help is finally on the way for people starving in a besieged syrian town after a deal was reached to allow aid in. you're watching al jazeera live. coming up in the next half hour, police in the german city of cologne clash with far right demonstrators protesting attacks on women. mexico begins the process of extraditing drug lord joaquin guzman to the united states.

singing his praises, we explain the growing popularity of argentina's answer to robin hood. aid agencies say a deal has been reached to get food and medicine into besieged towns in syria where tens of thousands of people are in danger of starving to death images of emaciated bodies and starving students have have led to international outrage. in the holiday resort of madaya around 40,000 people have been cut off from aid since july. volunteers are handing out the few supplies they had left. the situation in the town is deterioratin deteriorating. >> i've been speaking in madaya and the situation is grim.

about a week ago, nine days ago now, and the situation became much, much more dire. all food supplies in the town have run out. so people have resorted to eating whatever can be found and children are fed sugar that melted and water that is basic suss ten-- sustenance and anything that can be found. proper food, supplies have run out of the obtaining supplies from other sources, mainly buying them from the same forces that are be sieging the town, is very difficult and very

expensive the conflict is syria has forced thousands to seek refuge in lebanon where life is not any better. our correspondent reporting from beqaa valley. >> reporter: this six month old baby has a serious burn across his face and head. his mother put whatever she could find on the fire to keep it burning because they couldn't afford wood. these sometimes give off toxic fumes and they grow out of control >> translation: i had put nylon and plastic shoes on the fur in this case to keep us warm. we woke up to a fire. my baby was burnt. >> reporter: these mean syrians in lebanon can't earn for themselves. >> translation: we are displaced and have absolutely no human rights. just look and see. where are my human rights?

look at these kids. no proper clothes. i have ten people to take care of. i'm old. how can i feed them and keep them alive? >> reporter: the united nation appealed for international donations to help syrian refugees every year, but last year it received half of what it asked for, which means many refugees here are having to go without. it's people in the newer refugee camps like this that are most vulnerable. they don't even have the most basic things they need to the run-up to winter. they need things like wood and fuel for the fire and plastic sheeting to water proof their tents. the syrian refugee family needs around 3 to 400 dollars a month to survive. many are getting about a third of that >> translation: it's cold and water is leaking into the tents. look at the tarps, we don't have plastic to cover it for the rain. yesterday an ngo brought us one tarp. what can that do to stop the

leaking? we get $150 a month, but it's not enough. >> reporter: the u.n. says it has launched a new appeal for 2.48 billion dollars to help syrian refugees in lebanon >> we're mostly concerned about people in the exposed areas, like beqaa valley, north lebanon. we know 55% of people live in insecure dwellings such as garages, warehouses, not only tents, but also tents. all of them need our help and support. >> reporter: there are more than one million refugees here here who may need help, most of them living below the poverty line. back at the baby's test, his mother who has been in lebanon for three years can only hope things many get better, especially during these long winter days a group of syrian refugees in canada have been attacked with pepper stray after attending a welcoming event in vancouver. a man on a bicycle sprayed the

refugees as they waited for a bus. 30 people were treated at the scene. the government has pledged to bring in 25,000 syrian refugees by the end of february. >> we should not be welcoming them in this kind of way, but all i know is they're very upset and i think people need to understand that this is not what they deserve and they should be treated way better than this pro and anti immigration rallies have been held in the german city of cologne. they were prompted by new year's eve attacks on women in the city carried out by asylum seekers. >> reporter: it was a day of protests that culminated in moments of violence. supporters of the far right anti-islamic group had been demonstrating against the asylum policies of the government and those who carried out the sexual

