but the snow leopard trust believes it's premature to downgrade the cats on the international list of threatened species. fined for what is right on the shores of paradise programs for some can create a living hell for others challenging his government and big business one man risked his life to save the community he cherishes. to be someone. the opposition a witness documentary at this time on al-jazeera. words at the u.n. as the u.s. accuses russia of blocking a resolution condemning the use of chemical weapons in syria.

hello i'm rob matheson this is all just here a live from doha also coming up u.s. financial markets plunge is it a correction or the start of something bigger. democrats in the u.s. agree to release their memo on the investigation into russia's role in the twenty sixteen election. a state of emergency is declared and reports of top judges arrested as the political crisis in the multi-user deepens. the u.s. is accusing russia of blocking a u.n. security council statement condemning the use of chemical weapons by the syrian government u.s. ambassador nikki haley says there's obvious evidence of recent chlorine gas attacks by the assad regime but russia is accusing the. u.s.

of waging a propaganda campaign as that debate was taking place at least forty nine people were killed by syrian and russian airstrikes in the province and eastern ghouta according to activists outside syria aid agencies are warning hundreds of thousands of displaced syrians are at risk of being forcibly returned home despite the violence more on that later in the show but first our diplomatic editor james pays reports from the u.n. on another heated debate at the security council the attack was brazen and blatant at least eleven people were treated after an airstrike in syria chlorine was probably used this the latest in a series of what seem to have been chemical attacks it led to a war of words in the security council a meeting you were not supposed to see this regular monthly session on the issue is usually held behind closed doors but an angry us ambassador demanded it was made

public nikki haley condemned russia for not even agreeing to a press statement on the latest attacks if we can't even take the first step of a stab us in accountability for chemical weapons use we have to seriously ask ourselves why we are here russia which is used its veto to avoid action on this issue was strongly criticized by ambassador hayley and by her french and british colleagues it's some bastard of vaseline a benzema hit back for which you didn't statements by these representatives as always contain very little truth mixed with mountains of lies and it will do your prison. where is the presumption of innocence prior to any investigation you are accusing the so-called regime quote unquote. with that point here appeared to make nor clear facts in twenty fifteen the un security council unanimously decided to create the joint investigative mechanism or jim to work out exactly who was guilty

of chemical weapons use it concluded that in four cases the a sad government was responsible for using chemical weapons though the soon afterwards russia used its veto to stop the renewal of the gym leaving the security council powerless does it just not highlight the importance of the security council i think you are very right the fact that these the use of chemical weapons continues time and again in syria is a challenge to the very authority of the security council the security council continues to talk but on this issue is unable to act the continuing sporadic chemical attacks underlining its weakness and undermining the international consensus against the use of some of the world's most hideous weapons james pays zero of the united nations another night in bags of chemical and biological weapons

specialists and he's also a senior research associate with the center for international and security studies he told me that despite the evidence it's unlikely the syrian government will ever be held to account for the alleged chemical attacks. there is no mechanism for anything to go any good u.n. security council can and has a peculiarity of the use of the nerve agents. authorized special investigative groups under un security council resolutions so they go there live instigate and they make a report and they did incriminate the syrian government in both of the uses of satirists the nerve gas and also in several uses of chlorine but that's all they can do if anyone wanted to sanction syria.

even economic sanctions russian veto the resolution and russian vetoes even less serious resolutions so it would never authorize it would never be a u.n. security council resolution authorizing under chapter seven the use of economic and the use of that canonic war military means against syria ok let's talk about the u.s. economy now and stock markets in new york have suffered big losses on monday with concerns over a possible interest rate rise seen as the main cause but i jones index crashed back down through the twenty five thousand mark that means it wiped off all the gains it's made over the last month there were also losses across the main european and he says as market volatility wasn't just confined to that i said state's kevo elizondo is following the story. it was a very volatile day on the u.s.

