Transcripts For ALJAZ NEWSHOUR 20180208

Ballistic missiles at a massive military parade one day before the Winter Olympics kicks off in the south. Tensional streets in bangladesh as a former Prime Minister is jailed for five years for corruption plus. Im done for him there in the far north of argentina where ten thousand people have been evacuated because the flooding roads are impassable communities cut off this is as far as we can get. And im Tatiana Sanchez and with all the sports news the including the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics might not start until friday but action in some sports is already got underway the latest from china later in the program. Syrias government has attacked the u. S. Led coalition for a rare airstrike on pro assad forces branding it a war crime and a new effort to support terrorism a us military officials of the strikes in their resort province killed about one hundred pro assad fighters who are attacking the Syrian Democratic forces and Coalition Says it took the action in self defense a briefing a short while ago a spokesman for the u. S. Department of defense defended the coalitions actions our forces have the inherent right to self defense. We are not looking for a conflict with the regime any action that takes away from our Ongoing Operations to defeat isis is a distraction. Meanwhile the u. S. Has backed calls by the un for a month long cease fire in syria they say a truce is necessary for a deliveries and evacuation of hundreds of civilians for a fourth consecutive day bombs have been raining down on rebel held areas of syria which were designated deescalation zones local media say government and russian asterix have killed at least fifty seven people in eastern guta on the edge of damascus on thursday including children and a medic theyve escalated their attacks there and in that province since a russian jet was shot down on saturday killing more than two hundred people in just four days and im a gendry reports on the latest violence. By thursday the bombing raids in eastern had only intensified at least two dozen were carried out and activists say they see no wind in sight to this horror from the sky. The night before fires in the town of modest in the month the target of dozens of air strikes. Thats despite it being in the Northeastern Province of idlib a rebel held area and one of syrias socalled deescalation zones whose borders were agreed to by russia turkey and the on bombing raids carried out by russian and Syrian Forces have only intensified since a russian warplane was shot down by rebels on saturday when another blazes put out rescue efforts begin anew what were seeing is an escalation because isis has largely been defeated the. Zones were marked out around syria deescalation while the United States and russia were interested in destroying isis now that isis has largely been destroyed these deescalation zones have become up for grabs you see turkey rushing in to grab a train in the north or the United States say its going to stay for the long haul in syria it owns twenty eight percent of syrian territory and the Syrian Regime is trying to grab the remaining rebel parts of syria including. Which has been surrounded and bombarded last year. Eastern huta near syrias capital damascus is also still in the hands of rebels and like adlib is also under intense bombardment and dozens of men women and children have been killed in the last four days many residents believe progovernment forces are pushing for a decisive outcome to the war in syria. While the United Nations has called for a month long truce to evacuate the wounded that appeal hasnt made a difference even for those accustomed to the carnage of this seemingly endless conflict this most recent them argument has been terrifying. In russia tens of thousands of people have turned out for the funeral of the pilot who was shot down in syria on saturday oh man philip off was flying over italy a province when he had to bail out of his burning plane the Russian Defense Ministry Says he was surrounded by Al Qaeda Linked fighters when he landed and blew himself up with a hand grenade to avoid being captured over thirty thousand people attended the ceremony in burnish in southwest russia the Current Situation in syria is being discussed at United Nations Security Council meeting is taking place now a diplomatic editor james bays is following developments for us in new york so james what can the Security Council do. Well the Security Council is yet again meeting on the situation in syria and the humanitarian situation in syria its a closed meeting in fact its the third item on the gender in this close meeting but i believe they are now right now moving on to syria in fact i saw the humanitarian chief of the of the United Nations go into the close consultations chamber about five minutes ago mark low cock Briefing Members of the Security Council this is the third time in just over three weeks his office has briefed the council about a deteriorating situation the first time was the twenty second of january shortly after hed visited syria and he said there were five steps that he wanted the help of the Security Council to try and get humanitarian access but the council hasnt even been able to agree a Public Statement on the humanitarian situation and i can tell you among Many Council Members there is a sense of despair just listen to the words of the french ambassador. We are now back to the darkest period of this conflict with the highest death toll among civilians over the last year. And as we speak the situation is deteriorating by the day in. Particular. The Syrian Regime keeps bombing and the theme of its own population. Is a new poll in the making. So why i can the Security Council not take action and why does it look like there wont be action at this meeting most members point to russia saying they are not prepared to take any action in fact theyre blocking any action and james how do the russians explain themselves well i mean they are certainly in the far in line regarding the other fourteen members of the Council China on the whole tends to side with russia the u. N. Want to have a pause a humanitarian pause across syria of a month to get humanitarian aid in so why does russia or not agree to that in a short break in Security Council proceedings or put the question to the Russian Ambassador we would like to see a cease fire the end the war in syria would put the terrorists. In the government or would they use perl use. The words of the Russian Ambassador im afraid