>> so desperate they're eating salt for sustenance. the u.n. say 400,000 syrians are cut off from food and medicine. hello there, i'm julie mcdonald. this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, the mexican drug lord el chapo escaped from a supposedly high security prison in july is recaptured. cologne chief of police relieved of his duties after

attacks against women on new year's eve. a warm welcome to the program. the u.n. said at least 400,000 syrians are living under siege, completely cut off with no access to food or to medicine. it said that both the government and opposition are stopping supplies. the u.n. said that the islamic state in iraq and the levant h has--4 million syrians have been registered in egypt, iraq, jordan, lebanon and turkey. many refugees camps are seen

snow in this last week. well, those who have left to seek safety in europe are now struggling, of course, with freezing temperatures. medics say they've seen a spike in illnesses amongst refugees in the balkans. in lebanon here is caroline malone. >> a protest on the border between syria and lebanon less than 10 kilometers away, there are syrians and lebanese marching in solidarity for those who are suffering nearby. >> we came to lebanon because of the regime airstrikes. they destroyed our opens. they burned our fields. there is nothing left. the people fled with their families. they put them in a big prison. >> there have been marchs in syria as well. people here want to make sure that their fellow syrians get access to food and medical aid as soon as possible. there are more than 40,000

people alone who have been without proper food for months. the last time the u.s. was able to get aid to them was in october. al jazeera managed to speak to a resident of the town. >> we don't understand how the world can do nothing to resolve this crisis. after witnessing such tragedy. the civilians including women and children are being killed because of the use of this cowardly weapon. >> unfortunately, there are many places under siege in syria's war. and more than 400,000 people have been cut off from food and medical supplies. but that's something that other syrians in lebanon say they can relate to. >> we lived in the same ways because we came to stand in solidarity with the family there because the hunger and suffering is the same for all people. >> the u.n. said it will be able to send aid from damascus to orvilleages in idlib and near

the border of lebanon. >> we expect the humanitarian operation, the joint operation should take place in the coming day. >> the aid will help a small number of people out of the thousand who is are suffering throughout this five-year war. caroline malone on the syria syrian-lebanon border. >> earlier i spoke with a senior fellow at the senio center of american progress. i asked him where syria sad diplomatically? >> i think the fact that they've lifted the siege is one hopeful step that they're willing to deal with this situation before the talks. the big problem with the talks up until now has been the dispute between the saudis and the iranians over the execution of the shia cleric and the

storming of the embassies. if they can get to the saudis and the iranians to the talks i think that will help in the set up of a transitional government, and they can lift the siege in a lot of these says because the siege has been basically a military strategy. >> turkey has introduced new visa restrictions for syrians, an attempt by the government to reduce the number of refugees coming to the country via lebanon or egypt. they say that refugees entering directly from syria are still welcomed. meanwhile more refugees have arrived villa turkey it lesbos. some of the refugees who have made it as far as syri serbia,

medics say they've seen a spike in illnesses amongst refugees as they struggled with the freezing temperatures in the balkans. >> now the mexican president said that drug lord el chapo guzman has been recaptured. he was detained six months after he went on the run through a maximum security prison. guzman, who headed the sinaloa cartel praised th was captured. >> he wacapture today mexico

confirms that it's institutions has the capabilities to overcome those who threaten the stability of mexican families. it demonstrates when we mexicans work together there is no adversity we can't over come. >> well, natasha, who is in mexico, what more do we know about the rescue attempt this whole thing has been a huge embarrassment for the government, hasn't it? >> it has, indeed. several weeks ago the mexican government had a close call. they announced they were in his home state of sinaloa. they were close to capturing him, and he slipped away. his since escape from the max security prison last july, the administration of piento has

been embarrassed, and they've been working to recapture him. we have this simple tweet from the president saying michigan accomplished. this is what the government says. the government says that they arrived at a building in sinaloa state after getting a tip a complaint, actually, from a resident. a resident who were explaining that men were holed up inside of a building. the military arrived. there was a shootout. apparently five people were killed. the government is describing them as criminals, and six others, including guzman known here as el chapo or shorty, were detained. >> and natasha, do you think its likely given how difficult it has been to hold on him in the past, that he might be sent to the u.s.? >> you know, that's something that an analyst we spoke to raised. just to give people a little bit

