families in syria eating grass and leaves. people in the besieged town of madaya are saying that they are starving to death. you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. at least 65 people are killed in a truck bomb attack on a military training center in libya. stock markets in turmoil. china suspends trading after share prices plunge. france's president warns that the attack still weighs heavily

on the country a year after the "charlie hebdo" attack dying in slow motion. that's how people trapped in the syrian town of madaya described their situation. the mountain town has been besieged since july and its 30,000 residents are starving to death. some have resorted to eating leaves and grass. viewers might find some of the images in this report disturbing. >> reporter: my name is mohammed and i haven't eaten in more than aa week. his body starved of any nutrition has little more than the skin covering its bones. he is one of almost 40 thousand syrians being starved to death in madaya. it has been under siege by government forces for months now. there is no food or medicine here. while the bitter cold of winter adds to the immeasurable

suffering of those struggling to survive. day by day they die, though, with no-one either able or willing to come to their rescue. after seeing death by tanks, barrel bombs and chemical weapons, now syrians are experiencing it through forced starvation. it is yet another war crime committed by president bashar al-assad's government and his allies. according to locals, hezbollah fighters control the entrances to the town preventing anything from going in. so people like this man are forced to eat whatever they can find. leaves and shrubs. but all that does is slightly delay the inevitable. death. a look into the eyes of children like these is all it takes to understand that humanity itself is being killed in madaya and the rest of syria so more than three million syrians have fled to neighboring countries. they're trying to escape the

war. our correspondent is in beqaa valley, but first we will go to our other correspondent. >> reporter: the weather is turning at the moment, actually. they have had snow over the last week, but it has melted. the rain is coming down heavily. i suppose these are the lucky ones because they do have hard shelters. it has one room, a living room area, a kitchen, bathroom. the kids, they've never known syria not at war. we talked to them about where they come from and where their families have come from. they've grown-up here. 1500 babies have been born here. they don't understand why they

have to be away from the place they grew up in. i did ask them are they syrian or turk, and they said they're syrian turk over to our correspondent in beqaa valley. tell us what refugees are there, what are the main challenges for the u.n. when it comes to meeting their needs? >> reporter: there's more than one million syrian refugees in lebanon and many of them are living in these kind of makeshift camps that you can see behind me. this is the kind of situation replicated across the beqaa valley. they're basically relying on handouts and they have no way of making a living for themselves. regulations that have been in place mean that syrian adults can't make a living, so they do rely on ngos and aid. that is important now as the u.n. has asked for a new aappeal of 2.8 billion dollars.

it didn't get enough in 2015 so they already have a shortfall. without money they will not be able to buy what they need thank you for that update. at least 65 people have been killed following an attack on a military training center in libya. a truck bomb hit the site in the town. zliten. civilians are among the injured. they were taken to hospital. elsewhere in libya a huge fire raging at one of the country's biggest oil ports after an attack by i.s.i.l. five giant oil storage tanks have been set alight. >> reporter: firefighters are struggling to control the blaze at the oil terminal in eastern libya. it started as a result of shelling by i.s.i.l. fighters. at least five oil storage tanks

are on fire. >> translation: i appeal to the national oil company and also to the united nations. if there is any response, even if it is little help and support for us because we're dealing with a very big issue here and we're facing a disaster, an environmental and economic disaster. >> reporter: i.s.i.l. fighters have been attack the terminal since monday. necessity targeted the facility in october but failed to gain control of it. this time the attack is more coordinated. >> translation: we have totally lost control of tank 13. all our efforts are concentrated on tank no.11 which is really getting very dangerous. >> reporter: it is being defended by guards who have stopped i.s.i.l. fighters from entering the terminal, but that defense has come at a price. some guards have been killed and many other injuries. they are being treated at this hospital. i.s.i.l. fighters have taken advantage of the power vacuum in

libya. analysts say if they gain control of this area they will be more difficult to defeat. >> there's a real danger that if in if libya they were able to gain control of the oil producing facilities, then they would find a way to sell it. that would generate money to allow them to even form a canvass i eye did-- quasi state. >> reporter: it has been in rival since 2011. last month the two sides signed an initial agreement to work together but so far there has been little progress. the u.n. is urging them to unite and form one government before i.s.i.l.'s ideology spreads iran is accusing saudi

