>> ing help arrives in the besieged town in madaya, the government denies that people there are starving. you're watching al jazeera live from london with me david foster. also coming up in this program program.at least 19 died in a siege in a shopping mall in the iraqi capital. recapturing el chapo. the mexican government releases pictures of friday's raid on the drug boss's hideout. >> ground control to major tom ♪

>> and he really made the grade. loyal tributes to musical pioneer of david bowie who died at the age of 69. desperately needed food and medical supplies have been unloaded from trucks in three syrian towns which for months have been cut off by war. in a deal reached with the government the aid convoy left damascus earlier monday heading for madaya. supplies have also been delivered to the progovernment villages of al-foua and kefraya. eastern gutta is one of the villages not included. maybe 200,000 are cut off in parts of the eastern city of dar azur. we'll hear from caroline malone

in just a bit. the syrian government says these towns are not besieged by them. that 400,000 are not besieged, that 25 million are all udged seem bundersiege from terroristd foreign governments. after this report from caroline malone. >> aid has finally arrived, a red cross convoy left for the western town of madaya in syria. but more has to be done to help others in need. >> what's going on now is giving aid to people is not good enough. the united nations have done this exactly three months ago, and look at where we are at now. >> to the north supply trucks from the red crescent aid organization trundle through idlib heading for al-foua and

kefraya. both cone invoices had to arrive at the same time as part of the deal negotiatewith the syrian government a few days ago. progovernment forces have blockaded madaya for months, cut off armed groups, people at madaya say they have been cialg being eating handfuls of salt and cats and dogs. activists say, the u.n. has more knowledge deliveries planned across syria and whether they'll let that aid through, caroline knowledge malone, al jazeera, rm syria. we heard from bashar jafari,

the syrian ambassador to united nations, extremely bullish, denying that his government is using starvation as a method of war. >> the information concerning the humanitarian situation in madaya is based on false information. and totally ignores the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in other areas, besieged by armed terrorist groups. the reality of the so-called besieged hard to reach areas is that some of those areas are controlled by terrorist groups who are using civilians as human shields. and other areas are besieged from the terrorist groups who are preventing the delivery of humanitarian assistance. >> james bays our diplomatic editor, you were sort of in the firing line of mr. jafari

because of the company you work for not the work you do. exaggerating this, making his government look bad. >> reporter: yes, i was somewhat confused living to what was quite a long press conference from the syrian ambassador because he seemed to be saying two things. on one hand, he said that actually, what was going on was the people who are suffering were being used as human shields he said not by his government but by syrian opposition groups who were denying them humanitarian aid, that these opposition groups had stolen humanitarian aid and weren't passing it on to ordinary civilians and that's why they were not starving. on the other hand, he said the pictures of starving people were total fabrications made up by organization he like al jazeera and el arabea. currently, the the reality is

those pictures have been shown on tv networks all over the world, the entire international press has been showing those pictures and the reports of starvation have been coming from international aid agencies, from the u.n. and committees of the red crescent, who have been putting in urgent appeals to get aid into madaya. he said in october there was plenty of aid delivered then and there needn't be any more aid, aid has gotten to madaya, we have heard from humanitarian agencies that some have died in the last few hours. the ambassador seems to have a very, very different idea what's going on in that town than the rest of the humanitarian agencies and the rest of the world. >> he talked about the being october convoy and then two months worth so that took you to

pretty much the 20th or so of december. at that point he maintained there were other convoice ready to go, that the syrian government was not standing in the way of those convoice, that the help would get to these people of plad yah. madaya. i didn't get how he thought they could get there on these dangerous roads and how they could get through the front line if the front line was made up of syrian troops. >> well he did say at one point that actually the syrian government had everything ready and given all the permissions and it was the u.n. that couldn't respond because of logistical problems at the u.n. level. i have to say that's very, very different from what we're hearing from the u.n. from the secretary-general's office from the various humanitarian agencies that are all working together to get aid into the syrian areas. it's worth resigning you that

there shouldn't be any of these negotiations with the syrian government or opposition group. the u.n.'s will on this is pretty clear because they passed a series of resolutions that said there should be no hindrance to any aid getting to any area of syria. there should be no negotiation, it must flow it must get in and it's clear from my discussions with senior u.n. officials and from people from other humanitarian organizations that there's a great deal of negotiation every time the united nations need to get into a particular town or village. now i think it's fair to say that those negotiations are often with the syrian government which has problems and wants paperwork. but it also happens when dealing with opposition forces too. >> thank you, james bays at the u.n. let's go to oklahoma, joshua landis, director of the center for middle east studies at that

