harry fawcett reports from seoul south korea. >> this news came through on the north korean state media, kcna, saying north korea had detained a u.s. citizen a student for a supposed hostile act against the state. also this media report saying that act was tolerated and manipulated by the united states government. the name of this man otto frederick wombier. the u.s. embassy in seoul has confirmed it has seen these media reports, and referring the rest to the stat state departmet washington. young pioneer tours says this young man was on one of their tours in north korea and he was detained on january the 2nd. they say they are acting closely with the swedish embassy in pyongyang, which looks after the u.s. interests in north korea. trying the get this man released. it is not certainly the first u.s. citizen to be daind in nortdetained innorth korea. one tourist who left behind a bible in a hotel, these kinds of things have got people in trouble in the past. also last year there was a south korean student with a u.s. green card he was studying in the u.s. he was detained after crossing

citizen reportedly detained inside of north korea. >>> harry fawcett reporting from seoul. state department says it is aware of the detention and are working with the swedish embassy to secure his release. >>> this morning "washington post" reporter recently freed from an iranian prison is heading back to the u.s. he completed medical examinations at a u.s. military hospital in germany. in his statement he said he is feeling well after spending almost 18 months in an iranian prison. he was freed over the weekend in a prisoner swap. >>> and another prisoner who iran released last week is at home in michigan today. he returned to flint last night for the first time in four years. he was arrested and accused of being a spy when he was visiting relatives in iran in 2012. he said he was glad to be back in this flint. >> i love this city. i love its people. happy to finally be home. it has been a very long road, a very johning journey. i'm standing here, healthy, tall, and with my head held high. >> officials say he spent long periods in solitary confinement and was subjected to

but as harry fawcett reports, new civilian uses are constantly taking off. >> reporter: it's race dayse pilots, time to get down to business. 80 teams vying for the title on a hazardously windy day. >> translator: i was nervous and it was windy. the drone kept rising so it was difficult. >> reporter: drone racing has only been an organized sport here for four months, but every place in this continue test was snapped up in just a few minutes, it's all happening just a few meters from the first drone show. the largest such expo organizers say ever to be held in asia. south korea wants in a fast-growing industry. >> translator: drone technology has been developed here mainly in the military sector, we hope to promote the transfer of that technology to those saville i don't know sectors. >> reporter: one such effort a drone enable held top style take offs and landings and airplane style horizontal flight. the military still dominates the drone city as it does the global one, what is changing is the ever-easier access to this technology encouraging start-up to his enter the fray. for insta

harry fawcett is live for us in seoul with more on this, harry. >> reporter: that's right, it was aboutgo, just over accord to this ministry of defense here in south korea that an unidentified aircraft, a drone they are sega preached south korean airspace, crossing the military demarcation line within the demilitarized zone that separates these two nations the south koreans say they fired 22 warning shots at the object and then it changed course, back to the north and reentered north korean territory. on the same day as also south koreans have found thousands of anti-south korean leaflets landing in south korean territory. presumably attached to balloons the winds we were told were suitable for that to have traveled south from north korea as well. no coincidence potentially that all this is come happening on the day of the presidential annual new year's address. and much of that address, certainly, the first chunk of it, was devoted to what happened last week, north korea's fourth nuclear test. it's traditional for a south korean president to start the new year we national address this

harry fawcett is in seoul. >> this news came through on the north korean state media,cna saying north korea had detained a u.s. citizen a student for a supposed hostile act against the state. also, this media report saying that that act was tolerated and manipulating by the united states government. the name of this man, otto frederick wombia of the u.s. embassy in seoul, only confirmed it has seen these media reports, referring any other questions to the statement in washington. there has been corroboration from a tour agency based in china young pioneer tours who says this young man was on one of their tours in north korea and detained on january 2nd. they say they are working closely with the swedish embassy in pyongyang which looks out for u.s. interests in north korea, north korean ministry of fostern affairs to get this young man released. three u.s. citizens were released in 2015. there have been instances of missionary activity, one visitor left behind a bible in a hotel room, these have caused problems in the past, a u.s. student who had a green card, kept for some six months

harry fawcett has more from seoul, south korea. >> saying that north korea had detained a u.s. citizen, a student for a supposed hostile act against the state. also, this media report saying that that act was tolerated and manipulated by the united states government. the name of this man, otto frederick wombia. the u.s. embassy in seoul has only confirmed that it has seen these media reports. but there has been some corroboration from a tour agency based in china young pioneer tours which says this man was on one of their tours in north korea and he was detained on january the 2nd. they say that they are acting closely with the swedish embassy in pyongyang which looks after u.s. interests in north korea. also with the north korean ministry of foreign affairs and the u.s. state department trying to get this man released. he's not certainly the first u.s. citizen to be detained in north korea. in 2014 three u.s. citizens were detained. one tourist who left behind a bible in a hotel, these kinds of things have got people in the trouble in the past. also last year there was a south

harry fawcett, al jazeera, seoul. >>> stocks plunged today on wall street. the dow fell 360 points, a 2.2% loss. stock selloff comes with oil hovering around $30 a barrel. today's drop has continued the volatility that has rocked the markets since the beginning of the year. al jazeera will be ceasing its operations by the end of april. driven by the fact that our business model is simply not sustainable in light of the economic challenges in the u.s. media marketplace. >>> aal jazeera america has done a brilliant job with unrivaled commitment to journalism, through the remarkable work of ajam's team. al jazeera america launched on august 20th, 2013. last two and a half years the channel and website have been honored by an alfred dupont award and others, honoring ajam's website among many others. the doha based al jazeera media network also issued a press release on wednesday stating it plans to expand its digital rg message in the u.s. >>> why bernie sanders is surging in iowa. plus lucky numbers, the powerball jackpot and how tonight's drawing has already d

