protests in venezuela as the opposition prepares to take control of congress. ♪ i'm lauren taylor, this is al jazeera, live from london. also coming up. >> it will potentially save lives in this country. >> barack obama takes aim at gun sellers not currently required to carry out background checks. at least 21 refugees die as two boats sink in different locations off of the coast of turkey. and we look at the gadgets

and gismos expected to take stage at one of the world's largest technology shows. ♪ hello, wednesday new parliament is being sworn in amid a power struggle with the president. for the first time in 16 years the 167-member national assembly will be controlled by the opposition. the democratic action party won a two-third's majority last month. it could mean less power for the socialist president whose government has been grappling with crippling inflation and high crime rates. outside.

>> reporter: so the fate of even though who survived the sea crossing is uncertain, many will eventually find safe harbor in european countries like germany. but here on the greek shore, their ordeal has just begun. the syrian opposition say they want to see confidence-building steps with the syrian government, including the immediate stopping of bombardment of opposition-held areas. >> reporter: u.n. backed talks

to end the fighting and restore peace is due to start later this month. but the opposition want confidence building measures before the talks begin. they want syrian government forces to stop bombarding opposition-held towns and cities. they are calling for political prisoners to be released. and humanitarian aid to be delivered to those in need. >> you can't really enter negotiations while people are being slaughtered en masse, at least stopping this enslot would be a sign by the regime to tell the opposition that it is serious about negotiations. >> reporter: the opposition groups are fighting on the front lines against the syrian government and itself allies, however, they lack a unified command, and have very different visions for the future of syria. last month opposition leaders met for three days to try to unify the opposition before scheduled talks with syrian

government leaders. >> the riyadh conference last month shows it is possible to come together and form a platform. but how can they go to the table when the situation on the ground is so towarded from the reality of the -- sorry the unreality of what could take place in geneva. >> reporter: even if the syrian opposition can find common ground, talks will be difficult. they demand bashar al-assad leaves before a transitional government comes to power. foreign ministers say assad's future isn't predetermined. while there is a sense of urgency among many parties to end the civil war, the reality is that all of them may not be ready to do so. victoria gatenby, al jazeera. dozens of iraqi security

forces and tribal fighters have been killed after the islamic state of iraq and the levant launched its bigger-ever attack on a city. the group launched an offensive from three directions and fighters targeted security points in villages and towns. that comes as the u.s.-lead coalition says isil has lost 30% of the territory they once held in iraq and syria. the coalition has been helping launch air strikes in key cities in iraq and syria. bahrain has joined saudi arabia in halting all flights to and from iran. on saturday protesters attacked the saudi embassy in tehran over the kingdom's execution of a prominent shia cleric. iran says saudi arabia is

stopping diplomatic ties to cover up a crime. >> translator: iran and saudi arabia, which are friends and allies of turkey are two important countries of the muslim world. the current tension is unfortunately carrying the potential to increase the still-continuing tensions in other parts of our region. all countries in the region should act rationally, and we expect them to decrease tension rather than increasing it. and let's go back to venezuela. what is the general mood in the streets there? >> reporter: well, we're outside the place where supporters of the opposition have gathered, and people here are ecstatic. they say having won the super majority in december's elections, marks the beginning of what could be the end of what they say has been 17 years of

oppressi oppression. people in the streets are super happy, they have been celebrating what they say has been a sweeping victory. there is some police presence, and the government has also called on their supporters to rally. but at the moment there are no clashes between both camps. in the past it has been known to happen, but at the moment, like i said, things are calm here. >> explain a little bit about what is going on -- the powers at play there, and the possibility that that could spill into a social conflict. >> reporter: well, venezuela is facing perhaps its worst economic crisis in its history. and this was clearly expressed at the polls when the opposition won a landslide victory. the government has taken several measures that seems to be

designed to curve the opposition super majority. on monday, the president announced that there was a new law that would block the super majority in congress from naming the directors of the central bank, and also it would also limit some of the [ inaudible ] that the central bank should be publishing to the legislatures. it clearly means that the opposition and go could be facing political gridlock that could prevent it from taking the very much needed economic measures that the country seems to be calling for. and months of shortages are probably set to increase tensions that are already in existence and that people would hope would change with the new assembly. >> thank you very much indeed. still to come this half hour, through brush strokes and paint, yemeni artists explore

their feelings about the war and poverty around them. and u.s. marches in oregon take the occupation over jail sentences into a fourth day.