arabia of an air strike on its embassy in the yemeni capital. several guards are reported to have been wounded in the attack. saudi arabia says it is investigating iran's claims. to another developing story from the egyptian capital, that's where gunmen have reportedly opened fire on a tourist bus at a hotel. security sources say there were no deaths in the incident. we will bring you more information on that as we get it the french president has praised the security forces and emergency crews involved in the "charlie hebdo" attacks one year ago. ceremony has been held to mark the first anniversary. the president has thanked forces for what they did. 17 people died during those attacks. what is going on with the ceremony and what more has

francois hollande beien saying? >> reporter: he has been giving details about progress that has been made, in fact, in recent months in combatting the kind of groups that might want to perpetuate acts like this. he said that 20 people have been prevented from leaving the territory, people who presumably were trying to get to syria or iraq. he also said that 25 criminal acts with a direct link to terrorism had been uncovered just in the last month and those attempts have been thwarted. he also outlined details to recruit 5,000 more police officers in the coming year. all of these in response not only no the attacks on "charlie hebdo" and the attack later in the week against the jewish supermarket, but also more recently those attacks in november here in paris, all of which have underlined the need

really for the security forces and intelligence agencies to work more closely together. >> reporter: the french president unveils a plaque outside the newspaper's headquarters. it was on january 7 last year that two armed men broke into the newspaper's offices killing 11 people inside and a police officer on duty outside. the attackers were later named as these men. breathe brothers had been known to intelligence agencies but were not apparently considered a high priority. the government rushed through new security measures in the aftermath of the attacks. laws were passed to give intelligent services wider surveillance powers, but those agencies are face with an overwhelming task bearing in mind the hundreds of french citizens who went to fight in syria or iraq and then returned

home. >> who are we monitoring? what are the criteria? because these people, they know very well the current criteria that authorities are using. so they adapt to stay under the radar. >> reporter: the government also promised to tackle the causes of radicalization by focusing on young people in disadvantaged neighborhoods. a year on leading members of the muslim community say that, if anything, the government response is making matters worse. >> these terrorists want a divided society. look at how we are behaving today, a fragmented society, government acting with measures failing to address the deeper social issues leading to radicalization. >> reporter: what should the authorities be doing to start tackling the causes of

radicalization? >> more integration, freedom, jobs and access to opportunities. >> reporter: intelligence mistakes, inadequate resources and a failure to address the root causes of kad ralisation-- radicalization. this left the way open for the attacks of november 13. much deadlier and wider reaching than the events of january obviously, francois hollande has given details of how he tries to address some of those shortcomings, but often these things are easier said than done. for example, promising to recruit another 5,000 police officers. this is not something that can be done over night. the recruitment process will take months and the training process could well take years. also when we look at the kind of numbers of people who the intelligence agencies may now be surveying through phone tapping or monitoring emails, inevitably

decisions have to be made about who is high risk and who is low risk. these are difficult decisions and how, in fact, do they reach those criteria. the president has been calling for much better coordination between the various dwimpbt agencies, not only in france but throughout you're because again we've been seeing, particularly in relation to the november 13 attacks, vital bits of information were not being communicated or not being communicated quickly enough between different intelligence agencies in europe thank you for that update from paris. german police are being criticized for their handling of attacks against women that took place on new year's eve. it's expected to inflame the refugee situation there because it was suggested they were carried out by arab and north african men. three possible suspects have

been identified. protests were made. more women have come forward saying they were sexually assaulted and they were robbed. >> translation: i thought to myself that if we stay here in this crowd they could kill and rape us and nobody would notice it. there was no-one around to help us or in a position to help. >> translation: i tried to somehow defend myself. i tossed my arm backwards because of that i almost fell down the stairs. there were so many people that i no longer was in control of myself, where to go or how to defend myself >> translation: they felt like they were in power and that they could do anything with the women were out in the street. they touched us everywhere still ahead on al jazeera, the u.n. threatens new sanctions against north korea after the claims of a successful hydrogen bomb test. plus a house divided. how a u.s. town is reacting to

