doctors treat the sick and hungry in madaya, the besieged syrian town where 32 people have starved to death in a month. ♪ hello there i'm felicity barr and this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up. iraq's top shiite cleric urges the government to do more to stop sectarian violence. indonesian police arrest three suspects a day after deadly attacks in the heart of jakarta. one man is left brain dead and five more are critically ill after a medical trial goes wrong

in france. ♪ hello, people in the besieged syrian town of madaya have told the world food program that 32 people have starved to beth during the past month. the u.n.'s children's program says its workers saw a teenager die of malnutrition on tuesday, and another two people died on friday. the syrian red crescent has sent a mobile unit and medical team to madaya after the government gave permission. >> reporter: hunger has been constant for many in this town. now for the first time in months, people in madaya are getting outside help. truckloads of food, medicine, and doctors are streaming in. come nun -- community workers ska hunger has killed more than 30 people in the past month.

>> translator: when we entered we heard of children in need. we saw such cases ourselves, and hoped we could get them out of madaya to be taken care of in our centers. >> reporter: that will require permission from the forces that cut off the town in the first place. fighters supporting syria's president have controlled madaya for months. until now it has been hard to verify activist videos that accuse the government of deliberately starving its population. it's the same government that is now allowing foreign aid workers in. and what they found here and across syria, may be evidence of war crimes by both the government and the rebels. >> u.n. teams have witnessed the scenes that haunt us all, the ellerly, and children, men and woman, who are little more than skin and bones, gaunt, severely malnourished, so weak they could

barely walk, and utterly desperate. >> reporter: here more trucks head to another villages held by rebel groups. while there may finally be some relief from hunger, it's not clear from those who let them starve will ever be punished. >> we spoke so a nutritional advisor. >> the last convoy that was able to access madaya was in october of last year. and since then the people did not have any access to food supplies, and it was a desperate situation, and we learned that people have been eating whatever was available. spices mixed with water, even grass and tree leaves, so, yes, that was the situation that we saw. we were able to deliver very well enough food for 40,000

families in madaya, which will be enough to last for one month. the u.n. would like to stress that we need continued access to these areas. so if we can continue to provide the food, not just in madaya, but we have to remember there are 4.5 million people who are living in a similar situation in the radius of besieged and hard to reach areas all across syria. i think what we felt very strongly was food was the most important need that people were feeling even though there were other supplies which were received yesterday. however, people were anxious to know when bread was coming or when wheat flour would be available. obviously that tells us what the priorities are in terms of survival at the moment. at least 20 civilians were killed when their homes came under fire by government forces.

the syrian army fired heavy alterry on various residential areas on the out skirts of damascus. earlier this week one child was killed and several others wounded when russian air strikes hit a kindergarten in that area. russia says its forces in syria have the new objective of delivering humanitarian aid, and calling on all sides to ensure that aid gets into areas blockaded by rebel fighters. it says they have already delivered 2200 tons of aid in one city. >> translator: currently assistance is being delivered so the city that has long been under siege by isil terrorists. today cargo jets equipped with parachutable palettes delivered

22,000 tons of cargo into the town. its distribution will be done by local authorities. ♪ iraq's top shiite claire irk is urging the government to do more to stop sectarian violence. on monday a cafe was bombed in the town north of baghdad nfl the attack was claimed by isil. apparent reprisal attacks have since been reported on sunni mosques and businesses. the grand ayatollah differed this message through a representative. >> translator: a few days ago the town witnessed terrorist acts, and regrettable attacks on several mosques and houses of civilians which will have dangerous consequences on peaceful coexistence of people in this country. we place full responsibility on the government security forces for their repetition. >> mohammed jamjoom sent this

update from baghdad. >> reporter: after a week in which the flames of sectarianism were fanned was more. iraq's top shiite religious cleric delivered aer is month on friday, through his spokesperson in which he condemned the wave of violence and laid blame at the feet of iraq's government for not doing more to prevent these type of attacks. the violence started on monday when isil fighters bombed a cafe. and the next day they started seeing reprisal attacks. it has gotten worse these past several days. and because of sectarian lines deepening, the ayatollah decided to address it in his sermon on friday. one of the big concerns if

session tarnism gets worse, analysts here worry that will effect iraq's security forces fight against isil. iraq security forces currently trying to dislodge control of key towns in this country from the hands of isil. the fight in ramadi still going on. iraq security forces still have to try to enter mosul and take back mosul from isil as well, and also there have been clashes in and around the tikrit area the past several days. indonesian police say they have identified four out of five of the jakarta attackers. they are now searching for a man they believe is the top suspect. he is indonesian with linked to islamic state of iraq and the levant in syria. step vaessen has more from jas car ta. >> reporter: they have been accused of being caught off guard. police are now trying to find out who was involved in thursday's attacks. they say they have evidence an