♪ hello, again, a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. israeli's new parliament is being sworn in, amidst a power struggle with president maduro. barack obama is to tighten

background checks on people buying guns. the u.s. president is bypassing opposition in congress with a series of executive orders to reduce gun violence. and the bodies of 34 refugees have been found in two locations on turkey's aegean coast. turkish coast guards have rescued eight people and are looking for more survivors. united nations says the civilian death toll from nine months of war in yemen has almost reached 2,800. the latest figures show despite a supposed ceasefire at least 81 were killed in december, another 109 were wounded last month. that means 2,795 civilians have died since the war began. senior officials in yemen have survived an attack. government forces recently recaptured aden from houthi rebels. in sana'a, saudi-lead

coalition forces have intensified air strikes after weeks of relative calm. there are no reports of casualties. in the midst of war and turmoil in sana'a, an art exhibition has opened. it's the first of its kind since saudi-lead coalition air strikes began in march. so the artist it's a way of expressing the conflict around them. at first balance this could be an art gallery in london or new york, but this is sana'a, a city at the heart of the houthi-lead rebellion. that becomes apparent with a closer look through the vibrant colors and brush strokes, you can see the fighting, turmoil, and loss. >> translator: it reflects the fear people feel across yemen. those who have been trying to get away from the death and constant destruction. >> reporter: the conflict has

plagued yemen since 2014, when houthi fighters launched a rebellion and took control of sana'a. they are up against the president, which has had the backing of saudi-lead coalition air strikes. the exhibition is the first of its kind since the bombing campaign began in march. this man was once invited to the ministry of tourism, now he's an artist. >> translator: much of the art reflects the shelling and bombardment of yemen over these months. women and children have been the main vic -- victims. >> reporter: u.n. brokered talks have been ongoing.

without a clear path to peace, people like this man are determined to express themselves and the turmoil they see. in libya, isil-linked fighters have resumed their shelling in one city. an oil facility was hit sparking a fire. iran has unveiled a new underground missile depot, showing missiles that the u.s. says can carry a nuclear war head. it could effect washington's plans to dismantle all of the sanctions on iran. the missile, they say violated a 2010 u.n. security council resolution. last week the president expanded the program. china's central bank has spent billions of dollars trying to stop a major selloff of shares in its stock market. investors are worried about

chinese economic prospects. they are continuing to sell their shares after trading was was suspended on monday. >> reporter: tuesday was another bad day for chinese stocks. the markets were all down, but the routh wasn't as bad as it had been on monday when shanghai closed down around 7%, and hong kong almost 3%. the reason for the continuing jiters in the market, i think, is probably this, on friday, restrictions over the selling of shares are due to end. these restrictions were imposed during the market turbulence in the summer. but if these restrictions are eased, it would mean a lot of cheap stock coming on to the market. because of that, the china security regulatory commission on tuesday issued a statement, saying they would take action to stop big shareholders selling their shares in blue chip

companies. let's be clear, one of the reasons why some of these companies want to sell their shares is they simply have no faith in their companies at the moment. and the government wants to protect the small investors. we have seen plenty of evidence of government intervention in the market. they have buying up shares in blue chip companies, but the day to watch this week is going to be friday. 17 people have been killed in a suspected arson attack on a bus in china. the bus caught fire in morning traffic, trapping passenger's inside. police have arrested a man in connection with the incident which injured 32 people. the german government is urging the public not to blame refugees for attacks on new year's eve. around one thousand men harassed women in the city center at the train station. there were 60 complaints of

assault, and one of rape, and a police investigation is underway. >> translator: [ inaudible ] it will become clear who is involved. making this an issue through oversimplifications and connecting it to the issue of refugees is nothing more than misuse of the debate. now it's about drawing the necessary conclusions. the armed occupation of a wildlife center in the western united states is into a fourth day. the fbi is working to end the protest peacefully close to the city of burns in oregon. the initial protesting was against jail sentences given to two local ranchers for starting fires. those ranchers have now distanced themselves from the occupation. the group calling it's a citizens for constitutional freedom have outlined grievances about land-use restrictions and federal regulations on ranching. let's speak to gabriel elizondo who is in burns.