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>> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target the top stories on al jazeera. tens of thousands of people trapped in the syrian town of madaya are facing starvation. the town just a few miles from the capital of damascus has been besieged since july. some residents have resorted to eating leaves and grass. at least 65 people have been killed following an attack on a military training center in libya. a truck bomb hit the site in the

town the zliten. civilians are among the casualties. president francois hollande has praised the security force in the attacks one year ago. 17 people were killed in the attacks on the offices and jewish supermarket. china suspending trading on its stock market after share markets plunged. shares have been dragged lower by the turmoil and uncertainty. adrian brown has the latest >> reporter: it has been a bad week for the stock markets in china. we still have friday to go. friday, of course, will be a test of the new measures that have been introduced by china's security regulatory commission to try to instill some confidence in this jittery market. essentially what the commission has done is this. it is restricting big share holders from selling no more than 1% of their shares for the next three months. it is essentially an extension

of a moratorium on selling shares that was imposed six months ago by the government to try to protect small investors. we spoke to some of those small investors on thursday to ask them what they made of what was happening to their stock market at the moment. one man told us that he thought the government was doing something but there was a problem with the system. he meant the circuit breakers, this mechanism that automatically shuts down the market when it falls below 7%. some analysts are arguing that, perhaps, the threshold is too low and that the government needs to refine this system. what caused the market to fall, well, there is continuing concern over china's weakening currency now at its lowest level since 2011. the fact that north korea says it has successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb on wednesday didn't improve confidence much either, but i think there's more concern over those deepening tensions between iran and saudi

arabia china has confirmed 11 workers trapped in a mine have died. their bodies were found in a coal mine a day after it collapsed. 38 workers who had been inside the privately-run pit are said to have escaped. the u.n. is threatening new sanctions against north korea after its claims of a successful hydrogen bomb test. south korea says it will resume propaganda broad casts through loud speakers. >> reporter: allies are rededicating their resolve the day after north korea's bold declaration that it had joined the small group of nations with a hydrogen bomb. something south korea's minister says is not true. who called it a failed test of the h bottom. obama spoke to the leaders of the two most threatened by the test. in telephone calls on thursday

morning he said close collaboration would continue, adding u.s. commitment to the security is unshakeable and that the three nations will work together inner a strong and united international response. south korea's defense minister says his u.s. counterpart has pledged what he calls an iron-clad defense commitment. the two defense chiefs agreed that north korea should pay a proportional price for the provocation. some feel that the h-bomb statement is really just a bluff directed at the u.s. and designed to increase the political impact of the test and part of a long-term plan by north korea. >> they want the outside world to get used to the idea that north korea is a nuclear country. full stop. the assumption is if they continue to have nuclear tests every few years, sooner or later the world will accept them as a nuclear power. >> reporter: long-term plan or

not, south korea is reacting now because of the tests officials said thursday they're restarting a system of loud speakers along the border to broadcast anti-government messages into the north. it is restricting access to the case on joint industrial complex along the border with north korea. china has criticized north korea for disregarding international opposition to nuclear tests. another u.n. security council resolution authorizing further sanctions is in the works. previous resolutions have been ineffective at stopping north korea's nuclear program british prime minister david cameron says he is more confident on e.u. reform. he is hoping to renegotiate the u.k.'s membership of the e.u. ahead of a referendum which is expected to take place later this year. cameron says discussions are going well and he feels there is

goodwill among other leaders. >> i would like to secure the future of britain in a reformed european union, but this reform is vital. britain does have really issues with the way that the european union works today and my negotiation is about dealing with each of those issues. making sure that we're in europe for cooperation and to work together, but we're not part of an ever deepening political union. making sure that it's adding to other countries rather than holding back our competitiveness an emergency has been declared in a suburb of l.a. after a methane gas leak started making people sick. the leak began in lately october and since then thousands of families have been relocated. >> reporter: this is what what an environmental disaster looks like. a massive natural gas leak spewing methane into the air