were not looking to see any productive outcome from the Security Council meeting where they are once again as we speak now discussing the grim humanitarian situation in syria a meeting thats likely to go on for the rest of the hour james bass thank you very much indeed watching aljazeera news asked and ahead. The prodemocracy activist who captured thailands attention but also drawing anger from the nations military rulers. This will be the end of protected areas gary. Gary an activist fighting to stop one of europes most ancient forests being turned into a ski resort. And coming up in sport eagles fans lined the streets of philadelphia to celebrate its super bowl winning heroes. A day before the Winter Olympics has its Opening Ceremony of south korea a Major Military parade has taken place in north korea made a kim jong un told the crowds in the capital pyongyang that his nation is ready to fight to defend its sovereignty but with North Koreans ready to compete in the olympics the military band was more low key than usual and reports from the city of one of the main and then pick venues. This was a patriotic celebration at home and a display of north koreas military might for those of brought. Our army defenseless and keeps us happy its our peoples army just like its name so this Army Founding day is a great day for all of us thursday was the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the north korean army the military parade in pyongyang comes after the world witnessed advances in the isolated countries Weapons Program last year leader kim jong un praised what he called quote a world class military with the most powerful force despite punishing saying i would say that its a show of defiance but its a soul. Defines. Government wants to emphasize the. Need to remain side in. This years army parade wasnt broadcast live on state t. V. And no new high profile weapons were displayed the toned down approach was likely a response to a criticism of the show of military force on the eve of the Opening Ceremony of the olympic. North koreans participating in an unprecedented way at these games South Koreans are hoping the only suspense and drama will be during competition. I feel very proud that a global event like the olympics is taking place in south korea kim jong un sr is expected to attend the Opening Ceremony in which north and south korean athletes plan to march under a unified flag should be the first member of the ruling kim family to step foot on south korean soil since the korean war in the one nine hundred fifty s. From government leaders to people on the street there is optimism that the beyond chang games will help rebuild the ties between the two koreas its already being called the peace olympics natasha game aljazeera. South korea. Not everybody is happy with north koreas considering moves for the Winter Olympics protests have been taking place outside a venue where a north korean orchestra was performing demonstrations set off fireworks and clashed with police they say the north korea is using the games as a propaganda tool and its recent overtures are not genuine but they were a relatively small group and the orchestra performance attracted a big crowd of South Koreans bangladeshs former Prime Minister who has been jailed for five years from best selling around two hundred fifty thousand dollars in donations meant for an orphanage trust eldest son and four aides were given ten year sentences seventy two year old has served as Prime Minister three times the sentence could now bar her from running in decembers National Elections she also faces some thirty other charges including allegations of orchestrating Political Violence she and current Prime Minister shake hasina have ruled the country or times at least since nine hundred ninety one she says the allegations are part of a plot to keep her and her family out of politics there are fears that she is jail sentence could trigger political instability. Have already been protests in dakar with Police Firing tear gas or supporters her party is called the nationwide demonstrations on friday to protest against the verdict time a child has been monitoring events in dhaka. Former Prime Minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairman khaled as the i was brought to this old central jail in a makeshift accommodation basically a Day Care Center this central jail no longer exist here the central jail has been moved to its god of the city she was brought to by a white s. U. V. Accompanied by her dumb ass the cattle chill be kept until from their order now the defense counsel told me they will file for it at pill the high court that depends on how soon they get the start if id write it in their hand that could take weeks or even few days the call dont open till sunday a lot of onlookers there and curious people heavily cordoned off area and i would try to talk to a lot of people didnt want to go on the camera because of heavy security presence and now we know a lot of people off the record told us the country faces a serious Political Uncertainty in the year of the election if the ruling party with a Smaller Party goes into election without the Main Opposition Party critics an expert told us that probably wont be accepted by a majority of the population and the country will go into a turmoil and uncertainty without a inclusive election down the Road International criminal court has begun preliminary investigations into a case against the president of the philippines to tatters accused of crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the deaths of thousands of filipinos during his controversial war on drugs about four thousand people being killed in the brutal crackdown well that to say the true death toll is three times that number in the gun has more from manila. Well two complaints were filed last year the first one was submitted by a witness his name is ed garment the bottle who claims he once worked for the third day when he was mayor of davo city in the southern philippines for decades he says deterrent it was responsible in setting up and running the notorious double death squads which run after a death drug syndicates and drug users in the area then now a supplementary complaint was submitted by members of the opposition senator on tanya that indianness and congressman gary asked the i. C. C. To look into the existing socalled war on drugs by which he set up when he was sworn into office in two thousand and sixteen and now handled by the Philippine National police the activists say that at least thirteen