cold and starving, the undersays 400,000 syrians are cut off from food and medical supplies. ♪ hello, there i'm barbara sarah. also coming up in the next 30 minutes, cologne's police chief will step down. and north koreans celebrates reports of a successful nuclear

bomb test. and hitler's manifesto is published in germany for the first time since world war ii. ♪ hello there. thank you for joining us. the u.n. says that at least 4 hurricane,000 syrians are living under siege completely cut off with no access to food or medicine. it says the government and opposition are stopping vital supplies from reaching people who desperately need them in different areas of the country. some are so desperate that they are reporting to desperate accesses to stay alive. >> reporter: a starving victim, this man is one of thousands of people trapped by blockades. he says he has been forced to eat grass. >> translator: i was brought here because i got poisoned. i was eating herbs from the ground. >> reporter: in the winter this is just one of several towns and

villages cut off of food and medical supplied by government forces. and there are towns in the north held by government forces and their allies. in may dayia salt is handed out. >> reporter: >> translator: we are arabs. this children what wrong have they done. this child, what wrong did he commit? >> reporter: the united nations says hundreds of thousands of people are being prevented from getting humanitarian aid in syria. aid organizations have been allowed by the government to deliver supplies to some of the besieged towns. the red cross says the trucks could start to arrive soon. >> we expect that the humanitarian operation, the joint operation should take place in the coming days. >> reporter: meanwhile, a plea

to the world. >> translator: let the world sea this and hear about this, and know there are people here dying of starvation. >> reporter: for those trapped in these besieged towns, the hope is whatever help they get, won't be the last. rob matheson, al jazeera. al jazeera's ca care -- caroline malone is at a syrian refugee camp. >> reporter: it is pretty miserable today. there has been hail earlier on, and rain now, and it's getting pretty cold. people are not ready for these kind of temperatures. they are getting some support, something like 150 usd a month for families -- these are families of six, seven people, but that is just not enough for them to survive on. they need something like 4 or 500 a month. they need to buy everything from the basic food, fuel, things to keep them warm, like blankets and stoves to cook on, and that is the sort of money they are

not receiving. it is difficult because they can't work. there are visa restrictions that means that adults are not allowed to get work unless they are sponsored by lebanese citizen. we have heard stories of adults who are not getting their three meals a day, they are giving what they have to their children. but it's just not enough for people to survive long enough. and the winter is just beginning here. we have heard there could be another snow storm coming in a week or two, and when those temperatures drop people will start burning whatever they can find. people are taking plastic or old shoes and putting that on to the furnace to burn. and of course not only is that bad for shoes, but it's incredibly dangerous to burn that kind of plastic and rubber.

there is at an tempt by the government to reduce the number of refugees coming from other countries like lebanon and egypt by air or sea. officialss say the refugees coming directly from syria are still welcome. refugees are heading north towards croatia and eventually into the european union. they have seen a spike in diseases as they struggle with the freezing temperatures. belgian investigators have found an apartment in brussels that may have served as a bomb factory for last year's paris attacks. the app parment may have also been used as a hideout by the suspect who is still at large. the attack on the french capitol in november left 130 people dead. jacky rowland sent us this

update. >> reporter: belgian police made the discovery on december the 10th, but they are only choosing to make the information public now. inelse have gators searched a flat in the scarbeck neighborhood of brussels. it had been rented by someone using a fault name. and inside police found some vests, belts, that they said could have been used for explosive suicide vests. they also found residue of explosives, and a fingerprint matching that of the suspect from the november the 13th attacks who is still on the run. now, the police are saying, although they have found this fingerprint, they are not in a position to establish when think fingerprint was left. fingerprints don't come with a time or a date attached to them. so there are two possible scenarios, maybe more. one is that this flat could have been used as a suicide vest

