eau syria's starving city. we take a look inside as an attempt to reunite the country is made in riyadh this is al jazeera live from doha. also ahead condemnation of saudi arabia's execution of a shia dissidents as new warnings of vengeance emerge from iran. floods recede in some part of the u.s. but more are expected as the mississippi rises further downstream. plus >> reporter: the world's highest

and most vigorous tides. i will be looking at generating clean green electricity from the waters behind me syria's opposition is trying to agree on who should be part of upcoming direct talks with the the as add government in two weeks time. the u.n. special envoy for syria is expected to bring together opposition leaders on sunday in riyadh. they will choose a 15-member dpoeshting team which will include armed factions of the the opposition wants a democratic syria which will keep institutions in tact. bashar al-assad will be able to be involved. preconditions must be met to stop government attacks allow aid into opposition areas and

facilitate the return of millions of refugees. meanwhile government troops are battling rebels near the border with jordan. they're under heavy bombardment from russian fighter jets. force $s are hoping to retake the south. small towns in north-western syria are running out of food and medicine. a recent prisoner swap was meant to end a siege by pro government forces, but as rob matheson reports, the aid that the towns were expecting hasn't arrived. >> reporter: the people of this area were promised help. it hasn't come. shops are empty. or closed. on the streets dejection and despair. >> translation: we've only got water. how come there isn't in the food? in the weekend we were eating starch. >> reporter: the aid was part of a prisoner swap deal. dozens of sunni fighters and

their families were taken out of terrence to lebanon heading for turkey. they were given safe package out of small towns in northern syria. north-west of damascus had been the focus of intense fighting. the rebels lost control of most of the town to the syrian army which had besieged it for months. many residents believe pro-government forces are still blocking supplies. what sound there is on the streets is from people playing or people trying to salvage what they are can. medical staff is struggle to help the sick as the number of people ill from hunger rises. >> translation: we have dealt with 150 cases of unconsciousness and two deaths. people were unconscious because of malnutrition. they hadn't been getting enough food for a number of days. >> reporter: after months of

deprivation, they hoped the swap deal would get them the help they need. many are now wondering whether it will ever arrive u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon says that he is deeply dismayed by the execution of 47 men convicted on terrorism charges in saudi arabia. among them was a leading shia muslim cleric, nimr al-nimr, and a prominent al-qaeda preacher, faris al-zahrani. iran supreme leader has joined the condemnation by warning of devine vengeance foresaw depoliticians. >> reporter: reaction was swift. protesters in tehran stormed the saudi embassy following the execution of nimr al-nimr. he was a prominent figure. he was one of 47 men ex-cued in

saudi arabia. they had been convicted of plotting and carrying out attacks targeting civilians and security forces. also among them was a preacher faris al-zahrani. human rights watch has criticized the executions by saudi arabia say the men received a fair trial. >> translation: the judiciary are objective and we deal objectively with the cases on merit. there is no difference between what a person does regardless of his ethnic origin or affiliation or what he believes. we deal with facts and criminal intent. >> reporter: last year special court in riyadh sentenced nimr al-nimr. he didn't deny the political charges, but said he never carried weapons or called for violence. saudi arabia vowed to stamp out terrorism after 15 people were killed in a suicide bottoming at a-- bombing in august.

many of the others such as faris al-zahrani had bmpb linked to attacks in the kingdom between 2003 and 2006, said to have been carried out by al-qaeda. >> it has made sure that it sees no difference between any form of terror as long as it's threatening people in cities and economy, it will take care of it and deal with it swiftly. doesn't matter if it's sunni or shia. >> reporter: dire consequences were warned if nimr al-nimr was killed. that warning was repeated when news of his death was released. leaders say the saudis will play a high price. >> iran will try to neutralize this by igniting the soft spots in the region, particularly in kuwait, bahrain. it wouldn't be a surprise if they do it again. >> reporter: following these latest executions, more may be on the way. at least 2200 similar cases are