thousand filipinos have already been killed since that was launched in two thousand and sixteen though the i. C. C. Is looking at whether there is enough evidence to try this case to chide the third day and whether the case falls under its jurisdiction now earlier the Government Spokesperson says that the president welcomes the preliminary examination and that he wants to appear at the i. C. C. To personally insult the proper security but over the past few months the tears he has already threatened to withdraw from the i. C. C. Thats not going to be easy because the country he is government already has an existing investigation under the i. C. C. And that it will take more than a year after the un secretarygeneral has received the withdrawal letter before the withdrawal actually takes effect so at this point the government has no choice but to participate with the International Criminal court in its examination. Nearly three dozen time democracy activists have turned themselves into police after being summoned in connection with a protest staged in bangkok last month theyve now been charged with violating the ruling jointers ban on Political Assembly nine of them face an Additional Charge of sedition when he reports from bangkok. The latest protest is trying to stand up to thailands military government have captured the nations attention have also provoked the anger of the generals as they push for a return to democracy thirty protesters received orders to report to police to hit charges of unlawful Assembly Nine of them we charged with sedition for organizing a protest in bangkok last month it confirms that what we have been doing is far the right cause and the problem is in front of us in the paper that even the peaceful gathering. Can make you come to this kind of problem and thats not right the protest in the capital was called to try to force the military government to stick to its socalled political roadmap and hold an election in november the generals have reneged on promised elections several times since a coup in two thousand and fourteen and there are indications of yet another delay so far this year there have been several small protests in bangkok in other parts of thailand a sign that people are becoming increasingly frustrated with the military government charging some protesters with sedition shows that the government is still in no mood to allow dissent or political opposition something its been very effective at stamping out since the coup. The government said last year it would make human rights and National Priority but activists say theres no sign of that in fact the situation is getting worse these are not representing me calm it may not all going to uphold that one promises to return to democracy to respect human rights. Undeterred the protesters are organizing what they hope will be a larger rally on saturday wayne hay al jazeera bangkok scores of aftershocks are hampering rescue efforts in taiwan as the search continues for survivors of tuesdays earthquake dozens are still missing after the magnitude six point four tremor killed ten people and injured hundreds in the port city where len bryant has more. This rescue team from tight young and central taiwan is preparing to go into the building for the first time. Chung and his men are used to dealing with earthquakes but this building is in a particularly perilous position. As you can see its very slanted so we have to take precautions and special gear to ensure our safety other emergency crews from across the island have also joined this operation and local media are camped around the building anxiously following progress along with many others you know. We are struggling against aftershocks and bad weather but we will continue to search but we wont give up. Aftershocks have become less frequent but they still occur and alarm sounds each time and eyes turn instinctively towards the teetering structure. That is that inside the tight chunk team stop aftershock one of them shouts. Deep within the structure all they can do is wait for the transmitter and. More steel reinforcement to be brought in to prop up the building that means when the alarm sounds the crews can wait inside until the tremor passes before continuing their work but they know the time for any survivors is running out. A tight young team emerge finding no signs of life and did meet the job makes them sometimes fear for their own lives. When the aftershock happens i still get nervous theres nothing you can do but get into a safe corner and pray. If survivors are still to be found alive theyre likely to be in more inaccessible parts of this block harder for the rescuers to get to the dangerous for them to work in the rubble bright aljazeera while ianto one at least eight people have been killed after a road collapsed at a subway construction site in southeastern china rescue crews in for chan city say three people are still missing they managed to pull out nine construction workers whod been trapped under the rubble the collapse was caused by water entering the site from leaking pipes the German Company daimler has issued a second apology to china after its subsidiary Mercedes Benz quoted the dalai lama and Instagram Post the manufacture advertised one of its white cars with text saying look at situations from all angles and you will be more open instagram is blocked in china but the advert was shared by chinese Internet Users china views the tibetan spiritual leader as a separatist threat they mirror sent a letter of apology to chinas ambassador to germany or the Mercedes Benz is already apologized on tuesday or than ten thousand people have fled their homes in argentinas northern south a province after a river burst its banks causing major flooding souters home to several argentinas remaining indigenous communities when youre trying to reports from Santa Victoria in argentinas far north. When the waters rise they do so rapidly and theyre ruthless theres just time to save whats essential a place of it at that moment i saved my nephew but then i couldnt get back seven kilometers from there i havent heard anything from my sister more than one hundred members of the Indigenous Community left everything behind when they fled center victoria evacuated to this school in the nearby town about what i that being fed that they want to go home or. Were ready to go back but were scared the water is filtered through losing our things would be very we spent our lives there our children grew up. On the few who risk staying behind you know not the level but theres