a major topic during the latest democratic presidential debate stand up or clap for bread with the trip to. the war in libya is expected to be high on the agenda when african leaders meet in ethiopia. and in schools to reno williams makes a winning return to fed cup action after a 5 year absence that william secures her 14th straight win in the event. we begin with the coronavirus operate that shows no sign of slowing as authorities in china scramble to try and bring the epidemic under control across china at least $724.00 people have now died the u.s. embassy has confirmed the death although. one of its citizens in the quarantined city of one home a japanese man has also died there on kong has started a 2 week quarantine for people arriving from mainland china to try and stop the spread of the virus and in japan thousands of people are being quarantined on board a cruise ship in the port of yokohama the ship has 64 confirmed cases of corona virus franka gupta has. the onus of this luxury cruise ship describe it as a home away from home and for those on board there is now no choice about 3700 people on the diamond prince's being quarantined for at least 2 weeks off japan's yokohama port that's enough to move in 60 tested positive for corona virus we are all instructed to stay in their own cabin. you know that people from the insurer haven't been allowed up there on yak and they may have had a chance to interact although they've been instructed that they a meter or from each other so it's hard to read. mood of the other passengers without a contact with them i see you know some people are very worried on the internet and social media japan is already dealing with cases of the virus and has imposed new border controls to stop it from spreading it's turned away and now the cruise ship from taiwan the world had organization says there is no need for alarm there's over 3700 people in crude and this is after extensive searching for cases and testing and testing of many many people so if i don't get my month's wrong that's that's less than 2 percent of people so. it's still about it's not a great number it does show the virus has spread alicia but again let's be careful here not to overreact the outbreak that began in china has spread to at least 25 countries in kazakhstan the reports of violence between cause arts and epic way community over fears of coronavirus chinese restaurants and businesses have reportedly been burned down singapore has increased its alert level after new cases of corn a virus not linked to previous infections or travel to china were reported people are rushing to supermarkets to stock up on food and essential goods and around the world war people are buying mass and what's called personal protective equipment or p.p. pushing up prices and creating shortages the world is facing severe disruption in the market for personal for president and protective equipment. to monday's $200.00 times higher than normal and prizes not up to 20 times higher the u.n. agency says more than 80 percent of corner virus cases globally reported can be considered mild and is calling for nations to work together to fight the outbreak priyanka gupta al-jazeera. of the market trader is live for us in beijing katrina as time passes the number of deaths the number of cases grows the challenges facing the government are also changing aren't they evolving well what's the latest. that's right so we have now more than 34000 cases more than 700 deaths including today a u.s. citizen who has had preexisting conditions who passed away was announce today a 60 year old woman there's also a japanese citizen who han who they say is highly likely also died of the corona virus that the government is really the messages being that we're doing everything like that that the government can today they announced that there was a new hospital lation shand opened that is now offering 1600 or so new beds is the 2nd of these hospitals that was built with prefabricated materials built in about 10 days was open the government also said that it's trying to control food prices which are getting out of hand in the cities that were that are locked down because of the krona vice because of the coronavirus and the also answering a lot of these questions now about the effectiveness of these testing kits which are going around people are saying that people are some people aren't getting false negative results from these tests of kids than going out into the community for spreading the virus and then being told later that they're positive so this is really a big challenge for the government they're facing more and more questions and president xi jinping has himself has called this a people's war on the virus and certainly we've heard from the world health organization representative here in china who says that this really but this battle against a virus here in china is far from over. our understanding is growing impossible to predict where it is going but i can tell you. at least where we are watching. we are seeing the positive signs. were direct action and the last couple of days and we are watching carefully the epidemic in other provinces in china the epidemic is far from over we see good signs and we see signs of control but we at this point the best thing rather than crystal ball gazing is vigilant. and people here the last few weeks we've seen a lot of fear a lot of anxiety around the spread of this virus and now we're seeing more and more that's transforming slowly into frustration and anger especially about the government's handling despite all these moves the the speed at which these hospitals are going up the lockdowns in the cities people are really not happy of how the government is trying to control the narrative about how this virus is being reported we have growing anger about the treatment of this dr lee when the young who's been called a so-called hero doctor he's one of the 1st whistleblowers who was really reporting or or talking about the seriousness of this virus in early january he died this week from the new virus and there's really anger about how he was treated he was punished for so called scaremongering for trying to raise the alarm about the seriousness of this virus and also we've had to citizen journalists 2 men who are in rouhani who who became really popular in chinese social media and who were popular saw on twitter