the news continues live from london next. ♪ cold and starving. the u.n. says 400,000 syrians are cut off from food and medical supplies. ♪ hello there, i'm barbara sarah. you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program. cologne's police chief has been relieved of his duties just days after a wave of violence against women on new year's eve. as north korean's celebrate reports of their country's nuclear tests, the south resumes

propaganda broadcasts over the border. and israelis and palestinians embrace an unusual form of protest. ♪ thank you for joining us. the u.n. says that eat least 400,000 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 for food and shelter that they are resorting to drastic action just to stay alive. >> reporter: the protests on the border between syria and lebanon less than 10 kilometers away from towns under siege. there are syrians and lebanese marching in solidarity with

people nearby. >> translator: we came here because of the regime air strikes. they destroyed our homes. they burned our fields. there is nothing left. the people fled with their families to madaya. they put them in a big prison. >> reporter: there have been marches in syria as well. people here want to make sure their fellow syrians get access to food and medical aid as soon as possible. there are more than 40,000 people in madaya alone who have been without proper food for months. the last time the u.n. was able to get aid to them was in october. >> translator: we don't understand how the world can do nothing to resolve this crisis, after witnessing such tragedy. civilians are being killed because of the use of this cowardly weapon. >> reporter: unfortunately there are many places under siege in syrias war, and more than 400,000 people who have been cut

off from food and medical supplies. that's something other syrians in lebanon say they can relate to. >> translator: we lived in the same situation as madaya. we came to stand in solidarity with the families there. because the hunger and suffering is the same for all people. >> reporter: u.n. says it will be send some aid to some villages. >> we expect that the operation, the joint operation, should take place in the coming day. >> reporter: the aid will help a small number of people out of the thousands who are suffering through this five-year war. caroline malone, al jazeera. belgian investigators have found an apartment in brussels that may have served as a bomb

factory. the apartment may have also been used as a hideout by the suspect still at large. al jazeera's 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. investigators searched a flat in the scarbeck neighborhood of brussels. it had been rented by someone using a false name and inside, police found some vests, belts, that they said could have been used for explosive suicide vests. they also found some residue of explosives and crucially a fingerprint matching that of the suspect from the november 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 the

fingerprint was left, because obviously fingerprints don't come with a time or date atta attached to them. so there are two possible scenarios, one is this plat could have been used as a kind of suicide vest manufacturing workshop. another possibility 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 who is currently in custody has told belgian police that we drove the suspect to the scarbeck neighborhood on november 14th. so quite a few theories there, but the police don't know for certain yet. cologne's police chief has been temporarily relieved of his

duties, just days after a wave of violence against women on new year's eve. police have started making their first arrests following complaints from hundreds of women who say they were attacked. officers say a dozen men are thought to have been involved in the attacks on the night. em-mahayward reports. >> reporter: it was supposed to be a night to celebrate, instead new year's eve in cologne 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. >> translator: i thought to myself if we stay here in this crowd. they could kill us. they would rape us, and nobody would notice. >> translator: there were so many people i was no longer in control of mice.

>> translator: they felt like they were in power and they could do anything with the women 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 were arab or north african. more than 30 suspects have now been identified. some are asylum seekers, and they face violence and robbery charges. the chancellor has demanded a far-reaching investigation. >> translator: kneeling women have in this case of being completely defenseless and at mersry is for me personally intolerable, so it is important that everything that happened must come out into the open. >> translator: cologne is home to a large muslim -- community.

many have lived in the city for decades. they are worried that people are pointing the fingers after muslims and north africans when the facts are still not clear. >> translator: it's about the individual. 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 who were involved in the crimes, could now face deportation. in the wake of those new year's eve accusations in cologne, similar reports are now emerging from sweden. at least 15 women have made official complaints. they say they were groped by groups of men on the streets during the festivities. south korean scientists have found a small amount of airborne