nothing to eat today its been two days since we last eight carlos is waiting for his neighbors to return which they will when this you know you rode into town this repaired. The water is a subsiding these defenses and constant vigilance saved Santa Victoria this time but life here for the mostly indigenous communities is precarious theyre returning home but wondering when the floods will come again these two were not so lucky their community. Flooded and is now reachable but they were rescued by the provincial Civil Defense force working with police the army and the red cross. But out of the many. Its not about preventing emergencies any more emergencies come by themselves theres no way of stopping them well weve got to do is reduce the risk determine what the risk is and be there. Its a plan that was proper pairing for disaster is one way to deal with ever more frequent flooding and forest fires song of other ideas. The river is a mother were fisherman and we live now. Shes give you the signal telling us children think of your future so well meet and decide whether to move away from here for the future of our children and grandchildren this is a harsh infertile region eking out a living keeping the Community Together is in secure and predictable the floods have made that challenge a whole lot more difficult than usual and there are jazeera Santa Victoria northern argentina israel has started building a controversial war along its border with lebanon construction work is taking place only a few meters from a disputed area which both countries claim have uneasily to say building a wall threatens the stability of the region tensions have also been heightened by lebanon pledging to press ahead with controversial plans for offshore gas and Oil Exploration lets get more now on our top story the fallout from the u. S. Led Coalition Air strike on progovernment fighters in syria the pentagon has been defending the actions of the coalition saying they were in selfdefense particle hain is there for us so but what else did they have to say. Well the press briefing with dana white just wrapped up here and again just like you said she said this was selfdefense they reserve the right to do it again heres what they say happened so theres this unofficial sort of de confliction line around the fraser river and both sides have said the russian backed Syrian Forces and the u. S. Backed forces have basically agreed not to go after each other in that border region but what theyre saying is for the last week they saw the fighter starting to amass near their location they said they started shelling them with tanks and heavy artillery claiming that it got within five hundred meters of the s. D. F. Headquarters the u. S. Says that is when they struck back using heavy artillery and also sending aircraft in to drop bombs they wont say exactly who they were fighting or how many casualties they think they inflicted but as you mentioned they are defending what happened here and theyre trying to paint it as some sort of success saying that they talked to the russians throughout this buildup and throughout the skirmishes and that its successful because the russians they dont believe fired any of that artillery so how could you see that as a success considering there were still fighting and we hear a number of casualties well the answer here was the russians. Thank you very much indeed. As much more to come on down to their news out. Thank you my. Top democrat nancy pelosi makes this train with an eight hour speech in the house of representatives. And as well as deeply unpopular president prepares to fight another election in april when the opposition decide to run against him. And in sport and long waiting winning at the dubai tour that story more national. Hello theres been a bit of a warming trend in this part of the world from kazakhstan westward through the caspian to the levant lot of cloud around using all that looks quite wintry but its not really much of a cloud brings nothing the warmth that came out of Eastern Africa is coming down through russia go twenty three in baghdad twenty two in beirut yes it might be white skies not blue and that wont is coming down the increasing breeze as for the gulf the terror warmed up to nine and those subzero is about five degrees warmer than the day before so it was true tashkent so cold has temporarily disappeared might stay that way for a while as well the by produce a little bit in the caucasus and on the Higher Ground just to the north of terran otherwise sink surprisingly warm for february and thats true despite that increasing breeze i talked about the should be a dusty what i think theyre going down through kuwait and hes in saudi but he wont drop the temperatures surprisingly you might think now we see a bit of rain develop recently and theres more to come for places where you might want it and im thinking particularly of cape town the streak of cloud on its way in there might produce twenty or thirty millimeters not a lot but every bit helps biggish as a likely to be further east in south africa. It was oil upon which modern day venezuela was a stoppage. For over a century this lucrative resorts has divided the people both less than cursed with the Worlds Largest reserves. Charting the impact of industrialization and the legacies of its prominent leaders we shed light on the troubles afflicting venezuela today the big picture the battle for venezuela at this time on a. Discover a willful would winning programming from around the world. To nation challenge your perceptions if you were to design a propaganda system you could not build a better platform then facebook. Documentaries debates and discussions this country that was once that the wealthiest in the region what went wrong how did we get to this point aljazeera. One of the top stories here on jazeera in syria russian and Syrian Government forces are continuing their assault on two regions held by rebels as strikes and shelling have killed more than two hundred people in eastern guta in just four days. North korea has held a massive military parade a day before its southern neighbor hosts the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics needed kim jong un told the crowds his nation would fight to defend its sovereignty. And thousands of protesters flooded the streets of bangladeshs capital is a Court Sentence for a Prime Minister but it is easy to five years in prison for corruption. A Us Democratic party leader has delivered a record breaking eight hour speech in the house of representatives for