a new troop for really leaking or or posting videos about the really some awful conditions inside of these hospitals about people not having simply enough beds people really lining up outside these hospitals and not really getting proper care and also talking about the lack of resources in some of these hospitals and one of those men tend to sure has a has been missing as well in detain reportedly for for doing precisely that showing the conditions inside so it seems that the government here in china is actually facing increasing battle on 2 fronts on one hand it's the virus itself trying to contain the spread trying to keep people safe and on the other hand it's also trying to contain this rising criticism over how they have actually handled the virus or in china i think that katrina you there live from beijing. polls are open and ireland snapped the general election opinion polls are predicting a shift away from the 2 main. a significant shift away from the centrist parties that have dominated irish politics for generations finegan and fall towards a left wing sheen fame party a party that amongst many here in ireland is regarded as having something of a controversial parts because it was regarded as being the political wing of the irish republican army during a period of northern irish history known simply as the troubles in which many thousands of people died well as you said voting has begun it began early on the far flung western isles and carries on until 10 o'clock g.m.t. post breaks it island has the potential to fill the gap left behind by the united kingdom and becoming a bridge between the wider world and the e.u. but it is however beset with its own internal problems. as growing discontent on the streets of dublin people are struggling with soaring house prices a crumbling health service and the spiraling cost of childcare for generations i was politics has been dominated by 2 centrist parties the ruling party and the largest opposition in a fall many now see them as being part of the problem but it's time for a change in our. 100. and the same for change they make endless problems they don't have any of them so we're don't expect them to. but all we can do is hope and we need to get down to business very quickly prime minister and leader of iraq has presided over a period of cultural transformation he's the country's 1st openly gay leader few years the socially conservative and traditionally catholic countries legalize same sex marriage and abortion has also led tough breaks in negotiations with neighboring britain but he's also been accused of a lack of political vision failing to confront. home he's had his finger on the pulse of bragg's of for a while and he's actually done quite a good job of it there needs to be a heavier emphasis on i suppose the important issues housing you know health care education things that he hasn't really been so so good on for the 1st time in modern irish history opinion polls are predicting a shift in power away from the 2 traditional parties towards left wing nationalist chine fane i think you will be my number one they put housing and health care at the heart of their campaign they also want to referendum on irish unification within 5 years northern ireland's part of the u.k. during the conflict in northern ireland the party was regarded as the political wing of the republican paramilitary group the ira 3 and a half 1000 people died in the violence that ended 20 years ago she feigns has it's time to move on this is about the future you know if we keep continue to look in the past we'll get nowhere this is about the future to future generations and on the children today as to what kind of society what kind of contrie day will i can live and this is where it has been gaining ground poaching support from other political parties and attracting an entirely new generation of 1st time voters with promises to solve some of ireland's biggest problems health care housing and homelessness allen's political landscape is changing no panties expected to win the election outright coalition building is inevitable new partnerships could emerge as age old political distinctions fade. so we've talked about the housing just how critical is the problem. housing and homelessness is very much center stage when it comes to the debate ahead of this year's election ali was hit really hard by the economic crisis in 2008 it led to a bursting of the housing bubble and led to the collapse of many construction companies and it led of course said. or to a shortage in housing or the boom has started to return it people's wages have started to go up again but the cost of rent the cost of houses has gone up even more than people can possibly afford and it means about an entire generation of people for whom owning a house looks extremely unlikely you've got young professionals in their thirty's who are living at home with their parents we've seen house prices actually go up 86 percent in the past 5 years and rents in a city like dublin an hour higher than singapore. than than tokyo as well the government say that they are trying to do everything they can to resolve the problem but they're worried about putting caps on rents something that will end up putting off investors and ending and undermining the economic recovery here in ireland shin fein though have put that issue very much center stage and that's where many believe that they are set to gain ground from the other 2 centrist parties thanks that that's need back of their life from dumpling. plenty more ahead on the news hour including what a vote in india's capital may mean for by minister narendra modi plus. i'm alexey o'brien in new south wales a stray which is seeing some of its biggest rain since the fire season began and find out why that's got some scientists worried. and in sport and you start for the league aiming to window as a football fans in the united states. u.s. president donald trump has fired 2 major witnesses in his impeachment trial barely 48 hours after the senate acquitted him the ambassador to the european union gordon saunders was recalled just als often lieutenant colonel alexander van men was excluded from the white house by his men were critical of president trump's handling of military aid to ukraine and to gallacher reports from washington gordon sunderland was considered a close ally of president trumps