stock market the dow had its biggest point drop ever in history at one point in the last hour of trading the dow had dropped over six percent that's a huge drop it gained some in the closing minutes and it closed a little over four percent drop this is a really unheard of we haven't seen these kind of daily drops in the stock market in many years now president trump did not address address the stock market directly and his speech in cincinnati on monday but he did say that the fundamentals of the economy are good saying that the country has added two point six million jobs since he's been president and the unemployment to sit a forty five year low so clearly there are a lot of good fundamentals of the u.s. economy they're doing very well but the stock market now has seen a huge huge drop this again is very important because a lot of the global markets look to new york look to the united states to get

a better read on how the u.s. economy is doing this is certainly going to send trepidations or at least raise a lot of eyebrows in markets around the world the u.s. house intelligence committee has voted to release a memo prepared by the committee's democrats as a rebuttal to a controversial republican document made public on friday the republican memo was declassified by president donald trump and contained allegations of f.b.i. bias and abuse of power in the way it spied on a trump aide the f.b.i. questioned the accuracy of the republican memo saying it contained omissions of fact the committee's top democrat adam schiff says the president will need to approve the rival papers release. i think it's going to be very hard for the white house like it was hard for the republicans on the committee to block release of this i am more concerned that they make political redactions not redactions to protect sources and methods and that's why we're going to insist that the

department of justice and the f.b.i. report to us on what actions they think are necessary so that we can segregate any political interference from the white house. the bitter standoff between the moldings president and his supreme court is deepening security forces broke into the court hours after president abdullah yemeni declared a fifteen day state of emergency in maine was angered by an order from the court to release nine leading opposition figures shala bella's has the latest. opposition politicians film outside malays criminal court waiting to hear the fate of their colleagues ill have made and do listen and they were arrested and charged with bribery upon arriving in the country on sunday a judge dropped the charges and release them they are two of nearly twenty politicians affected by a supreme court ruling that has created a political crisis in the island nation. doing in celebration on thursday when their top court called for the retrial of nine opposition politicians

including exiled former president mohammed machine and the judges reinstated twelve employees who had lost their seats for siding with the opposition but one day of celebration soon turned into four nights of protests when president abdullah you mean refused to comply with the rule that. the aliment was scheduled to reconvene after a recess on monday but the president say it would be closed indefinitely and imposed a state of emergency for fifteen days the mole devean parliament is now under military control opposition politicians want to get inside parliament to file impeachment motions against four top officials in the president's administration for not freeing colleagues. by me. i don't know what

function and this is functioning. police targeted the administrative head of the supreme court on sunday writing his house the court issued a statement ruling police didn't have enough evidence to arrest a judicial executive president in maine has asked the court to reconsider the wrist warrant ruling he said he's told reporters prosecuting attorney needs more legal direction before he can release any political prisoners the president says his people need to be patient critics heavily say i don't need. to be an event. in directing. that even not really any of. the office ition things they can turn a domestic support into international pressure they want foreign intervention but the president and the supreme court are unified against this challenge ballasts. they are him her saying she harbors

a spokesman for the moldavian president he says that normal life will continue despite the political unrest. carvery we are in a state of emergency but there are no curfew is in place. will go on as usual schools will remain open businesses. travel within the country actually from the country will be unimpeded and. life will go on as usual but. because of the supreme court ruling also on february. and then the constitutional implications that that was lifted we are now in the state of. unrest in terms of how local politics is interacting with the separation of powers. but it's more still ahead at all just here in new doubts about the future of south africa's president as the air

and sea eagles a special meeting to discuss his fate. and four goes up must come down the time that's passed since the berlin wall fell there's no longer and the time it's stood . from a fresh coast to bring peace. to watching the sunset on the australian outback. and there is still very chilly for many of us in the southeast parts of china the temperatures in shanghai will still be struggling on choose day on maximum just four degrees but they do get a bit better as we head through wednesday this time up to seven so certainly not worn by any stretch of the imagination but a lot better than they have been the temperatures are also rising elsewhere as well hong kong back to sixty one hundred nineteen there is a little bit of what weather though a bit further south of us over parts of loser mostly in the north and we've also