the last eight hours i have had the privilege of reaching the testimony of so many dreamers i still have more it all day speech House Minority leader nancy pelosi in red letters on behalf of undocumented immigrants who came to the u. S. As children known as dream as well as he was protesting a budget deal that doesnt include protections for the group when the u. S. Senate and house of representatives are expected to vote on the budget on thursday to avert a fast approaching Government Shutdown the two year deal to keep the government operating is facing resistance from both republicans and democrats are the House Speaker paul ryan says he believes there will be enough votes to pass a bipartisan budget agreement reached in the senate and its got more from the committee how to use at the white house so will they went they are. Well it was looking fairly optimistic that another Government Shutdown would be averted one like we witnessed just about three weeks ago but that is looking less certain given a procedural vote in the senate didnt quite go as many were expecting now this is pretty complicated let me try to make it simple in order to avert this Government Shutdown there needs to be legislation passed in the Senate Legislation passed in the house that it gets signed by the president the white house is certainly pushing this saying that there is a need to support the u. S. Military and theres no question about it there are some big hikes in defense spending that the white house is looking for in this budget but again right now the actions in the senate and thats where things are looking a little bumpy and that is where it was supposed to easily pass the issue seems to be that some very staunch conservatives are alarmed at the spending increases in this namely the Congressional Budget Office saying seventeen and a half billion dollars over ten years is being proposed and for democrats the issue is the protection for those children brought to the United States illegally by their parents there was certainly the desire to see that embedded in this that seems to be absent and those seem to be some of the key sticking points so this hour looking a little less certain although there is often isnt expressed on capitol hill that there will be sort of a rare bipartisan cooperated effort in the end to avert yet another Government Shutdown such as we saw last month and if they come to agree is that what they had for directly was a symbolic kind of way of bringing it back to the floor. No it needs to be worked out on capitol hill right now and thats what the white house is counting on that is certainly been characterized by the white house as semi un patriotic if this is not passed this would be sending a signal to the troops and the soldiers but its not just defense spending that is the big hike and increase in this there is also protections it put in place for Community Health centers Childrens Health care which is certainly very important to democrats theres also some Disaster Relief in there for the horrible Hurricane Season and wildfires that were hitting the United States so hard in two thousand and seventeen and even a raising of the debt limit up to twenty one thousand so certainly it would check a lot of boxes in terms of resolving some of those outstanding issues that have been very hard for members of congress to agree on so thats what were seeing this bipartisan support at the same time what many conservatives are saying is what theyve said about donald trump all along is that this budget essentially shows donald trump for his true colors he is a free spending liberal in the eyes of fiscal conservatives and that he is merely sort of wearing republican clothing but this is a major spending increase and that is certainly making it concerning for some republicans who say they wont vote on this theyre relying on some democrats in a divided political america to support them to avert this Government Shutdown again by midnight friday morning commute thank you very much indeed and protesters are expected to gather in the bulgarian capital sofia this hour to run against a plan that could destroy some of europes most important forests the government which currently holds the presidency of the e. U. Is supporting a scheme to turn the pier in National Park into a ski resort to say there is behind the development all offshore Companies Involved in tax avoidance reports. European skiers enjoying the winter sunshine in the results have been scoped may or may not know they were the units to World Heritage sites the beautiful ancient forest here supposedly protected by bulgarian and International Environmental laws the plans to expand the skiing area by cutting down far more of the forests has been enthusiastic lee backed by the government as economically lucrative but condemned by environmentalists as the rate of nature some of the trees are a thousand years old the bears and the wolves could lose their habitats if we allow this to happen in theory National Park then these skiing projects can start in all our National Parks we only have three plus in our nature park so we will open the pandora box and this will be the end of protected areas in the area. Its as much about how controversial it is that protests against the scheme of being held in cities all over europe and beyond its also claimed to be passed a much wider rotten story about the rule of law in the European Union. The row over the legal and environmental implications of destroying the forests here in the apparent complicity of the Bulgarian Government elites have served to focus attention on this place in a way that the rich and the powerful in bulgaria really dont like at all because it appears that ban sco is actually a giant Money Laundering operation dressed up as a ski resorts. Thats according to people like nick who points a benz goes empty hotels and apartment blocks as evidence of tax avoidance that is the one behind it is absolutely empty that one is empty because the hotelier turned whistleblower whos watched Anonymous Companies build hotel blocks here apparently knowing theyll remain an occupied the central allegation is this a trick to inflate prices artificially and wash dirty money through the pristine resort its a truth the whole of bulgaria seems to know about but is only coming to light because of the ral and for the future of the forest the Biggest Hotels are owned by that offshore company. The gullible as old by the offshore company they they lock down you know their conditions of work and they dont budge at all because