since late october captured by infra-red cameras. down of the leak 30,000 people living in porter ranch. >> it's just impossible to go outside. we have to close all the doors, all the windows. >> reporter: first came the smell. >> i thought i left the barbeque on. >> reporter: they say in the beginning the stench was annoying, then irritating and then sickening. >> one daughter has had three sinus infections in the last two and a half months, another daughter is continuously coughing, and the other has bad migraines >> reporter: the leak is coming from a blown well at a natural gas storage facility a it was first detected on october 23, the leak has continued to release methane for the past nine weeks. that's enough to equal the carbon footprint of 300,000 cars

on the road for one year. since the leak began other residents have also complained about headaches, nose bleeds and breathing problems. two schools are now closed, thousands have been forced from their homes, thousands of others are on a relocation waiting list. if you drive through porter ranch it looks more like a ghost town than a vibrant community celebrating the holidays. there are so many residents in need of assistance, a resource center is now open. the gas company has agreed to pay for temporary housing but is unable to keep up with the demand. >> there's a line out of the community service center from the gas company every single day. some 300 people waiting to try to get some answers. >> reporter: l.a. city council member is also trying to get answers. porter ranch is in his district. >> how does something like this happen in today's environment? in today's environment where we have technology that we can monday for these kinds of situations. why does something like this go

unchecked for so long? why are the regulatory teeth not there? >> reporter: are you able to get answers to these questions? >> no. i'm not >> reporter: the gas company says it's working as fast as possible to stop the leak, but with no safety shut off valve, drilling a relief well is the only option, and that will take months. >> shut it down. >> reporter: residents say they need help now. the city of l.a. has filed suit against the gas company for its handling of the leak. the state tells al jazeera it is launking an investigation into the cause of the leak and the gas company's response. that does little to help thousands of families breathe easier as methane gas continues to escape into the air above their homes local residents in oregon have told the armed group who occupy a federal building near their town to go home. our correspondent went along to the community meeting in burns, oregon.

>> reporter: it was standing room only for the first time since armed militia men occupied buildings in a wildlife refuge to force the federal government to turn over land to local ranchers. those very same ranchers and their families met to figure out if they even want the militia men here or not. in the small town of burns, oregon, the local sheriff was clear where he stood >> and i'm here today to ask those folks to go home and let us get back to our lives. >> reporter: many agreed with the sheriff saying the time is up for the militia occupation. >> we're in trouble if we don't tell these people to pack up their stuff and go home. >> reporter: but some ranchers are thankful they're bringing attention to their fight with the government over land rights. >> these people down here at the refuge, i just came from there and i talked to them and they're not hurting a damn thing down there, but they've brought us

all together. they're waking people up. so i think they're going to work this out. they are just making a statement for us to wake us up with the militia men heavily armed and threatening to defend themselves if police try to run them out, the threat of violence and bloodshed is not far off, so schools and government buildings in town have been shut down for safety reasons. with no end in sight to the standoff and deep divisions in the town, emotions sometimes boiled over. >> and my boots are shaking, but i'm proud of who i am. i'm proud to be a rancher and i'm not going to let some other people be my face. i am me. this is my home. >> reporter: the sheriff didn't have many answers and after the nearly two-hour meeting ended, people milled about asking the same question, what next?

nobody here had a clear answer. many remain anxious and worried. >> it is clear these are people that are united for their love of their community but also still very divided on how to end the militia occupation that everyone here says has gone on too long scientists say they've spotted two huge waves of gas being produced by a black hole about 26 million light years from earth. the gas were detected by n.a.s.a. telescope. it is one of the closest black hole and may trigger the formation of new stars. the force is strong with the new star wars film as it continues to smash previous records. the force awakened is the highest grossing film of all time in u.s. and in canada.

on wednesday it passed the $760 million record set by avatar in 2009. the seventh film has erndz $1.5 billion $-- earned $1.5 billion dollars. much more on our website al jazeera.com "on target" tonight, explosive claims by north korea. how a hydrogen bomb could shape the balance of, and doomsday, go inside the bunk they're could hold america's last chance of survival after a nuclear war. north korea reminding the world again