the 61 year old businessman gave trump's inauguration committee a $1000000.00 became ambassador to the european union and is said to have had the president's number on speed dial all that changed after someone's explosive testimony to the president's handling of military aid to ukraine was there a quid pro quo as i testified previously with regard to the requested white house call and the white house meeting the answer is yes another pivotal witness in the impeachment korean to president trump was lieutenant colonel alexander that man was a highly decorated soldier an expert on ukraine been man's testimony was said to have been breached the president is improper for the president of the united states to demand a foreign government investigate a u.s. citizen and a political opponent it was also clear that if you create pursued an investigation into the 2016 elections the bidens and it would be interpreted as a porous him play. on friday lieutenant colonel vin and his twin brother a lawyer at the national security council risk order from the white house by officials both have been reassigned just hours after the president commented on the lieutenant colonel sanders well i'm not happy with this because supposedly happy with the bump that it is midnight in washington senior figures in the democratic party reacted angrily to the firings adam schiff who took a lead role in the president's impeachment tweeted lieutenant colonel that man did his job as a soldier in iraq he received a purple heart then he displayed another rare form of bravery moral courage he complied with a subpoena and told the truth he upheld his oath when others did not. one of the president's senior adviser said the firing sent a clear message that not backing the commander in chief will not be tolerated following the impeachment inquiry in his acquittal it seems that president trump is bent on retribution that means lawyer released a statement saying the most powerful man in the world boyd by the silent pliable and complicit as decided to exact his revenge it came as no surprise to many that 2 key witnesses in what president trump called a hoax and now gone the question is who's next and a gallacher al jazeera washington former u.s. national security advisor john bolton is accusing the white house of trying to censor his new book the room where it happened is due out next month bolton denies it contains classified information but the national security council has warned bolton's lawyers of its concerns bolton was sacked by trump in september before the complaints by an anonymous whistleblower which led to his impeachment. democratic party candidates hoping to secure the presidential nomination have held their latest t.v. face off in new hampshire before next week's primary the front runners paint for johnson bernie sanders faced a barrage of criticism from rivals in the a.b.c. news debate law but in many reports 4 days from now the voters here in new hampshire will weigh in 7 democratic hopefuls head to head to the hoop to convince new hampshire to vote for them in cheese days primary the debate started with messages of unity and the matter who wins this day i'm putting we're all going to stand together. but it didn't take long for the presidential hopefuls to start trading barbs. old pete was singled out for his perceived lot of experience he was ready for the criticism if you're looking for the person with the most years of washington establishment experience under their belt you've got your candidate and of course it's not me the perspective i'm bringing is that of somebody whose life has been shaped by the decisions that are made in those big white buildings in washington d.c. and when tsongas addressed social welfare issues you raise the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour was not going to give tax breaks to billionaires foma vice president joe biden questioned whether money would come from it will cost more than the entire the entire federal budget we spend now when questioned on the impeachment proceedings biden prompted a standing ovation mcconnell alexandr that had been a key witness to the trial and quieted by trump stand up and clap for veterans to check out. thank. you you. for a lot of these candidates the answer is do or die well but your doesn't break in the top 4 here she's out of this race if war finishes a distant 3rd again she's in very bad shape and if biden isn't very close the top. he's really really old foreign policy but it just was asked if you would make the same decision as trump in killing me rain in general because some silly money in the ranch that if we learned nothing else from the war in iraq is that taking out a bad guy is not a good idea if you do not know what you are doing you cannot go around saying you're a bad guy we're going to assassinate you and then you're going to have to if that happens you're opening the door to international advocate. to say it's primary could very well decide on who stays in the race. this was an opportunity for the hopefuls to make their case with sandison buttigieg seen as the one to beat. manly out as they were. millions of indians are voting in delhi the regional election is seen as a test for the country's ruling b j p following weeks of often violent protests both in the capital and nationwide against a new citizenship saw dozens of indians were killed and thousands detained demonstrating against the law regarded by many as anti muslim. well our india correspondent elizabeth front and joins us now live elizabeth substantially this is about this is a regional election but tell us how and why this is become a referendum on modi and the citizenship law. quite simply because the prime minister in the in the movie and the b j p have made it one they have made the protests at the end of the protest against the citizenship nor the main issue they said that a vote for them is a vote to end the protests they have been critical of protesters in fact during the election campaign to be jailed he politicians were banned from campaigning because one likened protesters to rapists and murderers and said they wanted to turn india into a muslim country and now the said protestors should be shot and just days after they made those remarks they were 3 shooting incidents against protesters in new delhi in one week the protests though have not had an impact on the