manufacturing workshop, given the presence of these half-made belts and also the explosives residue. another possible is that the suspect could have used the flat to lie low after the attacks, because investigators have already revealed that friends of the suspect drove him from paris back to brussels on the night after the attacks. and another suspect has told belgian police that he drove him to the scarbeck neighborhood on november 14th. so quite a few theories there, but the police don't know for southern yet. cologne's police chief has been relieved of its duties after the wave of violence on women on new years eve. police have started making their first arrests. officers say the dozens of men

are thought to be involved in a series of attacks on the night. emma hayward reports. >> reporter: it was supposed to be a night to celebrate. instead new year's eve turned into one of chaos and violence. with allegations of serious sexual assault, robbery, and threats, by groups of men against dozens of women close to the cathedral. an internal police report says officers were not in control. >> translator: i thought to myself that if we stay here they could kill us. they could rape us and nobody would notice. >> there were so many people that i no longer was in control of myself. >> translator: they felt like they were in power and they could do anything with the women out in the street partying. >> reporter: protesters say the police could and should have done more. what happened more than a week ago is fuelling the debate in

germany about immigration. witnesses said many of the suspects looked like they were arab or north african. more than 30 suspects have now been identified by german police. some of those are asylum seekers, but they aren't being connected to the session wall assault allegations, but face violence and robbery charges. the chancellor has demanded a far-reaching investigation. >> translator: the feeling women have in this case of being completely defenseless and at mercy is intoller l. so everything that happened must come out into the open. >> reporter: cologne is home to a large muslim community. many are ethnic turks. they are worried that people are pointing the fingers arabs and north africans when the facts

are still not clear. >> lack of respect for women isn't a religious problem. >> translator: everyone says this has something to do with muslims. i have been here for 30 years myself, and i have never seen anything like this. >> reporter: the german chancellor has warned that any foreigners involved in the crimes could now face deportation. human rights watch says that at least 140 people have been killed in two months of protests over land rights in ethiopia. demonstrators are opposing an expansion of [ inaudible ] into ethnic land. opponents fear that native farmers will lose their land. the state includes the ethiopian capitol and is home to around 30 million people. south korean scientists have found a small amount of air-born radioactivity over the sea close to where north korea says it tested a hydrogen bomb on wednesday.

but they say it is still not enough to provide conclusive proof that the devise was actually detonated as pyongyang says. in contrast to the rest of the world, the hydrogen bomb test has caused celebrations in north korea. whatever the truth is, tensions between the north and the south have worsened over the last few hours, scott heidler reports. >> reporter: it's a tactic not used since august, and one the north careens call an act of war. exactly at midday friday, south korea restarted its loud speaker propaganda broadcast. a former north korean military officer defected to the south ten years ago. she says the broadcasts are effect. >> translator: there are people

who defect after listening to the broadcasting. it's the soldiers that are listening. they are equipped with armed weapons. now they are exposed to the propaganda broadcasting. >> reporter: the broadcasts along the border here aren't just anti-north korean government. they also include global news, weather, even popular music from south korea. there are more than 10 speaker locations and some are mobile. the south korean government here says the broadcasts will continue indefinitely. the british forge secretary urged south korea to show restraint. but it's not clear how north korea will react. >> the north might also respond by taking hostages, for example, tourists or ngo groups that work in north korea. these guys are sometimes taken

hostage for pseudo crimes against the state. >> reporter: so for now the military and the people of south korea wait for the response from its northern neighborhood, along with the rest of the world. still to come in this half hour, asian shares rebound after china lifts the circuit breaker mechanism that sparked turbulence on the market. and venezuela's president slams the removal of pictures of hugo chavez from parliament. ♪