for them they have the monopoly dont care who even owns the resort is a mystery it was registered in the tax haven of cyprus under the name of an unemployed local man he is on paper the owner of so Many Companies hes one of the biggest Foreign Investors in bulgaria the government claims to know who the real owners are but hes refused to say apparently it isnt in the Public Interest to reveal he wants to chop down the forests or why. Its the last thing we care about whats important is gary in business and tourism to be successful every company that wants to develop oh gary interesting follows the law and we would support it but on the question of who owns it i cant give an exact answer. The people who run bans go already stand accused of environmental regulations despite receiving millions from the European Union for sewage disposal human waste is allowed to run straight into the streams coming down from the mountain what they plan to do with the mountain itself if theyre allowed to cut the forest down is anyones guess gloriously aljazeera transco in bulgaria. Ukraines president has dismissed his chief economic adviser after an al jazeera investigation showed he received millions of dollars that were raised fraudulent li borislow skin owned ukraines largest media group u m h before selling it in twenty thirteen hours there is Investigative Unit uncovered documents that show over one hundred Million Dollars in payments for the group was raised as a loan on a company linked to president Petro Poroshenko eight candidates have been officially named as run as in this years president ial election in russia got to be putin is expected to win a fourth term in Office Opinion polls give him a lead of more than sixty percent position due to an extent of our leaders organized mass protests against corruption has been barred from running election is due to be held on march the eighteenth. And as well as opposition is deciding whether to take part in a president ial election has just been set for the twenty second of april in the us mint is a blow for the opposition which had been lobbying for the vote to be held in june giving it time to choose a candidate to run against the unpopular president Nicolas Maduro its top two leaders as they kick up realists and Leopoldo Lopez a barred from running a duras expected to win despite presiding over a devastating economic crisis that to monitor disease hyperinflation and Mass Immigration lets talk more about this with Eric Farnsworth hes the Vice President of the council of the americas he joins us live from washington d. C. Thanks very much for being with us so how much of a problem is it for the for the opposition that the election is coming so soon. Well i think its a huge problem they were involved in negotiations in the Dominican Republic to try to find a guarantee that the election itself would be free and fair and in fact without those guarantees the opposition has no real comfort that they can actually contest the election in the fairway and so they face a dilemma the government has clearly positions this so that the ruling party and the president Nicolas Maduro will win and the opposition can either contest a flawed election or they can boycott thats not a very appetizing choice which is why we told you actually theres the u. S. State department has put out a reaction to the fact to those said the timing of these elections saying it backs the opposition parties decision to reject the venezuelan government tends for elections and does that does that presuppose that the opposition actually decided what to do because if they seem like they they in the past theyve been quite kind of disorganized about agreeing on a strategy and well thats right in the government has been very effective in dividing the opposition by jailing some of its leaders and by the go shading with phone but by but not with others and so i think this is going to have a unifying effect for the opposition its very clear that the United States and other countries in latin america and elsewhere in the region are clearly supportive of a decision not to contest the elections as well this is clearly a set up by the government to try to predetermine result and i think everybody recognizes that for what it is its not going to be a democratic election and anything what do you make of them the moves superstate to listen to try to rally support for tougher sanctions against venezuela how much difference will they make it easy not here to achieve that aim. Well he was just in the region for the past week and visiting with a number of leaders and venezuela was clearly a topic of high priority for him and for the leaders i dont think anybody in latin america at this point with the exception of venezuelas close allies really thinks that the direction of the country is is headed is the right one the question is what can be done about it and the imposition of sanctions against government officials and sanctioning the the Energy Companies i think have already been done there may be more of that but with the elections now scheduled and if they come off as they probably will with the government running a really election thats going to do nothing except try to solidify its own power the International Community is going to look for ways to amplify the actions that can take against the regime part of that could be for example purchasing lasts from venezuela thats venezuela is really only commodity and only source of hard currency and it does seem as if very tillerson was having some success in rally in some of the regional leaders along those lines so nothing concrete has yet been announced but this is clearly something that is in process and i wouldnt if the paper things would be announced shortly and just just give us a flavor of what life is like now if it has any surveillance as as they head into which this election. Yeah its a really important point because the people the folks who are losing most are the people of venezuela this is a humanitarian crisis that were witnessing the country is facing hyper inflation basic goods are an acceptable to many people the basic goods being defined as food and clothing and housing medical care is on the vailable its up to those who are party to or friends with the regime and have access to special privileges this is a country thats in full scale collapse and what were seeing is that a number of citizens thousands have crossed the borders into colombia and brazil and into the caribbean and some of the islands there and so were facing a humanitarian crisis now thats