campaign of the current chief minister arvind kejriwal or his me or common man. who campaigned on their core issues of development of education of health care issues that have resonated with delhi voters and the pos they want to historic 67 out of 70 seats in the last election in 2015 they are expected to do well again so it's not going to be easy for the b j p but it is important to them delhi is the capital they have not been in power since 1998 have been losing power on the state level for the last 18 months or so and the result out on february 11th will be an indication of whether people vote for the local issues that impact their lives or whether. the b j p's brand of nationalism would have resonated with voters this time thank you that that's india correspondent elizabeth front of. well i speak now to have him on jacob's new delhi he is professor. university joins us now live via skype most analysts believe the aam aadmi party will likely take this why are they performing so strongly in your opinion. you know he's. got to put the maximum capital on both of the leading contestants the pipe he's going to operate i have the i want me fucking up putting everything that i think got into this cabinet and spit it out so you could have he put it out of body heat part of ice cube sat bit but the organ starting back in favor of the aam aadmi party primarily because it is a general feeling among people who listen to all these osteen to call him daily and that the i want me party that's not news to deliver on their own he says are going to let him go to the people on the option to have a hot sauce on the education sector has become sort of the many consecutive head. oh my mind please let this idiot who want to hold people and decent things done to us from the beginning when we believe he's going to be on the ground not because they are buying all our columns this keep our home to talk to call them. he sucks us sort of go on a spot for him by the ha ha he pocket b.g.p. could walk with a pretty high heat community coming down being absent that can't be enough. to do that and sort of for taking some of that needle off a purpose site didn't denise at the bottom to meet him that he didn't he i hope he's going to be. all i think that goes into all sorts of. the 60 but not good that have been used but i don't think the people of that ossie to be buying that concept that i would go see popped up this use not necessarily on t.v. or if you see a brawl all hockey pocky war this is a problem when you look at it go on and issues more on it did he say a national election and did it perhaps to be give you might ask when we did the national seed stocks if you read the the fall of his he's gotten us so i think oh i can course i'm going to make the argument of them not b.p. if you want for orderly dot com for that to be implications i see where. could local level defeats have an impact do you think on the political future of the. you know that's a good question because i'll put that last one to have here is one more that b.h.p. has consistently consistently be losing. elections no oh my god i started before that you know. it is you since you couldn't got to stop obviously do you see it useful symbol that in that days to come that she needed to be to be out on the n.b.c. but if you got the big if you had half an hour and we'd be doing i'm done with it that would potentially be a problem for me to give you that i'm not up to the i'm not here next to be supported far away from not quite how far close to what i'm not years from now but if there are some of them off the ice i stick so. stupid actions that are coming up before we leave next year or so so deep that b.p. don't need to be having litigations full of ghosts stupid actions that are going to come up with the soon to be to me or when or how are we getting lucas and for me not fictions to tell father made but he just gets it and we did get the she not in the mix ability to be good enough that used to be on preschool. thank you that that's happy monjack of their professor at university. thank you. well it's time now for the weather and here is kevin that's right and there's a lot to talk about across australia of course we've been dealing with the flooding that is going to continue but we also have a cyclone that just made landfall here in the northwestern part of australia now just about 3 hours ago this cyclone right here this is damien you can see the well defined eye of that storm as it came on shore in the in on the pilbara coast and this is what it looked like that we have some video that came out across that area dealing with very strong winds as well as the very heavy rain across the region now that it's made landfall there's still going to be dealing with this very heavy rain and strong winds but the storm is going to be weakening of course it is cut off from its moisture source here in the indian ocean it's going to be making its way down here towards the south the remnants are still possibly going to cause some flooding across much of that area and also speaking of flooding of course we have been dealing with some very heavy rain across much of southeastern australia over the last several days causing widespread flooding the warnings in the watches are still out this is in and around sydney you can see the very heavy rain across much of the area we've had to deal with some rescues of course as the water has been rising across much of the region and for sure this no good news here we're going to be seeing some more rain anywhere from brisbane all the way down towards city here on sunday as we go towards of monday some better weather up here towards the north things going to be drying out but down here towards the south we're still dealing possibly with the potential of another 300 just possibly 350 millimeters of rain across that area so we will be watching the story very carefully over the next few days thank you that skaven now still ahead on al-jazeera why one of the world's favorite web messages is taking an israeli spy way a company calls also. the stories of beit lahia we are told are the most delicious in the world i'm stephanie decker in the gaza strip and we'll have this story coming up. and in sports why there was a hit and miss stops the new football season in japan. musician of whom a visionary teacher. al-jazeera world meets a man bringing traditional arabic sounds to a whole new audience being a woman and being american playing out it already in something new from boston to palestine the land of use by the nutters the next generation of musical talent simon shaheen their musical journey on al-jazeera. in japan thousands of men and women are better she without a trace one i want to use investigates why people engineer their own disappearance and. how to 0. 