state's university. the university of oklahoma. imagine that you've if not seen the whole of the news conference by bashar jafari, it was brazen if nothing else. >> absolutely. he's trying to deflect blame, claiming that it's the fault of the rebels who have taken over the town and that they should give up and that's been the whole point of the syrian government from the beginning. this has become a tried and true method of besieging towns. they've done it in homs, zabadani, the huta area, the two big shiite towns north of idlib that have been for several years now been besieged by the rebels, kefraya and al-foua, and a big hunk of dar azur besieged by the

islamic state. all sides are so exhausted that they are using the cheapest method to win and that is besieging, they don't have to send their soldiers in, it will be a slow and painful which is using civilians as hostage which is against the law. this is like the end of world war ii to use another analogy when all sides were destroying humans in great numbers. you can think of hiroshima or nag sacknagasaki or dresden. people don't care about human suffering or if they do care it's very difficult to get them to act on it. and it underlines how desperately the international community should be concentrating on stopping this civil war.

>> he was absolutely right wasn't he josh landis when he said there aren't 400,000 people under siege here, we can break it down into little enclaves, you are totally wrong, it is 23 million people the entire syrian population that is under siege. >> well, that is true in this civil war and we've seen it, we've seen almost 5 million people flee syria and another half of the country moved around, losing their homes at various periods. so the whole country's in terrible stayed of dep vacation. we are going into talks supposedly january 25th. this is a drum role leading up to this. all sides are trying to exploit the are terrors of syria in order to expose their enemies. >> short notice, we appreciate

your thoughts, wa landis from js from university of oklahoma. i.s.i.l. says it was behind an attack on a shopping mall on the capital baghdad. at least 19 die here almost 50 being injured. seven people died in a separate car bomb in baghdad, in the city of diyalla, twin suicide attacks killed 18 people. al jazeera's walid ibrahim has the latest from the iraqi capital. >> sources from the area talking about four armed people, some of them they wearing suicide vests, succeeded in storming the mall and taking the people inside the mall as hostages. their security forces saying that they sent many security forces to the area, they surrounded the whole area and they controlled the whole area after clashes happened with the

suiciders and with the our people ended killing four of them. what happened in this area which is located in baghdadi jahid neighborhood, another attack happened just away from this attack and almost at the same time, in april area called al haron, a car bomb blew up close to a cafe, killing seven people, injuring 21. in diyalla flofns was another ps another attack, the first ones caused buy suicider wearing a vest and the second one occurred minutes from the first one when a car bomb blew up close to a cafe. >> government in canada has announced that one of its citizens who had been held by the taliban in afghanistan has been released. colin rutherford was taken

hostage on a trip to the country in 2010 and appeared in this video a year later when he was released by the taliban. government is thanking the government of qatar for helping to secure his freedom. delegates from pakistan and ghanistan have tried to pave the way for talks to resume, last year being wurp of the beie bloodiest on record. you're watching al jazeera. still to come. former inmates of guantanamo bay protest about the delay in the final closure of the prison camp. and which vehicle has been named north america's car of the year for 2016 in january. january.

>> the headlines are here on al jazeera. food and medicine have been unloaded in syrian towns which for months have been cut off by war. syrian government denying reports that there has been any starvation in towns like madaya. capital baghdad attack, killing almost 19 and injuring almost 50. claim for responsibility came from the islamic state. talks aimed at reviving the peace process in afghanistan,

u.s. and china, together with pakistan and afghanistan are trying to pave the way for new talks with taliban. mexican release of video of the arrest of el chapo guzman, after escaping from a maximum security prison six months ago. al jazeera's adam rainey has more from mexico city. >> these nul newly released pics have been release, regarding the capture of el chapo. five people were killed in that shootout, a man down, a man injured, shows the dramatic nature and violent nature of that raid carried out on friday.

of course el chapo was not apprehended in that house, he slipped into the drainage and escaped briefly running a few hundred meters through this drainage system surfacing taking a car from a woman driving by and he was later apprehended by mexican authorities. saying it could take at los a year if not more for whole extradition of el chapo to the united states. this is a turn around from 2013, making a joke of course they would send him to u.s. after serving three to 400 year in a mexican prison. that was a strange statement after he escaped from a maximum security prison. soldiers patrolling, going to

have a while before el chapo to be sent to the united states. >> in germany four foreigners were injured in gang attacks in cologne. two pakistanis and a guinean man. police have received more than 500 complaints, half of them involving allegations of sexual assault. a statement, fears criminals are entering the country alongside refugees. former inmates of guantanamo bay have been protesting outside the u.s. embassy in london. it was a small group which included the british former ddetainee shaka ama. president obama promised to close the facility before the end of his time in office. two yemeni detainees were