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 device was actually detonated as pyongyang says. in contrast to the rest of the world, the hydrogen bomb test has provoked celebrations in north korea. the occupation was marked by a mass rally and by a firework's display in the capitol. whatever the truth tensions between north and south korea have worsened over the last 48 hours. scott heidler reports from the border where south korea has resumed its propaganda broadcasts to the north. >> reporter: it's a tactic not used since august and one the north koreans call an act of war. exactly at midday, south korea restarted its loud speaker

propaganda broadcast. this military officer defected to the south ten years ago. she says the broadcasts are effective. >> translator: there are people who defect after listening to the broadcasting. it's the soldiers at the front line. soldiers that get a lot of idealogical education. >> reporter: those loud speaker propaganda 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 ten speaker locations and some are mobile. the south korean government here says the broadcasts will continue indefinitely. the british foreign minister 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

among tourists or the ngo workers. these guys are sometimes taken hostage and picked up for pseudo crimes against the state. >> reporter: so for now the military and the seem of south korea wait for the response from its northern neighbor, along with the rest of the world. north korea's actions are one of many international factors believed to be behind the recent instability of the chinese stock market. it is showing some scenes of recovery. the chinese markets were twice forced to shut down under the controversial circuit breaker rule, which has now been abandoned by the government. adrian brown has the latest from the capitol, beijing. >> 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 with boyant. 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 docket want to talk about it. we need to go back to playing cards. >> 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, surpending the circuit-breaker rule that halts trading when shares drop sharply. as a result the market rose on friday, 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. >> there is also a chance to be a substantial slowdown. in china we put it at about one in four. >> reporter: the stock market is not the cater of chinese any. the leadership has more pressing issues right now, namely growing government debt, a housing bubble, and a slowdown in state-owned companies like coal and steel. and in neighboring north korea, the military this week claimed to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. the markets also worry about deepening diplomatic tensions between iran and saudi arabia. last week, china's president seemed to allude to the challenges. he told the nation that fruitful

gains come with persistent efforts, his way, perhaps of saying, it's going to be a tough year. you are watching al jazeera. still to come on the program. scared to return to sinjar. we meet the iraqi yazidis displaced by isil. plus hitler's controversial manifesto is published in germany for the first time since world war ii. ♪ the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around.

now a reminder of the top

stories on al -- al jazeera. the u.n. says 400,000 syrians are under siege, many are dying of starvation in one of the worst-effected areas. belgian investigators have raided anner apartment they believe may have been used as a bomb-making location in the attacks in paris in november. and south korea has resumed its propaganda broadcasts. it is now almost two months since kurdish fighters recaptured sinjar, but it is still deserted. and as mohammed jamjoom reports from a camp, many of the ethnic yazidis displaced simply don't want to go back anyway.

for this man and his family, all internally displaced yazidis, returning home wouldn't begin to help. >> translator: if my family isn't there, i don't have the heart to return to sinjar. because my heart is broken. it's like an open wound that salt was poured into. >> reporter: he shows us a picture of his oldest son whom isil kidnapped after storming sinjar in august 2014. his daughter, daughter-in-law, and grandson were also taken. written on every face inside this tent are stories of unrelenting pain, unbearable loss. this woman's sister-in-law had two of her children kidnapped, a 14 year old, and 3 year old. she has no idea if they are alive or dead. >> translator: how can we go

back? we can never go back. i don't sleep a single moment at night thinking of them. >> reporter: at the camp in iraq, many have become accustomed to living in a kind of purgatory. children, women, and men, still against the bitter cold, but it is nothing compared to the hell they have been through in the past year and a half. >> reporter: another sad reality, is while many would actually like to return home, they can't. neighboring sinjar, while cleared of isil two months ago, is still off-limits to the yazidis who do want to go back. everywhere you look, ruin. this brigadier tells me they can't allow the yazidis to return until mosul is also cleared of isil, and there's no

telling when iraqi forces will be able to ak comp lick that. but there is another reason too. >> one of the big problems for them is there is no houses, you know. there is no buildings. it is ruined completely. everywhere they are starting [ inaudible ] all of the buildings, all of the houses, so for them there is no place to live in. >> reporter: but for this man, none of that makes a difference. his family's house is also destroyed, but even if it were still standing, without the rest of his family, he would never consider it a home again. mohammed jamjoom, al jazeera, at the camp in dahook iraq. human rights watch says people have been killed in ethiopia, dep -- demonstrators

opposed to a land plan. thousands of iranians have been rallying in protest against saudi arabia after the execution of a shiite cleric six days ago. the demonstration followed friday prayers in the capitol tehran with protesters carrying pictures of the shiite leader. iranian media reports similar demonstrations across the country. 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. al jazeera's correspondent sent