not just in venezuela but its also spilling across the border into venezuela as a neighbor of this is a real problem and unless the government in some way change of course and changes the economic model its not going to get any better soon in fact its going to get worse and i think thats whats occupying and concerning a lot of people eric johnson thank you very much indeed for your thoughts and something thank you. When three hundred child soldiers in south sudan have been freed by the United Nations there is reduced by armed groups in the yemen region eighty seven it goes the u. N. Says its the first time so many young women have been involved in a nice Integration Program aims to help seven hundred child soldiers return to normal life so today we celebrate the fish well will be cowed by this release of children groups itself sit down say for me yes but its just the fish. And unfortunately in other parts of the country. Recruitment continues. Twitter has made money for the first time in its nearly twelve year history the social media site reported a net profit of more than ninety Million Dollars in the Fourth Quarter of twenty seventeen the company has been helped by the rise of video Advertising Sales but the number of people using the site was below expectations to it or had posted consistent losses since it became a publicly listed company five years ago now for those of you wanting to upgrade to a cool car this new russian vehicle is officially the worlds coolest in fact its ice cold a group of friends in siberia built a vehicle with a bodywork carved entirely from blocks of ice when you its not the worlds most practical vehicle it is drivable but the five tons of bodywork severely limits its performance and a second hand value will presumably drop significantly in the summer still ahead this hour. Pence is about to begin. To skate. Has made its way. Into a major museum. For her. Thank. You thank you for it. Was for were home. With a sport. Thank you very much lauren the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics might not take place until friday but competition is formally underway in p. R. The highlight of the first day of action was the debut of mixed doubles curling as olympic sport that included a match up between the United States and the olympic athlete from russia team featuring a married couple the u. S. One of three. The fate of an additional forty seven russian athletes who want to compete in pyongyang will be decided on the morning of the Opening Ceremony a hearing continued on thursday at the court of arbitration for sport the group are barred by the International Olympic committee after accusations of doping. And then pick bosses will be happy to see the games finally begin after a troubled build up a wellings reports now from. Finally politics gives way to sport the twenty third Winter Olympics in pyongyang has been used as a pawn in relations between north and south korea between russia and the olympic bosses to now one hundred two gold medals will be decided across fifteen sports on snow and ice for South Koreans pride can turn to excitement. Here so its early here because its a for all cold are you worried about because i love worries because our pension is so hard so we can overcome any chord is. The forecast is for a record breaking cold weather sometimes along with a minus twenty celsius with bitter winds and while you expect that in a Winter Olympics its causing problems for competitors skiers of complaint about the effects on their equipment but american superstar lindsey vonn will be happy to combat the cold of the missing the last games through injury. Fellow american mckayla schifrin is the new talent shes up against the nigeria womens bobsled trio was created a lot of interest and in the spirit of the famous film Cool Runnings yes there is a Jamaican Team too like the nigerians they are turned Winter Sports women and theres the man from tonga pits a tough act to follow an Opening Ceremony star of rio twenty six thing when he competed in taekwondo hell be Cross Country skiing here but most remarkable is the unified korea womens hockey to announce just one month ago as part of authority and attention south koreas medal chances lessened by all we could say but this matters more than schools the host nation does have high hopes of medals in speedskating particularly and hope success is always an important ingredient in a successful olympics as long as its done fairly russia face the consequences of a systematic doping regime when it hosted in sochi four years ago controversially when the snow finally settles here theyll be not far short of two hundred socalled elim pick up these from russia them no fanfare but every chance of medals for them this is the first of three consecutive Olympic Games in this part of the world in so years time theres a summer games in tokyo and then in four years time a Winter Olympics in beijing but this next fortnight is chungs time after time failure the guy previously and its to be hoped that the sport is as fresh and clean as the landscape. China and south korea. If you go to our website you can find a dedicated section on the p. R. Olympics head to aljazeera dot com for slashed young chang twenty eighteen. The party is continuing for the Philadelphia Eagles following their first super bowl xxxix fest fans flocked to the city for a victory parade on thursday schools government offices and even the philadelphia zoo were shut down for celebrations the eight kilometer parade route packed hours before the parade began at the teams home stadium the eagles beat tom bradys new England Patriots forty one thirty three in minneapolis to secure their maiden Vince Lombardi trophy. Bron james made an incredible overtime play for the cave in to cover live in the n. B. A. On wednesday deep into overtime with the score tied at one thirty eight age james pulled off the buzzer beater against the Minnesota Timberwolves to help the cavaliers to a one forty two one thirty eight victory the cavs have won just seven of the past twenty games finally with something to celebrate. James harden in the Houston Rockets is certainly not struggling for form hard and went past the forty point mark for the eighth time this season as he contributed forty one in the one hundred nine to one a one when i over the mammy heat this is the tenth when in the last eleven games for the rockets. And a spot every day you need an umbrella at an Indoor Sports event yeah the pelican was prepared but the rest of those in attendance at the new Orleans Pelicans