transferred oto ghana. bringing the detain ease there to 105. for the first time a member of the spanish royal family son trial. princess christina, 50-year-old standing trial alongside 17 others among them her husband. south africa currency, the and has seen itrandhas seen its bige against dollar, blamed in part to drop in como commodit commod. haru mutasa has the story. >> she can barely afford the

school fees, $50 to school uniforms and books. what's left over goes to food and transparent. transport. >> here in south africa, suffering now, really suffering. i don't know what this come from really. >> on monday the rand fell to its lowest ever defense the dollar in more than seven years. households have been told they would have to limit spending as the prices of basic foods and household products and essentially imported items increase. this huge slide was partly because of a slump in commodity prices and slowing growth. economists warn things will get harder especially for poor. some economists also blame president jacob zuma's decision to fire the finance minister. currency slide as well as the increase in basic imports

reflects fall terg confidence in how the rest of the economy is being managed. >> get your house in order economically. you can't have a situation where the rest of the world is losing confidence in south africa. >> can see the ruling african national congress. >> blame in the private sector for manipulating the currency for manipulating the economy to undermine president jacob zuma's administration. that level of trust between the governing party and the private sector makes it very difficult for one to imagine any workable solution to alleviate this immediate problem. >> reporter: government ministers are under pressure to find solutions to this economic

crisis. whatever changes need to be made, feeling the downturn in household budgets. haru mutasa, al jazeera, johannesburg. the 2016 north american international car show touts the latest in technology from a city and an industry that has bounced back after bankruptcy for chrysler and general motors. but last year it has suffered its first recall because of hacking, that is, cheating. underscoring increased roinl ree on technology. at least 25 million. monday matters but others like the takata air bag recall, in grave danger. john hendren reports from detroit. >> for the american auto industry the new year began with a jolt. >> north american car of the year is the honda civic.

>> then adding insult to injury. >> the north american truck utility of the year is the volvo, xz 90. >> another missed opportunity for american car makers but the news that european and japanese brands beat american troivels tharivals tothat honor is large. record north american sales of 17.5 million cars. >> for us we were the sixth year in the row the best selling brand here in america. >> a preview of the motor city's annual exhibition, includes 45 car debuts and past performers from the practical to the practically untouchable. after a record-breaking 2015 there is a pervasive sense of optimism here despite concerns about the sluggish chinese economy bringing down the global economy here at least in north america executives feel that 2016 might be even better.

as we look at the economy the health of the consumer is good. >> look going for next year? >> look going for 2016 and we think look good into 2017, exogenous shots, but for the next few years. >> faulty ignition devices for general motors and volkswagen, and emission system deliberate fixed to hide its high emissions from tests. nevertheless plan to expand their north american production plant in tennessee. >> the business plans are there so we are confident. >> we should see more vw expansion here in the u.s. >> that's the plan. more than 70 million cars this is the second biggest market after china and we would be stupid if we wouldn't take this opportunity. so we have to work much harder. we know that. >> if hard work can help the

world's second largest auto maker power through recalls and a u.s. justice department lawsuit and that's a big if, vw hopes to match the north american profit ambition he of detroit. >> david bowie, died, had cancer we only learned today, for 18 months. hugely influential, a man who helped define modern pop music. number one space oddity. emma hayward takes a look back at the rocker's life. >> reporter: icon innovator visionary, david bowie was not a usual oar tift. one of the most recognized performers in the world. born david jones in 1947, bowie

rose to fame with the 1969 single, space oddity. in the area of london where he was born, fans pay tribute. >> 1977, and i walked into a disco and i heard heroes, i'd heard of him before that obviously but that just charmed me. >> he would take rule book chuck it out and start all over again. >> david bowie's roots were here in south london but he became a global success and a master of reinvention. none more so than as ziggy stardust. >> that's part of what bowie would have supposedly done. i'm an actor. ♪ changes ♪ >> when bowie became ziggy,

flamboyant bowie never stood still. he constantly transformed his image, he also carved out a successful career in film and on the stage. >> what is remarkable as well about this extraordinary trajectory is that it's basically it's an album every year an album every 18 months. so he's writing, recording touring and at the same time, you know, moving on to the next project. i mean it's incredible, incredible speed, incredible kind of dedication to himself and to his conceptual ideas. >> ♪ put on your red shoes and dance the blues ♪ >> in all, bowie release25 albums.

helping him keep one step ahead of his rivelings. david bowie was 69. he's released on his final album black star on friday. >> the top of the world - the arctic circle. an environment that is at the same time hostile and fragile. warming temperatures are warming ice at historic rates... adding to its distress, man's unquenchable desire for fossil fuel. the quest to retrieve arctic oil is underway, but how prepared is the world to handle a catastrophic spill. aroi