harry fawcett, al jazeera, seoul. >>> a group of prodemocracy activists from hong kong are heading to taiwan to witness this weekend's elections, politicians students and participants in hong kong's 2014 umbrella protests. biggest challenge to communist china in years. voters in taiwan go to the polls on saturday. the chinese government regards taiwan as a break away province. >>> 180 cuban migrants who were strand fled costa rica have now been allowed to continue their journey to settle into the united states. earlier today they were bussed into mexico. they now have 20 days to make their way north to the united states. it is part of a pilot program developed by washington and central american nations to allow migrants to travel freely to america. >> i'm pleased to announce that we have plans to expand the u.s. refugee admissions program in order to help vulnerable families and individuals from el salvador, guatemala and honduras, and offer them a safe and legal alternative to the dangerous journey that many are tempted to begin. making them at that instant easy prey for human smuggl

harry fawcett, live from seoul. harry, thank you so much. plenty more still ahead on al jazeera including a proposed new media law exposing deep divisions over the future direction of polish society. >>> chinatown comes to tingeltown as china's richest man buys a hollywood film studio. when you're on hold, your business is on hold. that's why comcast business doesn't leave you there. when you call, a small business expert will answer you in about 30 seconds. no annoying hold music. just a real person, real fast. whenever you need them. so your business can get back to business. sounds like my ride's ready. don't get stuck on hold. reach an expert fast. comcast business. built for business. >> our american story is written everyday. it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight. >>> you are watching al jazeera. let's take a look at the top stories right now. barack obama has delivered his final state of the union address as u.s. president. he spoke about many

harry fawcett has more from seoul. >> reporter: well, this news came through on the north korean statecna, saying north korea had detained a u.s. citizen, a student for a supposed hostile acted against the state. also this media report saying that that act was tolerated and manipulated by the united states government. the u.s. embassy here in seoul is only confirmed that it has seen these media reports, it is referring any other questions to the state department in washington. but there has been some corroboration from a tour agency in china who says he was on one of their tours and was detained on january 2nd. they say they are acting closely with the swedish embassy which looks after u.s. interests in north korea, also with the north korean ministry of foreign affairs, and the state department trying to get this man released. he is not the first u.s. citizen to be detained in north korea. one tourist left behind a bible in a hotel, these kinds of things have gotten people in trouble in the past. there was a u.s. student with a green card, he was detained after crossing illegally into

harry fawcett reports. >> reporter: on the day when south korea says it fired warning shots to deter korean drone, diplomats did their best to send their own warnings. nuclear envoys from south korea, the united states, and japan promising tough sanctions against pyongyang for its nuclear test last week. the south korean president said she expected china which has publicly opposed pyongyang's nuclear program to act accordingly at the u.n. >> translator: if they do not follow necessary steps, we cannot guarantee true peace and stability of the korean peninsula. >> reporter: the president also said she was considering the need to deploy a u.s. anti-missile system on south korean soil, a move long opposed by china. >> translator: when one country seeks its own security, it must consider the security interests of other countries and regional peace and stability. at present, the situation of the korean peninsula is very sensitive. >> reporter: in pyongyang the fourth nuclear test remains a try temperature, state images showing videos. for all of her talk of a foreign ministerially differe

. >> that's our correspondent in seoul, harry fawcett >>> syrian state television says government troops captured the rebel strong hold of latakia. 120 air strikes have been carried out to support the syrian army offense ifs. russian air strikes are reported to attack the city of aleppo. the children and teachers are reported to have been killed. human rights group say several schools, more than 5,000 air strikes have been conducted. it began in september. the u.n. inquiry documented war crimes in syria, gathering residents in madaya. they are collecting testimonies about how residents have been deprived of food. the world health organisations allow mobile clinics to assess the state of nutrition. the u.n. described the suffering as the worst scene in the country so far. >> it was heart-breaking to see food, medicines, other humanitarian aid was very much needed inside. we have seen people who were waiting for us at the checkpoint who still couldn't believe when the first truck was entering the aid, reaching them. people were anxious, were coming to us asking did we bring more food becau

harry fawcett reports from seoul. >> reporter: on the day when south korea says it fired warning shotster a north korean drone, diplomats did their best to send their own wa warnings across the border. promising tough sanctions against pyongyang for its nuclear bomb test last week. earlier the south korean president made her address to the nation, saying the test required a stronger response than in previous years, and she said she expected china to act accordingly at the u.n. >> translator: i'm certain that china is very well aware if such a strong will isn't followed, we will not be able to stop a fifth, and sixth nuclear test, and we cannot guarantee peace and stability of the peninsula. >> reporter: she said she was considering deploying an u.s. anti-missile system on the border. >> translator: when one country seeks its own security, it must consider the security of other countries. at present the situation in the korean peninsula is very sensitive. >> reporter: in pyongyang the fourth test remains a triumph. video shows kim ki-jong supporting his scientists. and for all of her ta