of back story, el chapo has taken on a mythic status because he escaped not once but twice from the authorities, and the first time he escaped from a mexican prison he remained on the run for 13 years. they say he's a short man. they say he escaped that time through a laundry cart, and we all remember the image last july, the hole in his shower, the one-mile long tunnel with air conditioning and a motorcycle that he escaped from. prior to his last escape the american government has been asking the president to extradite el chapo. he is a very wanted man in the united states. it's thought that a significant amount of this sinaloa cartel, which he runs, basically, of marijuana, heroin, cocaine, were

ending on on american streets. but today the president has been reluctant to extradite el chapoo, because of this my profile escape attempt, he said that this time the administration won't have a leg to stand on and will probably extradite el chapo to the united states workers there is a less likely a chance for escape. >> thank you. remember a resort town along the red seacoast two people have been injured and egypt state tv has. reporting who joins us via skype from new york.

thank you for joining us. what does this latest blow mean for egyptian tourism? >> well, this this will be the nail in the coffin for tourism in egypt. it's already been decimated, and it's putting the situation to the point where recovery would be a long way out. >> jerry, how big of an subsequent are we pga tours. >> it's a major revenue earner, aor job provider, and with egypt's economic situation already being in peril, tournament aside, this is just a well--they have not been able to reserve, and this. >> is there anything you can did

to ardid--see where it really puts people off from going. >> well, it does. the russian plane incident a couple of months ago certainly was a problem, and i think that the mistake that egypt made at that point while all other countries had investigated saw that it was a bomb, egypt kept saying that it was not. i think he came out and i think the best you can do is share with as much honesty about this attack. show that they have it under control. show that they know who did it, they're following up, and that's honesty. this sharing with the public that they are putting things under control, that they've stopped other terrorist attacks, and this one slipped through, i

think it's the only way they can see the recovery. but i >> jerry, thank you. >> thank you. >> now the united states secretary general has released a statement condemning the continuing fighting in yemen and the use of cluster bombs, which he said may an war crime. a spokesman for the secretary general man can i moon read out the statement in new york. >> there secretary jones concerned about the extensification in yemen despite repeated calls for--

>> the use of cluster munitions in populated areas may amount to a war crime due to their indies kim nate nature. >> now a diplomat at the united nations told al jazeera that yemen has rescinded its decision to expel u.n. rights officials. they made the decision on thursday saying that the unhcr made public comments about the human rights in their country. well, the our nighted states report has hit back saying that the u.s. is un' with the pace of prison transfers. now the closure of the detention center was one of barack obama's key election promises and rehousing prisoners has taken far longer than originally anticipated, and general kelly is strongly denying accusations

that they're deliberately slowing the movement of prisoners. >> the fact that there was reporting about this people in uniform, people in detention ops in anyway, shape, or form, slowing down or trying to i a get an complete list is obsolete. to be accused whether we agree or disagree with any of the policies that we would in any way impede the progress. >> still ahead here on al jazeera. scared to return to sinjar, we meet with iraqi yazidi who are now too fearful to go home. and why a japanese aquarium is under fire for keeping a great white shark in captivity.

>> a reminder now of the top stories here on al jazeera. 400,000 syrians are cut off from food and medical supplies. many are dying of starvation in one of the worst effected areas. kingpin el chapo has been recaptured. armed men have attacked a hotel used by foreign tourists in the resort town along the

west seacoast. one of those attackers was killed. scott haidler reports from the border where they resume to the propaganda to the north damagely at midday south korea began its loud speaker propaganda broadcast. they say that the broadcasts are effective. >> there are people who defect after listening to the broadcasting. there are the soldiers equipped with fully armed weapons, these soldiers get a lot of ideological education but now

they're exposed to the propaganda broadcasting. >> along the kilometer border here are not just anti-north korean government. they include global news, weather, and include k pop music from south korea. >> there are more than ten speaker locations and some are mobile. the broadcast also continue indefinitely. british foreign secretary philipp hammond urged south korea to show constraint and it's not clear how north korea will react. >> the north by respond by taking hostages among tourists or ngo workers. north korea might respond like that. >> so for now the military and the people of south korea wait for the response from their northern neighbor along with the rest of the world.