violence here on new year's eve. in the event some of their followers ended up throwing bottles, stones and other objects at police. in their turn the police vond r responded with a water cannon to try to restore calm. a number of people were held. others injured. earlier the city's rival demonstration by left wing opponents. they had come to try and prevent or disrupt the far right rally and to call for greater tolerance in german society. >> translation: i would say society is getting really divided at the moment into those holding on to the welcoming culture and the fascists. it is incredible what is happening in jer knee. we must fight against the racism. >> reporter: whereas on the other side, the message was stark. >> translation: that is about to happen, what happened on new year's eve is a no-go. it can't happen again and we will stand up for it. when the going gets tough, us

germans will fight again for it. >> reporter: the fall-out from the sexual attacks and robberys of new year's eve continues to resonate more than a week on. more than 300 complaints have now been made to the authorities. one young woman told me how a female friend of hers was groped and she herself was threatened. >> translation: i was really afraid and was really insecure which is not like me. i didn't know how to react. i didn't know how to respond and just started stairing at the in regard. i was-- at the floor. i was afraid of the looks. >> reporter: the clamour of something to be done has already claimed the job of the chief of police. the law needs to be strengthened so that if refugees commits serious crimes they can more three be deported says the chons lar >> translation: it is in the best interests of us and in those of the vast majority of refugees who arrived here. it is very important >> reporter: the two demonstrations that have been

staged in this city center have now come to an end with the police moving in to restore law and order. but the debate about what this country does with the asylum seekers that it has encouraged to come here is far from over mexico's attorney-general has begun the process of extraditing joaquin guzman to the united states. he was recaptured on friday in the coastal city six months after he escaped from prison. he is wanted by the u.s. on charges of drug smuggling. the latest from the city. >> reporter: on saturday mexican authorities removed the bodies of five men killed in the raid that led to joaquin guzman's arrest. as experts looked for more includes, authorities in the capital started to look for steps in how he could be extradited to the u.s. to face drug trafficking, money

laundering and murder murder charges. according to the mexican attorney-general's office, extra days could come in a matter of weeks or months, depending on legal road blocks his his lawyers are expected to raise. >> translation: as his defense counsel, i maintain that national sovereign ultimately, the sovereignty of connection can institutions must be respected for the carrying carrying out of justice. >> reporter: when he was captured in 2014, the attorney-general at the time joked that he could serve time in the u.s. only after serving 300 or 400 years in a mexican jail. his hollywood caper like escape through a tunnel embarrassed and humbled the government. they have now changed their tune. meanwhile, the drama of the road accidented itself is still felt in this small city. >> translation: it was around 4am when i heard lout bursts of

gunfire like never before. >> reporter: the local stand sits 50 metres from the house. the men here say they had no idea the world's top drug boss was living in their midst. >> translation: we never imagineed having him, such an infame figure so close. >> reporter: they shur didn't imagine having him crawling under the streets. after fleeing the safe house, he and an associate escaped into a sewer until climbing out and hijacking a car from a woman who was driving by. this is the tunnel where he surfaced on friday when he was running from police with his top security officer. mexican marines were here and fished out a machine gun. >> reporter: the manhole is in the middle of a busy street. people wandered who other surprises what the day will will bring about the raid and the

world's most wanted man still to come here on al jazeera, a plea for help. we're in iraq where the humanitarian crisis is getting worse for more than three million people. llion people.

welcome back. with a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. aid is expected to reach tens of thousands syrians trapped in besieged areas on monday, including the town of madaya. it follows reports that people there are dying of starvation.

pro and anti immigration rallies have been held in cologne which were prompted by a series of alleged new year's eve attacks by women in asylum seekers. joaquin guzman has been recaptured. moving to iraq where dozens have been killed. the fighting centred on the city of ramadi. the government declared it had taken control of most of ramadi two weeks ago, but it is still trying to flush out the remaining i.s.i.l. fighters in the city. the continued fighting in parts of iraq has forced more than three million people from their homes. many are enduring severe winter conditions in refugee camps.