00000 you. got you al-jazeera reminder of our top stories this hour on kong has begun a true week mandatory quarantine for all people arriving from china it's an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus as all pharmacies try to bring the our break under control u.s. embassy has confirmed the death of one of its citizens in the epicenter of the illness will harm. voting is underway in ireland snap general election opinion polls are predicting a shift away from the 2 main center right parties towards the left wing nationalist insane party of a concern for voters is the public health care crisis and housing shortage. to senior officials who testified in the impeachment trial against us president donald trump has been fired by him 48 hours after his acquittal gordon sauntered into and they tended to kowtow alexander then didn't criticize trump's handling of military age to ukraine. our russian delegation will soon meet turkish officials about the situation and it province in northwestern syria the last rebel held region on friday turkish armored vehicles and tanks entered it that the operation is a response to an advance by syrian government forces who have already taken a 3rd of the province and are now seeking to march on the regional capital but has seen him call sheol the reports turkey is determined to stop us. syrian government forces in the suburbs of surat camp hours before distributed town well after fierce fighting with the syrian rebel defenders. so racket sits at the junction of 2 major highways and was seen as a major obstacle in regaining control of the province one 3rd of which is now under syrian government control. turkey has warned prague the mask has forces to back off no arkie unfortunately the syrian regime does not believe in political process and thinks peace can only be possible by a military solution and i have to say they are wrong about this they have stepped up their aggression turkey has 12 military observation posts positioned around the globe the escalation zone agreed with russia and iran in 2017 but 9 of them have been surrounded by advancing syrian government forces to protect and stop the advance troops yes stablished for more post which ended up in direct clashes between the turkish and syrian army's solve little mission with our focus on the missed you know cultural cringe to get tax responded to within the scope of such a fence from now on any kind of attack will be responded to appropriately and observation post will continue their duties the syrian government has intensified its attacks since last november and backed by russia has targeted civilians this for a good and new way of a migration with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the violence in the 9 year long civil war in syria that was where the displaced could find refuge but it live said the center is now under threat as the syrian government forces captured so rocket and just 7 kilometers away seen em go solo al-jazeera northwest and syria. it is live for us in istanbul hashem a very crucial meeting at a very precarious time for russia and turkey then indeed this is going to be a moment where russia and turkey will try to diffuse the own going tension about the situation on the ground in the meeting which were expected to happen in about 3 hours from now between the top turkish and russian deployments and also both ministers and military delegation is going to be about deescalation deescalating the mounting tension in both parties have different interpretations to what should happen next but turkey is insisting that if the russian if the syrian government does not pull out from the areas it controlled over the last 2 days then the turkish army will have to use force and retaliate no russia has been saying that this is all happening within the mandate in the terms of the demilitarization deal that was signed in 2018 between iran and russia and turkey about it live but turkey is saying this is not what all the parties have agreed about they say that the one of the syrian army to pull out from the demilitarization zone stay away from areas south of sirte are not attempt any new push to take over the city of one of the reasons why turkey is concerned because this time if the took if the syrians backed by the russians decide to go ahead towards it live you would see one of the most unprecedented of civilians into turkey i'm interested hashim the syrian attacks on turkish posts in the deaths of those turkish soldiers is that a sign that russia has lost control of syrian troops of its ally on the ground or is it doesn't have the will to to protect or what happened that. all the parties have different narratives about what happened the turkish military has said that this was all caught dated with all the parties including russia and that they had the coordinates of the turkish military position in those 12 military outposts the russians the syrians deny that and i think one of the reasons behind all those different narratives and interpretations is because the reality on the ground has changed dramatically since 2018 the russians and the syrian government are saying that this is within that own right to move ahead because they say that their fight against terrorists the turkish government is saying no we have 12 outposts operating on the our scores of live and therefore we don't want to see any military activity from the syrian government own those areas the biggest concern. if the syrian government decides to continue its bush the potential for a retaliation from the turkish army is there because we've seen all those statements coming from the turkish government from saying that basically if this time the syrian government is sized to go ahead we will use force and if you have any and quote you have any attacks by the by the russian by the turks or by the syria's it could lead to a full blown move through confrontation between turkey and between syria and this could lead to a nightmare