al jazeera, south korea. >> north korea's actions are among one of many factor thought to be behind the instability of the stock market. it's showing some signs of recovery on monday and thursday. the chinese markets were told to shut down under the controversial circuit rule abandoned by the government 37. >> 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 bouyant. the share markets are at its highest levels 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. >> don't film. we don't want to talk about it. >> they blame their problems on

foreign speculators as well as a measure that was supposed to calm markets but actually had the reverse effect. >> the government is trying to protect individual investors. but to be honest the system is not perfect. the system needs to be improved. >> the authorities have responded to that criticism suspending the circuit breaker rule that holds 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 second largest economy. >> we do think that there is a chance o just like any other economy there is a chance of a potential slowdown. in china we put it at one in four. >> the stock market is an indicator but not the indicator of china's economy. the leadership here has monday pressing issues right now. namely burgeoning government

debt a growing housing bubble, and threaten widespread job losses over the coming months. 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 confronting his country. he told the nation that fruitful gains come with persistent efforts. his way perhaps of saying it's going to be a tough year. adrian brown, al jazeera, beijing. >> cologne's police chief has been temporarily relieved of his duties after a wave of vi violence against women on new year's avenue. there were complaints of women who say they were sexually

assaulted, robbed or attacked in the city. dozens of men thought to be involved in the series of attacks on the night. emma hayward reports. >> it was supposed to be a night to celebrate. instead new year's eve in cologne turned into chaos and violence with allegations of serious sexual assault, robbery and threat by groups of men against dozens of women close to the cathedral, and incertainly police report said that officers were not in control. >> i thought to myself that they could kill us. they could rape us and nobody would notice. >> there were so many people that i was not in control of myself. it felt like they were in power and they could do anything with the women who were out in the street partying. >> the protesters said that the police could and should have done more.

what happened is fueling the debate about immigration. witnesses say many of the suspects say they were arab or north african. more than 30 suspects have been identified. they will face violence and robbery charges. >> the feeling women have in this case of being completely defensive and at mercy is intollerrable. everything must come out in the open. cologne is home to a large muslim community. many are ethnic turk who is have lived in the city for decades. they're worried about people who are pointing the finger at must

similars when the facts are not clear. >> lack of respect for a woman is not a religious problem. >> everyone says that this is something to do with muslims. i've been here for 30 years myself, and i've never seen anything like this. >> the german chancellor has warned any foreigner who is were involved in the crimes could now face depore pacing. pacingtation--deportation. . >> sinjar still sits deserted with the displaced feeling they just don't want to go back. >> for this family, the displaced yazidis, returning home would not even begin to help. >> if my people 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. his daughter, daughter-in-law and grandson were taken. written on every face inside this tent are stores of u unrelenting pain, unbearable loss. his sister-in-law had two of her children kidnapped, a 14-year-old and 3-year-old. she has no idea if they're alive or dead. >> how can we go back? we can never go back. i can't sleep a single moment at night thinking of them. >> at the camp in iraq many have become accustomed to living in a kind of purgatory.

children, women and men steel against the bitter cold with the knowledge that worsening weather, as bad as it may be is nothing compared to the hell they've lived through in the past year and a half. another sad reality for the approximately 12,000 yazidis here while many would like to return home, they can't. neighboring sinjar while cleared of isil two months ago by peshmerga fighters is off limits to the yazidis who do want to go back. everywhere you look ruined. they said that they can't allow the yazidis to return until mosul is also cleared of isil, and there is no telling when iraqi forces will be able to accomplish that. but there is another reason, too. >> there are no houses. there are no buildings.

everywhere, the buildings, the houses, there is no place for them to live in. >> but for as much none of that makes a begins. his house in sinjar is also destroyed. even if it was still standing, without the rest of his family he would never consider it a home again. >> israel police shot dead a man who reported to be killed during a shootout accused of killing two people in a bar and a taxi driver. a great white shark has died after three days in a japanese aquarium. the three and a half meter male shark was taken to okinawan aquarium after it was accidently caught in an initialing net.

sharks need to constantly women to create oxygen and regulate their body temperature, but the shark suddenly sank to the bottom of the tank. you can find more stories that we're following on www.aljazeera.com. headlines in just a sec. homeland and our natural boundary for our people. we use it for life. we use it for livelihood. >> wahleah johns and her uncle, marshall, are from the navajo nation. their community has been here for centuries - and seen the