india pacers game wasnt as lucky as the home teams must gots heavy rains in new orleans and short a leak in the roof and after initially causing a delay in the start of the action the game was called off. A place in the spanish card or copper dollar a final will be at stake later on thursday when valencia host runaway Legal Leaders barcelona and asked over men have a one nil lead from the first leg and the form because also in their favor faster unbeaten in the last five while the lengthier have lost five in a row even so overall that is not taking his opponents lightly in this i mean final second leg a useful should know. Difficult to sort of us that they are difficult team to beat and they are quick on the kill to attack but as we are leading them after the first leg they will try to be more aggressive now they are told and they will use defense approach to their advantage the winner of the valencia barcelona meeting will face severe in this years final severe with turn no one is overly ghanas on wednesday to ensure a three one aggregate win. There was a long awaited return to the top of the podium for Mark Cavendish on thursday as he won stage three of cyclings to buy top the british try to beat stage two went to elevate the army in a sprint finish its cavendish his first victory since taking the stage of the abu dhabi tour twelve months ago after which illness and injury hump it is the season he moves up to second in the overall standing behind fifty jani. And finally when most people visit new york and new yorks Empire State Building they take the elevator ride but others took the stairs on wednesday more than two hundred runners from all over the world started in the lobby and ran all the way to the top as part of an annual rite eighty six floors and one thousand five hundred seventy six steps this feel this really goes to the ocean was the womens when i said straight victory at this event tonight there are rules on the mens side it was colombias front in the last cut i know who reached the top of this with his first victory. And also the sport for now is back to laurin london. On our part a massive lump of fat that was clogging up the london is gone display in one of the u. K. Capitals museums curators hoping it will give residents second thoughts about what they flushed down the toilet. Or held his nose i want to take a look. Historians often say that you could judge a civilization not from what it builds but from what it gets rid of which is why the museum of london has a brand new exhibit on display an extremely strange brace yourself. A latin name cumulus some of called it the beast of white chapel after it was found blocking up an east london sewer to us though its a fire and this is just the tip of it in its entirety it was two hundred fifty meters long the length of two football pitches and weighed one hundred thirty tons sixteen african elephants. So whats it made of well as you can probably imagine a vast amount of fat that a sprinkling of human excrement and then all the cities indigestible things like summer tailed wet wipes cotton buds things that can easily be broken up on the ground and it smells apparently like the rotting meat of the dirtiest toilet you can imagine its also highly toxic this Case Scenario if you handle that theyve been correctly its down through Something Like bulbs to ses we thought about whether we should pay clits or freeze it put in three thousand but instead what weve decided is to add try and that has we achieved some of the rifts around the city. But its not all over for the big east of one chappal although most of it has been carefully destroyed some of it was so rich in fact that it was also rich in energy its been transferred into bio fuel to power londons number twenty four bus but like all good stories this is a cautionary one because thames water that looks after the drain spends more than a million and a half dollars every month to keep it strains blocked and most of that budget is gone on shifting this mother of all blockages so if theres a lesson to learn from all of this is be careful what you pour down the drain be careful what you flush because it could reappear. Residents of south Koreas Capital seoul have been doing a double take after seeing donald trump and kim jong un taking a friendly stroll down the street head of the olympics forces not a dramatic story of tensions between washington and pyongyang but a pair of professional lookalikes. The two president s have never met in real life if they did make the offer of talks in november. And thats it for this news hour for me Lauren Taylor but Maryam Namazie will be here in just a minute with another full roundup of the days news thanks for much watching see you soon. The scene for us where on line what is american sign in yemen that peace is a list possible but it never happens not because the situation is complicated but because no one cares or if you join us on sat there are people that there are choosing between buying medication or eating less is a dialogue i want to get in one more comment because this is someone whos an activist just posted a story join the global conversation at this time on aljazeera the sams in archaeology graduate from iraq hes also a part time going to billings Pergamon Museum which includes a reconstruction of the famous ishtar gate in babylon most of the people hes showing around came to germany as refugees this is just one of several berlin museums taking part in the project called a Meeting Point and as well as bringing people together one of its aims is to emphasize the contribution of migrants right up to the present day to western culture of the same language he had been because ive been here for some time i can help them with lots of things that mrs ford to me the great thing is its not just about museums about forming a new life it is a part of life its culture in twenty twelve aljazeera traveled to iraq people here are definitely scared to speak on camera theyre saying that if they talk to us they think theyll be arrested down the line to take the pulse of a country ravaged under Us Occupation some of these graves are completely destroyed its one of the most holy and sacred sites in all of iraq had turned into a battleground between them and the army and the americans six years on rewind returns to iraq after the americans at this time on all just see. As bombs rained down on east and for a fourth consecutive day syria accuses the u. S. Led coalition of war crimes for attacking its fight has. A low im Maryam Namazie this is al jazeera lie