scenario for all the parties inside syria for now hashim how about it there live in istanbul thank you. french president about you recall has called on his european counterparts to discuss the role that france's nuclear arsenal could play in the continent's security account is seeking a surge in european defense spending and says french nuclear weapons serve as a deterrent against enemy attacks france is now the only e.u. member with a nuclear arsenal after a person's departure a-kon has previously called on his european allies to stop relying on nato and the us for defense rescuers as the bob way say they've ended operations at a disused gold mine that collapsed 2 people who were minding illegally were killed during the cavan on wednesday authorities say they can't be sure how many people were on the ground at the time. leaders are gathering in ethiopia's capital ahead of the annual african union summit and high on the agenda will be the conflict in libya as mohammed vall reports the war is now impacting other countries in the region. libya is in a high strategic location. the largest oil reserves in africa it commands desert and see which african migrants use in their tens of thousands each year to each western europe and since war broke out there are several years ago armed groups have taken hold some of whom are linked directly or indirectly to al-qaeda isom all ingredients that make it a challenging issue to discuss when african union leaders meet in the ethiopian capital addis ababa libya is an african country but the war that's been ripping it apart for years is neither entirely libyan nor african factions such as the self declared liberal national party led by the warlord kind of have to and other groups and support from foreign countries. i have to with the help of the united arab emirates russia egypt and even false among others is fighting to remove the u.s. and recognize the government reported he launched his latest campaign from eastern libya early last year and has already captured large areas including the city of sirte in the north but his attempts to take the capital tripoli have so far failed it's in this climate that african leaders must find a road for themselves a you has no troops in libya to enforce peace and as far as negotiations are concerned it's countries like germany leading the talks you high committee on libya under the leadership of congress president denny sauce and whistle was among the last to be invited to the violin summit on libya in january and talks both in vienna and in moscow how to give the little results it female of this year's a u.s. summit in addis ababa is silencing the guns and to do that in libya african leaders will need to bring new ideas to the table how much fun. facebook is taking and israelis cyber surveillance phone to court next week for allegedly hacking uses of its encrypted messaging service wants up the social media giant accused n.s.o. group of hacking into the phones of nearly 1400 users back in october among them were human rights activists political dissidents and journalists and i saw a group disputed those allegations promising to fight them vigorously amazon chief executive jeff bezos has previously said and i so could have provided the software that saudi arabia used to hack his phone flood warnings have replaced bushfire alerts in southeastern australia rain in new south wales is some of the heaviest in almost 20 is the combination of fire and rain has sparked your problems reports welcome rain almost blackened and just waste of sydney. it's not the 1st down pole since the fire season began last year boss it's reduced the number of active blazes and is bringing relief to areas gripped by the worst drought on record. but the deluge is also sweeping piles of ash sought and other debris into rivets lakes and dams that provide drinking water to those living nearby with never had an experience like this before. during the bush period of we had i $395.00 pass and take days off the catchment actually been and that advice was actually kind of the water alongside it's a significant impact of what fossil across a this is war again but damn it supplies st of sydney's drinking water but could be contaminated by charred debris from the vast bushfires in the area. scientists say it probably won't cause any health problems battlestars taking any chances but if put in silk persons to catch any material that could affect water quality and a monitoring the situation closely contaminated water isn't just a problem for humans small pieces of ash from trees like this can get into the waterways and suffocate the fish by can also cause algal blooms which can produce dangerous toxins all cut the amount of oxygen in the water and that can put all the wildlife at risk. thousands of fish died in january when brains washed sludge into the maclay river in new south wales. and late last year piles of ash called to the beaches as fires raged by. many bushfires a still burning up and down this coastline leaving waterways and water supplies at risk it takes decades for a forest to re grow and to raise diable laws we will be dealing with different quality water different organic matter coming down settlement loads for many years and i would predict in many cases certainly in sydney's case decades new growth is beginning to push through the scorched landscape but the cost of this unprecedented fire season is mounting and it's not over yet. bryan al-jazeera new south wales australia. are strawberry harvest time for farmers in gaza with most of the berries heading to consume is in the occupied west bank but israel's blockade means getting them there is a challenge stephanie decker reports from bay it's like here in the northern gaza strip. it's warmer in here than outside on this crisp february morning. the sweet smell of ripe stew a breeze fills the greenhouse abu sami's family has been farming this land for generations this is because they're here. and 82 years old abu sami doesn't only have a lifetime of farming knowledge but is also witness the constant change of this political landscape going on well so when. we used to sell our product in israel when we were under israeli occupation but says 20061 how much took over and israeli imposed the blockade we can't sell in the israeli market so farmers income has decreased a lot now the main market for gaza store breeze