exconvict who joined isil in syria, may have planned the attack. >> he gave the order from syria, but he has also the chief in -- in indonesia, that he the one basically performed the situation. >> reporter: this alleged leader is still on the run. three other men were arrested in a suburb of jakarta, suspected of plotting an attack. police have not confirmed if they were involved in thursday's attacks. analysts say an estimated 120 indonesians have been trained to commit isil-inspired attacks. >> translator: they have training camps. they have been fighting as war lords in the jungle, and have trained in difficult circumstances. we have information that they have received money from isil through uyghur people in china. >> reporter: analysts say the authorities were taken by surprise on thursday in what has been described as an intelligence failure, stricter anti-terrorism laws are being

discussed in parliament, but the government says it would rather focus on what is called soft approach. >> look at u.s. experience in afghanistan, iraq, and where else, the hard approach does not solve the problem. make the situation become much worse. >> reporter: indonesia's largest muslim organization with more than 40 million members together with leaders from other religions has called isil an enemy of islam. they are planning a peace rally this weekend. >> translator: terrorists is the enemy of the indonesian people, of the indonesian state, of our religious communities. terrorism is against humanity, against religion, especially against islam. >> reporter: thoer thoerpt -- authorities are conducting raids on several parts of the country, hoping to

announce some significant arrests. french investigators so confirmed the identity of one of the paris attackers last year. investigators identified the belgian moroccan based on dna tests. 130 people dying the coordinated assault. one man is brain dead and another five people are critically ill after being given an experimental drug in a french clinical trial. development of the drug has now been suspended. >> reporter: it was a clinical trial that went badly wrong. now with one person declared brain dead and five others in hospital, the french health minister has ordered an investigation. >> translator: the families are devastated. we'll make sure they are given

all of the answers, particularly as right now i'm not aware of any comparable case. what has happened is unprecedented and requires the greatest possible vigilance in the coming investigation. >> reporter: the drug was being trailed at this private clinic. it is meant to act on the body's system which deals with pain. >> translator: the condition of the other patients got worse, and today four of the five other patients have neurological problems of varying gravity. one patient did not have any symptoms, but is under intensive surveillance. >> reporter: a lawyer for the victim says there was clearly some kind of error or oversight. >> translator: how come in 2016 with all of the means we have, such an accident can happen. had there been a human error i can't believe in a coincidence in circumstances. >> reporter: dozens more people

got smaller doses of the substance, they are now being asked to undergo a brain scan. still to come, u.s. water crisis, the michigan governor asks president obama to issue an emergency declaration over high levels of lead in the drink water. and hours after the west african ebola outbreak is confirmed over, a new case is confirmed in sierra leone. ♪

hello again, and a reminder of the stop stories on al jazeera. people in the syrian town of

madaya have told officials that 32 people have starved to death there in the last month. another two dies there on friday. iraq's top shiite cleric is urging the government to do more to stop sectarian violence. on monday a cafe was bombed north of baghdad. and one man has left brain dead, and another five critically ill after receiving a experimental drug. there is a drinking water crisis in the city of flint, michigan. people have been queueing up for bottled water after high levels of lead were found in the drinking water. john hendren sent us this update. >> reporter: this is one of five water distribution centers in

flint. the national guard is delivering water, testing supplies, and filters to the residents. yesterday there was one soldier doing that. today there are six. and that is happening at five different places around this city. to make matters worse governor sneijder has announced that there is also a problem maybe linked to the water with legionnaires' disease. ten people have flied in flint, 87 have been effected. the governor asked president obama to declare a state of emergency that would free up federal funds so the federal government could contribute. the water system could cost something like a billion dollars to $1.5 billion to replace it. the city is now getting its water from detroit as it used to do before it switched to the water system, but the damage to the pipes has apparently been

done. 12 academics have been arrested in turkey for denouncing military operations against kurdish rebels. they are just 12 out of more than 1200 scroll -- scholars who signed the declaration. in egypt at least five activists have been arrested. these detentions are the latest in a crackdown on activists in the country. the muslim brotherhood which is the group of mubarak's successor, has been labeled a terrorist organization by the egyptian government. in yemen houthi fighters have released a minister and four others as part of a goodwill gesture.