still to be heard in saudi arabian courts the iraqi army says that it is amaking gains against i.s.i.l. in ramadi. government soldiers claimed control of central parts of that city on monday but fighting that is continued. now only 250 government fighters remain in the western city. >> translation: there have been surrounded. the iraqi forces have set up blockades in all areas and i.s.i.l. will not be able to break them. nor will they be able to get reinforcements from outside because we have cut their supply lines before we launched the operation another employee at a hong kong publishing firm critical of the chinese government has gone missing. paul lee, the chief editor, disappeared on monday. four of his colleagues previously went missing. lee's wife said that her husband

called from a chinese phone number to say he was safe but he wouldn't reveal his location. people in the u.s. states of missouri, illinois and arkansaw are cleaning up after days of record flooding along the mississippi. thousands of people have been forced from their homes. water continues to rise and push further south threatening more areas. >> reporter: a massive clean up after a spade of unusual winter storms and tornadoes flooded much of the state, accumulating water pushed water leaves in the region above record flooding homes >> we didn't have much warning. it was coming up pretty quick. i was just really scared here. >> reporter: u.s. army engineers fear several levies may not be strong enough to hold all the water back. it could make things even worse. 12 counties in the neighbouring state of illinois have already

been declared disaster areas. the national guard was called in to help with thousands of evacuations. there have been dozens of deaths. >> behind me is a tiny fraction of the trail of destruction that the flood water has left. the raging flood water has deposited debris and soaked homes. >> reporter: there has also been transportation chaos in what's known as the ohio river valley stretching as far as oklahoma. rail lines have been disrupted and hundreds of roads and highways have been closed. almost a dozen levies have been overcome. the damage so far is estimated in the hundreds of millions. >> the hope is this is all a bad dream. the worst dream that i could ever have. the fear is that i've lost

everything. >> reporter: it is a fear not limited to the mid western united states. as water there recedes it is accumulating and swelling down the mississippi river. more areas are preparing for flooding in the coming days. voluntary evacuations are underway as the most vulnerable have been advised to move to higher ground. still others are filling sand bags as they too try to protect their homes solar and wind energy continue to grow in popularity as alternatives to fossil fuels. attention is turning to harnessing the ocean tides in eastern canada there are plans for tar pines to be put-- turbines to be put under water straight under the tidal flow. >> reporter: can the planet's

biggest tides be used to generate power? that's what they're exploring here on the shores of the narrowest point. 14 billion metric tons of water, more than the combined flow of all the world's rivers moves through this passage each day. >> tiedal energy is essentially taking a wind turbine and putting it under water in a high flow environment. >> reporter: in partnership with government and the local power company, a european firm is building a 15 metre wide turbine with plans to subemergency it and get it-- submerge it and get it spinning. an earlier attempt to install such a device failed in 2009. it broke down hours after being put in the water. this is different. >> we have learned that we have to have very local details of the site and the site characteristics in terms of currents and turbine location and this is really where we have learned from this past experience and this is why we

are here method. >> reporter: it's low tide and i'm standing on the bottom of the ocean, but every day twice a day the waters surge in here and turn this mud flap into a bay that can be 12 or more metres deep. north america's first tiedal project is just across the bay. the generating station has been producing small amounts of power since 1984. the undersea turbines are on a much larger scale. not everyone wants them to go ahead. fishermen say that the spinning blades of the turbines will almost certainly disrupt or damage my greatlying fish that use the tide yell flows to move in and out of the bay. it is only clean energy if you ignore the fundamental premise that these things kill fetch. turbines kill fish. there is not a vacuum up there. there are fish living out there. >> reporter: even though scientists whose research laid out the potential of the project

say there's a long way to go before the sea bottom is covered with turbines. >> there is a are lot of challenges. marine environment is difficult to work in, the costs will be high and we also have this question of what the impact it will have on the environment. >> reporter: balancing that impact against the costs of energy from fossil fuel will be crucial. tides so high they make rivers run backward or must they be left alone to ebb and flow as they have always done > > breaking news. israeli prosecutor say they have filed a murder charge in connection with the duma arson attack. that july attack you will remember left three members of a palestinian family dead, including an 18 month old baby

boy. his parents were killed in that attack. the only survivor was a four-year-old boy. prosecutors say that two people have been charged. one of them with murder. we will bring you more on that as and when we get it. still to come here on al jazeera, british soldiers who served in iraq could in this case court over alleged war crimes. we will tell you more. later, virtual reality gets real as we bring you some of the possible technical friends for the year ahead. year ahead. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is.