got more wet weather in the southern half of the philippines as well and that's stretching down through borneo and down towards java and this is the region where we're expecting the wettest of the weather as we head through the next couple of days towards the west it's generally a lot drier for many of us here have a k.l. and singapore that should be plenty of dry weather during the day the temperature is generally hovering around about thirty degrees for india means a lot of cloud here that stretches all the way up through interpol is well it's generally just been high clouds so not really doing a great deal weather wise that may just squeeze out the old shower there for the himalayas further south and it's over sri lanka where we've seen some particularly wet weather recently might be some rather more shop showers as we head through wednesday and on wednesday it looks like that we pushing a bit further north as well so in the southern parts of india will season showers to. the with sponsored by the time he's. written a little like you source of substance to the country. isn't flows through this

thing going on who can lay claim to didn't name isn't going to give them the resources we need but with this comes a destabilizing rivalry the country suspicious of each of those intentions in the battle for control of the river transponding see consultation was not up to me to come to is because of some unknown field struggle a little bit of this time on al jazeera. you're watching al-jazeera a reminder of our top stories the u.s. is accusing russia of blocking a u.n. security council statement condemning the use of chemical weapons by the syrian government u.s. ambassador nikki haley says there's obvious evidence president assad's forces

recently used clothing gas and rebel held areas said he has always denied using chemical weapons. the u.s. house intelligence committee has voted to make public a memo prepared by the committee's democrats as a rebuttal to a controversial republican document released on friday democrats say the memo undermines allegations by president trump that the f.b.i. abused its powers when investigating his campaign. the better standoff between the maldives president and its supreme court is deepening security forces broke into the court hours after president abdullah i mean it declared a fifteen day state of emergency at all reports the top judges have been arrested. more now in the situation in syria and aid agencies say displaced syrians are not a risk of being forced to return home despite the fighting and the report says gains by the syrian government are giving a false impression that many. areas are stable enough to go back to so in

a hotter has more from lebanon's bekaa valley. is the sheriff says some of his family members were killed in the war in neighboring syria he has also lost contact with others who have been displaced lebanon has been his home for six years he is from the opposition held province of idlib and for him going back is not an option . we want to save zone to return to otherwise where do they want us to go back to do they want us to die if we go back will be able to there's nowhere safe there's only death. it live is a deescalation zone there is supposed to be a ceasefire here instead civilians are being killed in almost daily airstrikes by syrian and russian planes humanitarian agencies say the violence in some parts of syria means it's still not safe for refugees to return they are warning governments in europe the united states and the region not to force them back we the humanitarian organizations that are on the ground in syria and in the neighboring

countries we call this report dangerous grounds for the simple reason that these women children and men have to be informed of the conditions and we have to assure that it is done and teary when they go back and then we have to assist and protect the return. the u.n. doesn't have exact numbers but the figures available show some seventy thousand refugees returned on their own from neighboring countries last year but aid agencies say for every returning there were three more uli displaced because of the violence since mid december more than two hundred thousand people had to leave their homes because of fighting in the southern edges of ad lib province. government forces control the main cities they've captured a lot of territory from the opposition has been pushed out of many areas and there are local cease fire agreements in place but the picture is misleading there are

many areas where fighting continues it's not just safety there is widespread destruction there are few civilian facilities left of hospitals have been hit mass returns can't be sustainable if these people can't find jobs and if there is no health care or schools. there are no proper living conditions imagine if i need to take my children to a doctor there are no health centers there is no life there i'm afraid of the day when they kick us out of here lebanon's government says there will be no forced returns and any returns will be coordinated with the united nations but refugees here are still worried so are aid agencies that is why they are warning no one should be forced back to syria without a plan that takes into account their safety and well being. because of valley lebanon and u.s. forces and started withdrawing their numbers in iraq and iraqi government spokesman says the move began after declared victory over i said last year iraq says some

soldiers will stay for logistical and training purposes u.s. troops have assisted in the battle against isis since twenty fourteen can be hawk and has more from washington d.c. . well the pentagon has not yet officially confirmed that this drawdown that is taking place of u.s. troops inside iraq it certainly is not denying it either we know that there were roughly five thousand u.s. soldiers that were supporting particularly in the effort to defeat eisel but of course donald trump in his state of the union address has has claimed that there is largely a victory that has occurred in terms of reducing the territory controlled by eisel in both iraq and syria but at the same time there is concern about what is happening in afghanistan and the string of deadly attacks that have taken place there as a result you see this repositioning of u.s. forces and resources to afghanistan from iraq now this is something that has been taking place quietly for some time certainly we have seen signals in terms of the