is the occupied west bank around an hour's drive from here before the philippine filmy oh issue in filmy year israeli products compete with us even in the west bank because my product takes days to get there as it has to follow certain look to procedures while israeli produce takes just a few hours to reach the market the client prefers freshly picked rather than mine it's loses 20 percent of quality along the steering it is somewhat out of. certain fertilizer is a banned by israel citing security reasons and that too we're told is affecting the quality of the strawberries but despite that things are moving forward now this is a relatively new way of growing stories they started having them around 3 years ago and farmers are telling us that they get around 3 times more strawberries using this technique rather than just keeping them in the ground and there's less griscom of disease because they're protected by the greenhouse and also for from the ground this hanging method also maximizes the use of space and it's also pretty while we're filming a group of visitors arrive but i have not heard that silvio either so are we do i think sufism vigil and i will upload them to social media i did not know that we have these forums they're fantastic and i don't think many people know about it i think we should publicize this and increase awareness of the good things we have. but the restrictions of the blockade are felt in every layer of this farming process and there is the never ending cycle of escalation between israel and the various armed groups here. the darkest period in our lives after 2006 the siege is really tough and it's meant all our movements it affects every part of our lives and off fortunately things are getting worse you simply cannot predict today what will happen tomorrow. perhaps a small response is the reliable cycle of nature the changing seasons and the harvest they bring and if you managed to drown out the constant buzzing of the israeli drone in the sky you could just about imagine a very different reality stephanie decker al-jazeera and distribute fields of beit lahia northern gaza. scientists a warning that bumblebees across europe and north america facing extinction a new study blames climate change the drastic decline and warns food cultivation is under threat it says europe's bumblebee population fell by 17 percent between the 20th and 21st centuries in north america during the same period it dropped by 46 percent. play a vital role in pollination food crops. still ahead on al-jazeera you just present. it to be oscar gold for a black comedy from south korea relations hollywood's night of the year is coming up. and federer and the dollar helps it another tennis rick old son is here with all the sports. from passion into transformative science that brings about change obviously or it goes on a journey with 5 scientists who are determined to use scientific knowledge to serve the human cry we have dolphins in our sanctuary and we can monitor them. and record their hope for the photos and behavior towards you figure out how they're adapting to their new environment women make science coming soon on al-jazeera. radicalism is on the rise across the globe 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 think there is so much we can take before you say ok that's me rethinking radicalization part of the radicalized youth syrians on al-jazeera why. the south korean film parasite is emerged as a surprise contender at the academy awards as we can't the dot comedy thriller as the nomination for 6 oscars of the broad reports. since its release last year parasite has had south korea 20 mostly about the social injustice of a younger generation not able to better themselves no matter how hard they study and work. it's becoming harder to imagine improving your social status as generally accepted within our generation. because i found nothing to be fascinated about it equality problem it's been here for a long time it's kind of a time exaggeration in the movie the movie focuses on a poor family living in a semi basement to trick their way into the service of a much greater family with darkly comic consequences. i don't think in the richer people are that stupid but suspend your disbelief for the duration of the movie and. aside becomes an intruder ling fable about the struggles of the have nots were too painfully aware of the comforts enjoyed by the haves that they're living alongside it's a theme what resonates not only here but also in a world where the whitening wealth gap that gap is no better illustrated than girl young one of the last shanty areas of seoul starkly contrast with the towers of neighboring kenya the brashly opulent district parodied in chief global fame by gangnam style displaced poor families when it was developed many of whom moved to gloria and who now scrape together a living doing the mean the old jobs that gangnam needs much as in parasite i think it was very realistic in the way that it portrayed our society especially in korea and further development threatens to move these residents again locked in an ongoing battle with the government for proper compensation. as south korea has developed it has become easier for the rich to earn more money while it has become more difficult for the poor to make a living it's an issue that has to be result. from its comic opening parasite quickly descends into in the car tragedy in their own struggle the people of korea hoping for a far happier ending rob mcbride al-jazeera soul. it's time now for sports and here's ana thank you very much it came while serena williams has made a winning return to fed cup action in her 1st singles match in 5 years williams that put the u.s. team at the upper end the man with a lot in 23 time grand slam champion former french open champion good enough to think oh a straight sets in washington say to those wins 14th straight win in the top team event for women's tennis the winners of the best of 5 attire will qualify. aprils a new look said cup finals. earlier the u.s. made a flying start in everett thanks to severe ken fresh off her debut grand slam a win at the australian open the 21 year old that beat out. into the set the tie will conclude later this sash. and he saw the power 8 of roger federer and rafael nadal help set a new attendance record for tennis much the charity event took place in south