what is happening there now? >> reporter: well, it's a little after 8:00 am here in the state of oregon, and this armed protest by these anti-government protesters continues. it has been going on throughout the night, now in its fourth day. you might see over my left soldier a big truck there. that is blocking the entrance to the area, the reserve where the protesters have taken over the federal government buildings. they have been out here all night. the main buildings are off in the distance. you really can't see them here, but they essentially have control of this entire area. they say this has gone their initial protest of trying to keep the other two ranchers out of jail. they say now it has gone into bigger issues, fighting for land rights for ranchers. land rights here that they say ranchers deserve but are

constantly in conflict with the federal government which owns about 70% of the land in this area. but cattle ranchers say they need some of that land for their cattle to graze here. these protessers say they will be here until this land gets turned over to the local ranchers. >> is there any police presence there? >> reporter: there's not, actually. we haven't seen any police. the fbi actually are now in charge of this response, but they are nowhere to be seen. that is by design. the federal police and fbi don't want to be here, because they say that that could potentially antagonize the situation, make it more volatile than it already is, so they are taking a very, very soft approach. the local sheriff, though, about 30 kilometers down the road, that's where the main town is at, he has been having some press conferences and imploring these protesters to leave the

area, but beyond that no major police presence at all. >> and what is the reaction in the town been? >> reporter: this is a ranching area here. this is vast areas of cattle ranchers here. there's 14 cattle for every one person that lives in this area. so the nearest town of burns, most people are cattle ranchers. they generally sympathize with the fight that these protesters have. they generally sympathize with the fight against the federal government, however, most of the locals in general say that they don't want this happening right here in their backyard. even though local sheriff, imploring these people -- these protesters to leave, so most of the people while they agree with the general idea of fighting against the government, they simply don't think this is necessarily the right way to do it. >> gabriel elizondo, thank you very much indeed. and wearable technology and digit digital sensors in just about

everything, they are the major stories in the tech show in las vegas this week. ron reynolds takes a glimpse bo the future. >> reporter: the world's biggest consumer technology showcase is getting underway with 150,000 attendees from 150 countries. among the top trends for 2016, the expansion of digital technologies and sensors into more and more areas of every day life. >> we still live almost completely in an analog world. we're surrounded by digital devices, but we haven't yet started to integrate some of those digital attributes and aspects into our daily lives, and i think that's one of the big steps we'll see take place at the 2016 show. >> reporter: experts say the trend towards including technology into just about everything from doorbells to dishwashers will effect millions of peoples jobs, lifestyles and

family time. >> there is going to be a major change in how we live our lives. basically technology is going to be everywhere, from when we wake up to when we go to sleep to when we're a sleep. once everything is connected, all of your life is digital, well, somebody can hack into your system somehow, and learn where you are, whatty are doing, and in a way cyber stock you. >> reporter: another trend, wearable technology, a $5 billion business, and wearable tech is now moving well beyond telling you how well your workout went. >> i think what you'll see is not just products focused on fitness as -- as we have seen in the past, but you'll see that more holistic approach to wearables. wearable clothing, smart clothing is an area where we'll see growth here. >> reporter: the first consumer electronics show was held back

in 1967, since then technology has changed almost beyond recognition. who can say what the next 49 years will bring. rob reynolds, al jazeera, las vegas. plenty more for you any time on our website. the address for that is aljazeera.com. ♪ it will potentially save lives in this country. >> president obama moving to tighten gun-control laws. he says he will do so without congress. >> many my first day in office they are gone. while g.o.p. presidential hopefuls promise to repeal any executive orders if they are given a chance. and the oregon