hello again.

the top stories. small towns in syria are running out of food and medicine. a recent prisoner swap was supposed to end a siege by pro-government forces there. meanwhile opposition leaders are meeting in the saw decapital. floods have receded in some parts of the u.s. a massive clean up is underway. levels on the mississippi river have dropped but homes downstream are now in danger as the water flows towards the sea. iranian media say that 40 people have been arrested after demonstrators set fire to the saw de embasembassy in tehran. they were in relation to 47 being executions. more on the executions. there have been protests in the eastern saw deprovince with people taking to the town of alam ia.

that's the home town of nimr al-nimr where he led anti-government demonstrations in 2011. nimr al-nimr never admitted to any violent acts and his supporters say that his execution was purely political. in neighbouring bahrain dozens of people marched. in done done demonstrator gather outside outside the saw deembassy. at other nations have expressioned concern about those executions in saudi arabia. the united states have warned that the actions could action as bait tension. exacerbate tensions. houthi leaders have condemned the executions. iraq's prime minister haider al-abadi warns that the execution of nimr al-nimr will have repercussions on regional

security. hezbollah has taken a step further calling them them's death an assassination. people in a besieged city in yemen are calling for help from the united nation. protesters in thies formed a human chain to highlight their suffering. people are asking the u.n. to help lifts the houthi rebel siege which is blocking vital supplies. pro-government forces backed by saudi arabia have set up their own blockade of the rebel held capital. police in israel have identified a suspect in friday's shooting in a bar in tel aviv. they're looking for 31 year old an israeli palestinian. two people were shot dead and at least eight others wounded. benjamin netanyahu called the killing a despicable crime. >> translation: among the muslim cities in israel there are many who speak out against violence. everyone knows there is a wild

insitement by islamic. incitement in mosques and in educational system and on social media. we are acting against that aggressively against that incite in the occupied west bank thousands of mourners joined a process through hebron for some recent killing in the violence. at least 144 palestinians and 21 israelis have died in the unrest. a group of british soldiers who served in iraq could be prosecuted for war crimes. the detective in charge of the iraq historic allegations team or ihat said that serious allegations are under investigation. the ministry of defense set up the unit five years ago to examine allegations of abuse, torture and murder. paul brennan reports. >> reporter: the british soldier filmed here abusing iraqi

prisoners was subsequently jailed. nearly seven years after the end of u.k. operations in iraq many other allegations of abuse and even murder remain unpunished. ihat chief told the independent newspaper: he went on: it now has a case load of more than 1500 alleged victims, including 280 said to have been unlawfully killed. the former commander of british forces in afghanistan believes ihat needs more support. >> there obviously sdp need to be investigation where wrongdoing takes place, but there needs to be a far more effective means of screening out the spurious cases from the

serious ones. >> reporter: the human rights lawyers are critical that potential war crimes are taking so long to investigation. >> they are only investigating 45 of those cases. so it doesn't look like they're actually being very effective and we do have lots of concerns concerns about how effectively they can be in the circumstances. >> reporter: although the death of detainee in 2003 revealed systematic abuse by soldiers, only one was jailed. a public inquiry into 2004 allegations that british troops murder murdered prisoner, they found it was unsubstantiated. the vast majority of u.k. service personnel deployed on military operations conduct themselves professionally and in accordance with the law. the m od takes all allegations of abuse or unlawful killing

extremely seriously. yet the number of legal cases continues to grow. ihat's ability to deal with them is starting to look questionable. one clear inference from reading the interview is that the complexity and sheer number of cases he is looking at risk overwhelming his team and that's bad news for the ministry of defense here in london because the m od set up ihat in part to prevent the international criminal court from looking at the allegations. if ihat fails the icc is on stand by and we could see british soldiers facing trial in the the hague more now on that breaking news we told you about a few moments ago. charges in the dumar arson attack in the occupied west bank. israeli prosecutor say that two people have been charged. both of them jewish citizens of israel. one of them ask an adult who has been charged with murder.