♪ now a reminder of the stop stories here on al jazeera. the u.n. says 400,000 syrians are under siege, cut off from mood and federal supplies. many are dying of starvation in one of the worst-affected areas madaya. belgian investigators have raided an apartment that they believe was used by the suspects in the paris attacks in november. and the cologne police chief has been relieved of his duties just days after a wave of violence against women on new years eve. thousands of iranians have been rallying against saudi arabia after the execution of a shiite cleric six days ago. the demonstration followed friday prayers, with protesters carrying pictures of the cleric, and chanting death to the saudi

royal family. saudi arabia severed ties with iran on sunday after crowds attacked two diplomatic posts in iran in the aftermath of the execution. israeli police have shot dead a man suspected of killing three people in tel-aviv on january 1st. he was reportedly killed during a shootout at a mosque in the north. he was accused of killing two people in a bar as well as a taxi driver. let's go live to jerusalem now where we can speak to our correspondent. what other details do we have about this shooting? >> reporter: well a stunning end to an 8-day manhunt for the suspect. we understand he was shot dead after police received a tip-off that he was hiding in a building near his own family's village in the north of israel.

according to police when he tried to exit the building, he opened fire on officers, officers returned fire and that is when he was killed. police are also saying that none of their police personnel were killed. and it really just caps off again this 8-day manhunt for this man who is alleged to have killed two people in a mass shooting at a bar in tel-aviv and then a taxi driver who is said to have taken him from tel-aviv to the north of the country. now the israeli police and security services have been deeply criticized over the past several days for their failure to find him in the hours after the attack. in fact we're now over a week since the attack and now he has been found and killed, and many many the israeli public, again, have been very critical of the police services for not being able to find him. but again, now he has been found and shot dead by israeli forces.

>> what more do we know about him, the man himself? >> reporter: well, the israeli media have painted a picture of a very troubled young man, a man who as we have been saying grew up in the north of israel in a palestinian village. he has served time in prison for trying to remove a weapon off of a soldier. it is said the reason he tried to do that was in retaliation of the death of a cousin who was killed in an altercation with israeli police, and he is also just described as a man who has largely been quite troubled, still coming from a family who is relatively integrated within israeli society. his father who it's believed he took the gun from is a volunteer with the israeli police. now according to israeli police, the gun that he used not only in the attack on new year's day,

but also just a few hours ago in which he was killed was that same weapon, it was a registered weapon, still it raises questions about the use of firearms in israel especially at this time, in which we have seen months of violence, starting in october of this year. most of that violence, which has been carried out by palestinians has usually involved knives and car rammings. the police have been very careful not to connect the actions allegedly carried out by him to that violence, although they have described him specifically as a terrorist, they haven't described his mass shooting and the killing of a taxi driver as a terrorist offense or nationalist offense, so again, the israeli police are describing this as a victory, still big questions as to why it took them so long to find him, and perhaps more specifically

for them, what the true motive was. >> thank you. north korea's actions are one of many international factors believed to be behind recent instability of the chinese stock market. it's at least showing some signs of recovery after the panic selling seen on monday and thursday. the chinese markets were twice forced to shut down under the controversial circuit breaker rule. which has now been abandoned by the government. >> reporter: in china, red is a lucky color. it tells you shares are up. nine months ago, there was a lot of red. chinese investors were buoyant, the share market was at its highest level since 2007. but for now that winning streak is over. the market is in a slump. since june stocks have lost more than 40% of their value.

and some small investors are less than happy. >> translator: don't film! we don't want to talk about it! >> reporter: they blame their problems on foreign speculators as well as a measure that was supposed to calm markets but had the reverse effect. >> translator: the government is trying to protect individual investors, but to be honest, the system is not perfect. the system needs to be improved. >> reporter: the authorities have responded to that criticism, suspending the circuit breaker rule that halts trading when shares fall sharply, which happened twice this week. as a result, the market rose on friday, a partial recovery, panic was subsiding. but the start of 2016 has set a pattern for what is expected to be a very difficult year for the world's second-largest economy. >> we think there is a chance of a hard line, there is always a chance of a substantial slow