us this update from jerusalem. >> reporter: well, the eight-day manhunt came to a deadly end when police tracked him down at a building in the north of israel. they say he tried to flee the building and opened fire. in that is when police returned fire and when he was killed, they say immediately. police also reporting that none of their officers were injured in the exchange. now, again, in the background of all of this, there has been an awful lot of criticism of israeli police and the security forces for their failure to track him down for so many days. and while police and indeed intelligence services have not described the attack on new year's day as nationalist motivated or terrorism, they do describe mr. melham himself as a terrorist. this comes at a very tense time,

in which we have seen months of violence, violence which has claimed the lives of over 20 israelis, and nearly 150 palestinians. but it would seem that israeli police and security forces aren't connecting the alleged actions carried out by this man to this latest unrest. still i believe mr. israelis are breathing a sigh of relief that he has been not only captured, but killed. israelis and palestinians are come together in an unusual form of protest of the israeli ministry of education banned a controversial novel. time out tel-aviv magazine has released an individual you of jews and arabs kissing each other. the people participating in the video were a combination of

couples, friends, and complete strangers. oil prices have fallen to around $33 a barrel. that's their lowest level for more than a decade. the countries that rely on oil for income will subsequently be hit very hard. they need prices to stay at a break-even level. last year analysts predicted for 2016 that would need to be $85 a barrel for russia. for nigeria to break even, crude oil would need to be at $75 a barrel. the world's largest petroleum exporter, that's saudi arabia, needs it to be $93 a barrel in order for it to break even. and in venezuela the president says its economy is in a state of emergency, because the country needs oil prices to be at $111 a barrel.

virginia lopez has more now from the capitol where inflation continues to rise. >> reporter: this shop in downtown caracas specializes in selling old bills. lugo says he loves old and new alike, but admits that the story his price collection tells grim. >> translator: this reflects the loss of the currency's power that venezuelans suffer. >> reporter: a recent report leaked from within venezuela's central bank, 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, huge fiscal

deficits, financed by money printing, lack of foreign reserve, and the only commodity of importance in this foreign trade, oil, falling at levels below -- over the last 11 years. so it's the perfect storm. >> reporter: hardship is being widely felt by venezuelans, where according to recent academic study poverty has increased from 25% to almost 70% in just one year. because it depends almost exclusively on oil, the economy is particularly vulnerable to a fluctuation in oil prices. the recent drop has left the economy in freefall. this mix many fear would bring on a wave of social upheaval.

>> reporter: this man says even two jobs aren't enough. >> translator: this situation affects us deeply. we can't find what we need. so we're constantly having to find new ways to make things work. >> reporter: experts fear the magnitude of this crisis could snowfall into social commotion. as more and more people are effected by the country's deep recession. adolph hitler's controversial manifesto is going on sale in germany for the first time since world war ii. the reprint contains critique's of the dictator's views. >> reporter: it's author is long dead, but the book remains, the naughty dictator puts across announceations of commune in addition, his vision of europe, and most especially his venomous

anti-semitism views. the copy right has expired, so this group felt it had to act to expose its inaccuracies. >> translator: the addition demystifies the misinformation spread by hitler. >> reporter: but for some members of the jewish community, that is not enough to justify this new publication. >> yes, the copyright has expired so what? do i need to republish all garbage. i am 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 plaques have been laid to commemorate the victims. this family was murdered at ouch it with auschwitz in 1944. >> germany is a multi-cultural society. germans are used to foreigners, and germans are very well aware of their past, and everything that has gone wrong with the -- with the are shaem of the third reich and all of the -- all of the cruelties. >> reporter: nevertheless, in recent times, right-wong movements such as the anti-islamic group have staged regular rallies in the eastern city of dresden. some people have argued that the far right may welcome this publication. but thu 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 our website, the address, aljazeera.com. ♪ >> a positive u.s. jobs report this morning gave the new york stock exchange and the dow an early boost, but the gains today are now slowly slipping away. ♪ power of music. south korea is retaliating against the north. bees are dying in record numbers, and some researchers are now blaming a popularest pesticide. plus -- >>