announcement of policy by the united states albeit rather subtly not only have we had the surprise visit of the vice president mike pence to bob from air force base a couple of months ago where in fact he said he was concerned about the uptick in violence pointing the finger at pockets for assisting that something pakistan denies but as well we've seen since donald trump has taken office the doubling of u.s. troops inside afghanistan as they continue to assist with the effort to defeat not only the taliban but also eisel and of course the string of deadly attacks not just the attack on the luxury hotel but also a military academy and even the bombing of a hospital has certainly put this in the forefront of the united states that feels that this is where the resources need to be now as opposed to in iraq. sylar the only surviving suspect from the twenty fifth in paris attacks has faced

a belgian court is charged with attempting murder for trying to kill police during a shoot out in brussels nearly two years ago attash a bottle of reports from brussels. flanked by massed police offices refused to stand up at his trial in brussels and told the judge that he would not answer questions the only surviving suspect in the nov twenty fifth dean parris attacks which killed one hundred thirty people up to slum is in court over a police shootout in the belgian capital the following year which eventually led to his arrest up to slum told the judge i do not wish to respond to any questions i defend myself by keeping silent muslims are judged and treated without pity there is no presumption of innocence outside the courtroom his lawyer refused to comment on his client's decision about the we're not going to give them a call up to say that we talked about procedural problems the fact that there are

new civil parties and what if wheelings were all about these. four police officers were wounded by gunfire in the shootout abt islam and another man so if you and i are also were trial escaped but were later arrested in the city after slums appearance in court it was the first in public since his arrest his long hair and beard a contrast to photos of him released by police when he was on the run going into this trial one of the big questions had been whether or not sylar dislike him would break his silence since his arrest he has been in jail in france where he faces another trial over the paris attacks and each time he has been questioned by french investigators he has refused to talk. the head of the french victims association said up to slums refusal to cooperate with the justice system with the lack of respect for me this will not solve the he confirmed his disrespectful attitude

towards the judicial authorities disrespectful and provocative he says he can't stand up because he is tired we see his cynicism but then we expected little outs. the prosecutor has requested a prison sentence of up to twenty years for attempted murder if up to slam remain silent on the questioning it could speed up proceedings and the trial could close before to show jewel to end on friday natasha butler al jazeera brussels belgium the european union's chief brags that the go see it or has won the u.k. are urgently needs to clarify what relationship it wants with europe after leaving the e.u. shabani is making his first official visit to the united kingdom since negotiations began bonnie's been speaking to the u.k. brags that secretary david davis and prime minister theresa may downing street is warm the time has come for the u.k. to make a choice over the nature of its future trade. so if africa's ruling party has

called an urgent meeting to discuss the president's future as pressure grows and jacob zuma to step down rival functions faced off during demonstrations outside the headquarters of the african national congress in johannesburg zuma has become increasingly unpopular over a series of corruption scandals from other miller has more from johannesburg. the african national congress is continuing to grapple with what it calls a transitional period after still remark was i was named president of the party while jacob zuma remains president of south africa and that's amid intensifying calls for zuma to step down this of course relates back to allegations of corruption and his relationship with a prominent family in south africa who are accused of influencing president zuma as well as a government policy and appointments now that still remote will say is president of

the a.n.c. would appear that zuma has position has weakened to some extent and they all polls from within the party and also from outside for the president to step down now unconfirmed reports indicate that zuma has said he won't resign that he's done nothing wrong and that he will indeed make the state of the nation address later this week opposition parties have requested the speaker of parliament to perspire own the address and if they don't have an answer any time soon they say they will approach the courts to have this address perspired until often a motion of no confidence in parliament scheduled for the twenty second of february zuma appears to be facing increased pressure to step down to leave office but he appears to be standing firm that's despite what appears to be an increasing rift within the net and within the ruling party. two of the three kenyan television stations shut. but the government six days ago are now back on air they've been in