down, in china we put it right now at about one in four. >> reporter: the leadership here has more pressing issues right now, namely bergening local government debt, a growing housing bubble, and overcapacity in state-controlled industries like coal and steel. and then there's what china can't control beyond its border. the military this week in north korea claimed to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. and the markets worry about deepening tensions between iran and saudi arabia. last week china's president seemed to allewd to the challenges confronting his country. the told the nation that fruitful gains come with persistent efforts. his way, perhaps, of saying it is going to be a tough year. oil prices have now fallen into around $33 a barrel

venezuela needs oil to be around $100 a barrel just to break even. virginia lopez has more. >> reporter: this shop in downtown caracas specializes in selling old bills. almost are carefully kept, while others seem carelessly stacked. lugo says he loves old and new alike, but admits the story his collection tells grim. >> translator: this reflects the loss of the currency's power that venezuelans suffer. this bill that came out in 1981 was equivalent to $116. now it is only equal to $0.50, which isn't even good enough for a candy. >> reporter: a recent report puts the oil-rich country's inflation rate at 270%.

according to economists, it is the worst crisis in the country's modern history. >> venezuela is in the process of hyperinflation. the only commodity of importance in foreign trade, oil falling at levels below -- over the last 11 years. so it's the perfect storm. >> reporter: hardship is being widely felt, with according to a recent study, poverty has increased from 25% to almost 70% in just one year. because it depends almost clues -- exclusively on oil, the recent drop has left the economy in a freefall with salaries that evaporate almost on a daily

basis. an informal food vendor who works night shifts as a phone operator in bank, says that even two jobs aren't enough. >> translator: this situation effects us deeply. on top of it we can find what we need, so we're constantly having to find new ways to make things work. >> reporter: experts firth could snowfall into social commotion as more and more people are effected by the country's deep recession. virginia lopez, al jazeera, caracas. venezuela's president has condemned the removal of a portrait of his predecessor from the national assembly. congress speaker ordered the hugo chavez to be taken down, along with that of independence hero after the opposition party's land slide victory. that sparked protests with socialists calling for images of chavez to be put up on every

street corner. >> translator: this is the most serious insult in 200 years of history against the sacred memory of the man. i want to condemn all for the horrific insult of the memory of him. adolph hitler's controversial manifest is going on sale in germany for the first time since world war ii. some germans are worried it could spread the aim of right-wing ideology. >> reporter: it's author is long dead, as is the party he created, but the book remains. the nazi dictator puts across anuanceations of communism, his vision of europe, and his venomous anti-semitism. until this year, the state has

banned the publication of the book using copyright laws. but that copyright has expired. so the inns -- institute of history felt it had to act. >> translator: the addition, demystifies the information spread by hitler. his blatant lies and many half truths which were pure propaganda. >> reporter: but for some members of the jewish community that is not enough to justify this new publication. >> translator: yes, the copyright has expired. so what? do i need to republish all garbage? i'm simply at loss for words to explain why this stupid book is being republished. >> reporter: the shadow of national socialism is so long that it can still be seen on the

streets of germany. brass plates have been laid to commemorate the victims. such public reminders of the dark past illustrate the gulf between the evils of nazi germany and the liberal values of its modern democratic successor. >> germany is a multi-cultural society. germany are used to foreigners, and germans are very well aware of their past, and all of the -- everything that's gone wrong with the -- with the regime of the third reich and all of the -- all of the cruelties. >> reporter: nevertheless, in recent times, right-wing moves such as the anti-islamic group have staged rallies in the eastern city of dresden.

the authors of this new version say this should not stop them from educating future generations about the evils of national socialism. dominic kane, al jazeera, munich. more on the website, aljazeera.com. [ cheers ] a positive jobs report gives an early boost to any market, but the gains are slowly slipping away. ♪ >> reporter: the power of music. south korea retaliates against the north with the help of some tunes. and a popular pesticide may be why the bees are dying in record numbers. plus tribal leaders in oregon now taking on those