africa almost 52000 people came out to watch 2 of the games all time greats at the cape town stadium built for the 2010 football world cup at the moment no top to tennis tournament are held in africa. this is so much more than just tennis. and i really hope we can do it again oh prophet could do it again one day come back to this beautiful country i'm so proud to have roots down here. and thank you very much for coming everybody really is so so special greywater with his foundation name in india and south africa and all around i think the most in the good values are helping kids and really needs and that's the only thing that really matters not to have to try to get by as my just we can we we have been a very lucky person so just thanks everybody for supporting john for making this. while less than a week up to the super bowl revival football league is starting in the united states. relaunches later this today 2 decades on from its 1st fadia. the new look features 8 teams and it's being aback by billionaire wrestling promoter vince mcmahon the rules have been a tweak to encourage foster higher scoring games which you know accept folded after just one season in 2001. success for us will not be. measured in the 1st game the 1st weekend or even the 1st season we're taking a long term view and we understand we're going to have to earn our stripes the fans so there are no hard and fast metrics for the 1st season we're simply looking forward to getting going by introducing our form of football to the world if you love football you're going to love the x f l it will be familiar football in 100 yard field moving the ball down the field for down to the time that people are accustomed to but we have some real innovations that we think make the game faster uptempo and safer for our players yes full as far as custom michael called the league faces a huge commercial and sporting talent my gut feeling right now is that it's probably going to be a mess in the long term and the question will be how long how deep the pockets are in able to in order to sustain the league the problem the acceptable faces is a lack of stars to attract an audience it's going to be perceived as as a as a lower level of the game and what they're trying to do is to make up for that by making it a more attractive game that could work and it could have an influence on the n.f.l. to sort of look at their rule changes and and maybe and maybe take them on board but the n.f.l. right now is such a. big and dominant business with the 1st call on players that unless they want to start spending money to attract star players i think it's probably going to be something like a minor league and there is a big appetite for actual football in america the question is whether that appetite will be a swashed by by a springtime league with players who are not quite up to n.f.l. standards sending 6 nations rugby champions wales that's a system test title credentials in the 2nd round matches the grass them when set to take on the island in dublin. can i use it's a great place to come play. play rugby and it's only game in particular we never had a. mixed bag over recent years and you know if you friendlies women should have to call them but coming up here it is new to test you know on the international stage so i think he will be on the phone for 2 more. labored to victory against scotland in the opening match of the championship last weekend you don't have big moments in the game they get the crowd up for it and get a non-answer. from the way the game started last week scott in the probably on the ascendancy from from the 1st sort of 56 minutes. so if you can flip that around this weekend and get up a spear gun. haskell's and welcomed their old rivals england to murrayfield on saturday in their 1st home game of the tournament they're looking to retain the call to cup for a 3rd straight season. and japan's new football season got off to a hit and miss thought the couple went on to penalty shootout out of the so proby drew $33.00 with a yokohama f. murray knows it's things combined to miss in the mind consecutive spot kicks assessing the and want to league record a so-called eventually located than that to win the season opening title. and that's as well for me and you back again thank you so much for that update but that's it for me for this news hour i shall be back here in just a moment with more of the day's news so do stay with us. the latest news as it breaks down the breakthrough is just finished rather down to the end of the transitional period but it's just begun with details coverage due in studies that show that around 30 percent of people in conflict zones and likely to suffer from some form of mental illness from around the world the government here has said only a cent so workers will return to the others not for another week at least. a conflict that is now considered to be the world's worst humanitarian crisis how many would not all have to die behind this horrible stalker is hard says former really for sale an investigation into how billions of euros are made from supplying arms to saudi arabia a leader of the coalition fighting a war in the south the case is interesting to watch his remarks on money involved yemen war profiteers on al-jazeera frank assessments the one good thing about these bush bars is it really wiped them out the whole climate change informed opinions economy i think is actually what's keeping donald trump afloat right now critical debate sequel on both through school improvement over the noise on 'd a boat beside him and his astonishingly patronize an in-depth analysis of the day's headlines this is the beginning of a new iraq of the new conscious and aware youth about struggle against an ethnic sectarian kota inside story on al-jazeera understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the bomb so much on how you take it will bring you the news and current affairs that matter to you. oh it understanding is growing impossible to predict when it is going. well health organization warns the spread of the crowd a virus is far from over but the death toll now more than $700.00. kerry this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. for generations irish politics has been dominated by 2 political parties but now the country is poised for a major political upset. with in-depth coverage of islands general election.