trouble because they were broadcasting among a no go ration of opposition leader raila odinga police in nairobi fired tear gas during protests against the government's decision to forcibly halt live coverage of the mox waiting in n.t.v. and katie and news have both resumed broadcasting but citizen television is still off air. a prominent american investigator into the illegal ivory and rhino trade has been stabbed to death of his home in the kenyan capital seventy five year old esmond bradley martin had spent decades investigating the illegal practice which threatens the two species with extinction he also served as the un special envoy on rhino conservation. cape town has pushed back days erode the day it may have to turn off most taps because of a long drought by nearly a month officials say it's now expected to be may the eleventh there in to subpoena to a reduction in agricultural demand for water so they may not need to make the drastic

move the berlin wall the barrier that divided the german city during the cold war era has now been done for as long as it was up the wall was built by communist east germany and completely encircled the western parts of berlin from there paul brennan reports. these days the famous checkpoint charlie is a magnet for tourists a car full of going holds up full vividly remembers the cold war yes he was just seventeen when the war was built and he devoted the next twenty eight years of his life to campaigning and demonstrating against it when. i was seventeen years old and i just cried i couldn't believe it when they told us after the war in one thousand nine hundred five that injustice was meant to be over that people would never again be violently imprisoned at all and be the victim of political power and then they put a wall into a world city in my hometown. from the thirteenth of

august one thousand nine hundred sixty one berlin was a city divided russian and american troops faced each other in a militarized standoff desperate civilians who tried to cross the so-called death strip risked being shot as traitors by east german border guards. when the war finally fell on november ninth one thousand nine hundred nine it stood for ten thousand three hundred sixteen days monday marks the point that it is now been down for ten thousand three hundred sixteen days. for twenty eight years two months and twenty seven days the berlin wall stood for division now twenty eight years two months and twenty seven days after it fell the remaining parts of it stand for something altogether more positive. the new exhibition to mark the date is a collection of private photographs previously unseen glimpses of life in the

divided city there are snapshots taken in the east where such photographs really got this one taken by a teenager plotting his escape route he succeeded a few weeks later the curator of the collection says the wall is as relevant today as it was then but what we can learn from nineteen eighty nine the. urge for freedom by people in the end so strong that it made them wall fell and this is something you cannot solve problems was was today the roots of the berlin wall is still visible in a line of couples marking its former location in the modern day tarmac and tourists come from all over the world to see the stretch of wall still standing as a reminder of those twenty eight years of division. it has now been down for as long as it was up but the ultimate futility of the berlin wall will never be forgotten. al-jazeera.

i'm about to some of the headlines on al-jazeera the u.s. is accusing russia of blocking a u.n. security council statement condemning the use of chemical weapons by the syrian government u.s. ambassador nikki haley says there's obvious evidence president assad's forces have recently used chlorine gas in rebel held areas syria's always denied using chemical weapons aid agencies say displaced syrians are at a risk of being forced to return home despite the fighting a new report says gains by the syrian government are giving a false impression that many areas are stable enough to go back to their warning governments in europe the u.s. and the region and not to force them to leave. stock markets suffered serious losses on monday with concerns over a possible interest rate rise in the u.s. seen as the main cause the dow jones index crashing down through the twenty five

thousand mark wiping out all the gains it had made over the past month. the u.s. house intelligence committee has voted to make public the memo prepared by the committee's democrats as a rebuttal to a controversial republican document released on friday democrats say the memo undermines allegations by president donald trump that the f.b.i. abused its powers in investigating his campaign will need to approve the final papers and release. i think it's going to be very hard for the white house like it was hard for the republicans on the committee to block release of this i am more concerned that they make political redactions not redactions to protect sources and methods and that's why we're going to insist that the department of justice and the f.b.i. report to us on what reactions they think are necessary so that we can segregate any political interference from the white house the bitter standoff between the maldives president and its supreme court is deepening security forces have broken

into the court hours after a fifteen day state of emergency was declared by president abdullah yemi two top judges have been arrested you mean has been eyeing goodbye an order from the court to release nine leading opposition figures those are the headlines next on al-jazeera its inside story of. deportation or indefinite detention that's the choice facing nearly forty thousand african refugees in israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu calls them infiltrations is this action even legal this is inside story.