our correspondent reports from erbil >> reporter: whether escaping war or bracing for winter, displaced people have become accustomed to one catastrophe or another. in this camp supplies are too few and aid distributions too far between. it is why some children walk around are in slippers dispute the freezing cold - dispit the freezing cold. >> translation: it difficult here. the tent is always week and leaking in >> reporter: a deluge begins as we were talking. the nightmare russian had described becomes real once more. just to give you an idea how bad it is, it was raining a few minutes ago. now it is actually hailing and this hail and this rain is coming into this tent. that's why so many of the internally displaced here are

worried about what the worsening winter weather will bring in the weeks and months to come. concerned for the welfare of her children, she took what precautions she took as early as possible. >> translation: we paid for and built a separate makeshift room because sometimes this tent would fly away. one time the wind carried the top away and we had to bring it back here. >> reporter: after three months of saving, russia and her husband had enough money to buy the wood for this makeshift shelter. tiny compared to the tent that they had been in, but at least now they feel slightly more secure against the elements. in other parts of the camp things are far worse. the evidence is all around. like this tarp that collapsed under the weight of rainwater, or the trash piling up in the mud. unicef's representative tells us that getting money and resources to help the people here is becoming extremely difficult.

>> what people are forgetting is this 3.2 million displaced people who are living in a miserable life. it's the fighting with i.s.i.l. that makes the news. the plight of the people doesn't go to the news. >> reporter: he describes the situation children are facing throughout the country. he says he still is haunted by the memory of seeping one child at another idp camp who was so-called he tried to warm himself under the engine of a car. life for many of the children here is as punishing as this weather and they're becoming accustomed to this suffering ethiopian security forces have killed at least 140 people during a crack down on anti-government protests in recent weeks. the protests have been sparked by fears that farmers will be displaced by government development plans. charles stratford reports now. >> reporter: a member of the

ethiopian security forces shot a mother of two in her neck during a recent protest. when her condition began to deteriorate in hospital, she insisted her father take her back to her village so she could see her children. >> translation: we went to demonstrate. they allowed us to pass the first check point. at the second check point somebody threw a stone. security forces then took action. people through themselves on the ground >> reporter: the people here are afraid to talk. this man insisted we hide his identity. he says police in his town rest men who gather in groups of more than two. >> translation: our future is uncertain. we don't know whether we will be detained or killed. we are so afraid we don't even like walking on the streets. >> reporter: the government admits its security forces have killed dozens of people on the crack down on these protests and it has promised to launch an investigation into who is responsible for those deaths, but certainly the people living

here say they have little hope that they will get justice or that their longstanding political demands will be met. they have long complained that the government has ignored their political economic and cultural rights. al jazeera has no way of independently verifying this video uploaded on the internet. protests were recently sparked by opposition to the government's so-called integrated development plan. the government says it is aimed at improving the services in developing the region around the capital. many of the people are calling it an unconstitutional land grab. security services have killed around 140 people. hundreds of others have been wounded, arrested and detained. >> the problem with the government is simply the government is trying to avoid recognising people in this

society. especially the young people. they've lost hope, total hope >> reporter: the government admits the people have legitimate concerns that it needs to address. it says it has suspended the integrated development plan and it blames the violence on individuals with links to what it describes as a terrorist organization. >> the implementation of the plan is basically a question of which only the people have the final answer. >> reporter: back at the home her son is too young to have any say in his future. he just hopes his mother doesn't decide the ruling anc party is under increasing pressure in south africa, corruption scandal, inefficient government, unemployment and currency devaluation are all hitting the

poor in particular. as our correspondent reports from the city of rustenburg, the president is urged to turn political promises into action. >> reporter: south africa's congress is under press. the poor are struggling and the president is promising to act quickly. >> the challenges of poverty and inequality and unemployment have their roots in the vast tracks of land that were stolen from the indigenous people of south afri africa. the land reform and levels of support for emerging farmers must be politically be accelerated. >> reporter: he also says the national minimum wage will be introduced and the government says it will not raise tuition

and fees for university students. this may appease people who are frustrated with the anc and the president, but his decision to fire two finance minister new zealand a week is to blame >> we're talking about a fall in the rand to the dollar of 10%. it's something like 28 billion dollars of assets wiped out in two days as people withdrew, investors withdrew money >> reporter: this could be a challenging year for the country's oldest liberation movement. >> reporter: officials won't want to lose to the opposition. >> reporter: the ruling party enjoys a significant amount of support, but analysts say that could change if poverty and unemployment are not addressed >> if anc leaves that language, high moral language, the party will confront a crisis.

