub of aleppo with major cities like damascus homs and hama it will make it easier for assad's forces to move in to capture it lipsitz. china's government has announced another 97 deaths from corona virus and that brings the total number it's a more than 1100 people mostly in mainland china and earlier the head of the world health organization said the virus should be viewed as public enemy number one given the grave threat it poses to the world anderson reports as the 1st patients were released from temporary hospitals and city on tuesday there was a glimmer of hope that china's efforts to contain the corona virus may be succeeding reassuring perhaps for the 50000000 people on lockdown under quarantine measures meant to stop the spread of the disease now known as coded 19 the world

health organization has praised china's response but it's worried it could spread to poor countries if this virus makes it to a week ahead of systems it will create hubble it depends on how. really we need this response and how how we respond to the outbreak. the scientific community still doesn't know a lot about the virus and the vaccine probably won't be ready for another 18 months but china's leading epidemiologist says the outbreak will soon plateau at least in china. the rate of new infections is gradually declining according to the analysis of our mathematical model the epidemic will reach its peak in the south regions after the middle of february or in the 2nd half of the month but no one really knows for sure and thousands of coping 1000 patients are in critical condition in the epicenter of. experts say the incubation period could be longer than 1st

thought up to 24 days before patients show any symptoms chinese officials have launched a mass disinfection campaign in cities far away from the epidemic to keep it at bay . and in on itself patients are doing what they can to pass the time before they too can walk out of quarantine. al-jazeera. lebanon's parliament has backed a new cabinet on the government's financial rescue plan in a vote of confidence 63 out of 84 m.p.'s voted in support of the incoming prime minister has been following an 8 hour debates thousands of lebanese have been protesting against the proposed cabinets they say the government will not be able to rescue the country's ailing economy at least $400.00 civilians have been killed in attacks in the democratic republic of congo rebels have been targeting villages and towns in the east for months have been displaced and are now fleeing to the

city of beni. has more. another massacre in the town of mangina in the northeast of the democratic republic of congo the allied democratic forces a rebel group is being blamed for carrying out an ambush attacking victims with machetes and guns. right now there are 12 bodies being buried at mco and 12 people are missing or have been kidnapped by the i.d.f. ugandan rebels family members are angry and frustrated. worried about the situation all the time the seems to be normal and the government needs to come to its last few years we've had enough mangina is an area that's been exposed to the bone outbreak since 2018 the latest attack has forced shops and markets to close only soldiers and age where has patrol the streets panicked residents are packing whatever they can carry and leaving to find safety many were operated from

their homes before they now heading 30 kilometers east towards the town of benny between north and provinces. but father's body is in this coffin he was killed with a machete by i.d.f. rebels were farming we managed to get parts of his body so that we can go back and bury him in the village. but then he has come under frequent attack with hundreds of people killed it's also facing a major threat of ebola treatment centers have been destroyed and authorities are struggling to control the region. is going under control but this still active now with the mass movement of people from and you know to benny there are some who have not been thing care of also the rebels can take advantage of this with more attacks. the u.n. has sent in reinforcements we have.

to. the 1st clues to. the. tensions have escalated since december when the congolese army along with un peacekeepers and a local militia led an offensive against the allied democratic forces. but for many trying to escape the violence and the health epidemic the wrote peace and security looks more uncertain. mahomet's al-jazeera. hello again the headlines on al-jazeera early results are coming in for the new hampshire democratic party primary bernie sanders is in the lead followed by people who judge in any close our bouts with more than half of precincts counted no democrat has become the party's presidential nominee without finishing 1st or 2nd

in new hampshire but the former vice president joe biden has dismissed the results he says there is a long way to go we just heard from the 1st 2 of 50 states. now all the rage right after the other corner of the nation not 10 percent true true. all right down from last year but i'm. not that close with. the fly and donald trump is just beginning. for prosecutors investigating a close ally of president donald trump have quit the case that's after the u.s. justice department overruled their sentencing recommendation for roger stone he was found guilty of lying to congress last year are. times leader has rejected the u.s. president's proposed middle east plan at the u.n. security council. proposal will bring neither peace nor stability to the region. turkey's president is promising swift revenge against the syrian government after 5

turkish soldiers were killed on monday turkish backed rebels are reinforcing positions in the province after the syrian army continued to advance lebanon's parliament has backed a new cabinets in the government's financial rescue plan in a vote of confidence they voted in support of incoming prime minister has plan following an 8 hour debates china has confirmed another $96.00 deaths from corona virus bringing the total death toll to more than 1100 people the w.h.o. has officially renamed the virus covert 1000 and says it poses a grave threat to the world those are the headlines radicalized youth is up next on the drawing attention to. libya. since the revolution. al-jazeera explains the complexities of libya's civil. attention and the solution

special come on al-jazeera. ironic that many governments around the wall declare that the fight against terrorism is their number one priority this hasn't. the feel has continued the attacks have continued we have to wonder why is this the case.