the other is a miner who has been charged with bees an accessory to murder. that leafed three palestinian members of a family dead. the only survivor was a four year old. we will bring you more as we get it. to guyana, how an outdated copy write law is holding musicians back. >> reporter: the sound of widely acclaimed singer. recently it won top honors at a competition, but neither the writer nor the singer is reaping the benefits. a copyright law dating bag 55 years says to be denying them from making profit. >> without an enabling environment, it becomes difficult for your creativity

and that of your artist to really blossom. >> reporter: the laws on the books are also said to have resulted in a per breeding ground for piracy. it is so rampant here that roving kiosks like these blast pirated music in the streets of georgetown. >> it is not a matter of choice because if you had to choose and there was a right and wrong, then i think more persons would go for the right. if the system is such that there isn't anywhere else, it's the norm. >> reporter: it is a situation that is said to be also preventing local talent from emerging. an original cd by a local artist costs five times more than a renowned artist. they have no chance of succeeding in their join country. boot legers are not the only ones to blame. a finger is being pointed at its politicians. >> we will create momentum, but

they will be stopped at the doors of parliament or at the doors of the political director ate. >> reporter: that state of affairs leaves musicians feel discouraged. i do feel that we should be better off because being performers for so long and getting the recognition and people hold you at a high place, but yet you don't get the money that you deserve or whatever it is for the work that you do. >> reporter: elsewhere in the carribean music is central to showing the national identity. a simple change in the copyright law could mean the same could happen in guyana every year new and innovative technologies appear on our horizon. some of them make our lives better. others, though, just don't catch

on. but they're mostly helping to connect our world. as parliament of our series looking at the year ahead, our correspondent explores some gadgets that are tipped to shape 2016. >> reporter: the market for unmanned remote operated aircraft better known as drones has grown fast in recent years. it is now estimated to be worth over 1.4 billion dollars a year, and each new generation is getting smarter than before. new models of drones are able to navigate by nemgs and can be programmed to film as a they follow a beacon worn on the wrist. >> >> you wear a wrist band and the camera will follow you around for up to 20 minutes. so you could be skiing or driving a race car, motorcycle. there are interestings things that i think we will see in the coming year. >> reporter: 2016 looks to be the year of virtual reality will come of age. one sprint center due to open in the u.s. combines the virtual

and the real in a new way. visitors explore a real game space but their experience is enhanceed by 360 degree video and sound from headsets and physical heat and water sprays. from the virtual to the real, dubai civil defense force is said to take delivery of 20 of these jet packs. they're intended to replace helicopters in an emergency situation. they could be used in the oil and gas industry, even by farmers. cities too are fast becoming smarter. from monitoring rubbish bins to tracking traffic flows, over 1.6 billion sensors are already installed in the world cities to track the activities of residents. more than five and a half million more been connected each day around the world during 2016 >> the problem is that there is a strong focus on using people's data without the permission or the awareness of the user.

we find lots of corporations that see the city as the they can get all the data and repackage it and resell it for whatever reason that you will never know of >> reporter: new technology that could disrupt public transport is going to be tested this coming year. transportation which promises to proceed pell passenger pod says through tubes at speeds over an enthusiasm km/h will undergo testing on a track in l.a. it is still unproven but in time it could change the way we travel. it has been promised before, but 2016 is expected to be the year bio- metric security really takes off. more and more devices and services are swapping passwords for digital readings of features, such as your face shape, your fingerprint, the iris of your eye or even brain wave patterns. >> using fingerprint technology owners can unlock their gun in a second when they need it.

>> reporter: they can be used to lock objects like hands gunss and will help to protect our identities and private data as our world becomes more connected there's plenty more news and analysis on our website, al jazeera.com >> i'm nidhi dutt, in indonesia, where orangutan conservationists are climbing to new heights. >> and i'm russell beard in flanders in belgium, to meet to meet the urban miners turning rubbish into