i don't think it is something that the president wants to see happening. >> reporter: some south africans wants the president to resign over allegations of corruption and the weak economy. if things don't improve, those calls are likely to get louder protests have taken place across poland against new laws that gives the government more control over state media and the justice system. crit critics say these policies are wrong. >> reporter: this very large protest here in war saw and many others like are around poland today demonstrate a line not just in the state of polish politics but in the relationship between poland and the european union as well. every since the new party came to party recently off the back of a great deal of nationalism brought about by the refugee

crisis says and the countries's response to that, they have enacted a number of measures which are very anti democratic which is against the interests of polish citizens. this protest is outside the state television channel here. one of the measures that the new government here is bringing this is to allow itself to point their appoint the immediate by the treasury minister. people here say it is an undemocratic thing to do. this means free media in polish. they say they are worried that poland's democracy is very much under threat as well. the governments would say, and again it is plain to a deeply conservative, very catholic nationalist audience, not so much in very big cities in warsaw but in the countryside, is that poland has been

outsourced to germany, things like car factories, they're being crushed by those sorts of arguments as well. they say this is all about bringing power back into poland, but the european union and commission, they don't like these things and next week they're going to have a meeting to discuss what they're going to do in response to this because they're deeply concerned about the state of democracy in poland as it exists at the moment. all the ironys about this is that poland gained so much about being part of the european union, not only of the citizens to travel to other places were better economies, but also because there are so many hand outs in terms of road buildings which are all underwritten by germany. they say that the european union is crushing their democracy. it is yet another expression of the very, very deep problem that exists now inside the european

union he is argentina's answer to robin hood, but unlike the famous english outlaw, he has become an unowe official saint that tracting thousands of-- attracting thousands of pilgrims a year. >> reporter: gauchito gil, in north-eastern argentina, they are here to pay tribute to him. this man came all the way from a long way away to ask for his help, i come every year to pray to him. >> reporter: faith is what brings people here and what has turned this place into a pilgrimage site. >> translation: i cut my hair because i made a promise. my son had surgery and he is okay thanks to gil.

>> reporter: the legend says that he healed the army in the 1800s. he was executed by authority and his body was hung on the tree. he believed that he stole from the rich to give to the poor. that's why there are thousands of people that come here every year not only to request what they say are mirror ago ems but also to leave offers to him. you can see the people leave knives, some wedding dresss and even bicycles. this woman who has been working here for 30 years says people bring other things. >> translation: these are coffins with ashes. those who have devotion for gil want to be build close to him. they are here with me. >> reporter: gil is not recognised as a saint by the catholic church, although many have been calling for his canonisation. in the past the church has tried

to distance itself from false saints like gil, but this father says that the church has changed since francis became the pope. >> translation: the message from pope francis is clear. listen to your people and accept them. gil is part of the culture and that's why the church has to accept him. for years the church has tried to imimpose on people. they gave importance to power and not service. >> reporter: the image of gil can be seen all around argentina and every year they're more and more people that believe in him, especially among the poor who claim he gives them what others do not the new star wars film has broken yet another box office record. this time in china. 33 million dollars worth of tickets were sold on saturday

for the fourth awakened-- the force awakened. it has already earned more than 1.5 billion dollars in cinemas around the world. more on our website, the address is on your screen right there, aljazeera.com on "america tonight" behind debate. >> we need reasonable legislation to reduce crimes while still not eroding the second amendment tonight." >> good evening, thanks for joining us, i'm adam may stitting in for joie chen. it's been a politically charged week. the gun debate is back center stage r