>> translator: i confirm to you that the release of the minister of education and four other activists and journalists have been secured. they have been held for the past few months and i have received this morning of official confirmation of the release of the group and of their health and safety, the minister of defense, and three others. kenya's president says a number of kenyan troops have been killed in an al-shabab attack on an african union based in somalia. kenya has given no indication of the number of casualties, but an al-shabab spokesmen said their fighters have killed at least 63 troops. our correspondent sent this update. >> reporter: the attack in southwestern somalia not far away from the border, a group of

al-shabab fighters say to have carried out the attack. they first rammed the gate to the camp, and then fought their way into the camp. residents said they saw kenyan soldiers fleeing from the camp. some in vehicles, some on foot, and they say they saw many bodies. al-shabab fighters are said to have taken from the camp arms and ammunitions. it's not the first time al-shabab fighters are attacking african union peace keeper bases. this is the fourth time in two years that they have carried out such an attack. and there are two main reasons. first of all they want to show that they are still a force to be reckoned with, despite losing some of their major strong holds and their main sources of revenue to african union peace keepers. they also want to use these attacks to rearm themselves to

get arms and ammunitions from these bases that they have been attacking, because they no longer have access to the sea ports, which they used to use for rearming themselves. a new case of ebola has been confirmed in sierra leone just two months after it was declared to be free of the virus. the victim who died was a 22-year-old female student who potential exposed 27 others to the disease. she lived in a house with 22 others and was treated as an outpatient in hospital. on thursday the world health organization said that west africa was effectively free of ebola, saying all known chains of transmission had been stopped. the epidemic killed more than 11,300 people over two years. now the world health organization says the job is not over. >> there are key teams on the ground from the ministry of health supported by international partners, and

right now there is work being done to see -- to trace contacts, obviously, to see who could have been exposed and to make sure that all necessary measures are being done to stop this flairup as soon as possible. and this really reinforced the message that these countries are facing a risk of new cases coming so the job is not over, flairups are possible, and we have to be ready to respond. >> reporter: the u.n. says it has documented cases of burundi's security forces gang raping women while searching the houses of opposition supporters. and it is warning of an ethnic dimension to the violence. at least 439 people have been killed in the violence that followed the president's announcement he was running for a third term in office. meanwhile the former defense minister and three former generals have been sentenced to

life for their part in this coup to topple the president. global markets have taken a beating as oil prices continue to drop. [ cheers and applause ] >> wall street opened the day down, and all of the major u.s. markets have continued to fall. this follows similar losses across europe and asia. the plunging oil prices are the main reason. >> if the oil price heads for $20 it will be fatal for my of the commodity-driven countries. none of the opec countries has an balanced budget already. that is something completely new and with less purchasing power the world economy is rather

slow. now venezuela's government has just declared it is in a state of economic emergency. in that announcement was made as the country waits to hear the annual state of the union address. the president will address the first opposition-lead parliament since his predecessor swept to power in 1998. let's go to virginia lopez in caracas. what has prompted the government to declare its economy is in a state of emergency? let's try once more with virginia lopez in caracas. i'm not sure if you can hear me, but i was asking why has the government decided to declare that its economy is in a state of emergency in? yeah, we have been having a few problems with our line to

caracas. we might try to go back to virginia a little bit later. the south african government has built more than 500 free houses where 54 minors were killed in 2012 during a protest demanding better living conditions. the mining community is now accusing the government of not distributing the homes fairly. >> reporter: this 75 year old tidies her new furnished home. it was given to her by the south african government a week ago. she says before that she was homeless. >> now i'm happy now. i'm very, very happy. >> reporter: but she says workers from the surrounding mine are threatening her. >> all of the mine [ inaudible ] and they come here to me. they say take your -- get out of the house.

because we don't know you. >> reporter: despite being told to leave, she says she is determined to stay. people here say minors lay claim to some of the homes by spray painting their names on walls like this one. the owner of this home nearby fled after an angry mob threatened to kill him. this is a mine worker at the neighboring mine. he says he was not one of the minors who threatened people here, but he is still agery. >> translator: we are going to fight, because people moving into these houses are not from here. there are people like me who need these houses. >> reporter: the minors say they are frustrated with living in tin shack houses, flooded streets, and poor sanitation. in 2012 police shot dead 54 minors just along these shacks while they were protesting over better a living conditions. a local mining company donated land to the government to build new homes, but the government

says these companies should play a greater role in social development. >> we have taken a decision that we are going to be [ inaudible ] in as far as social labor programs are concerned. this taking of corners, they don't realize is a threat to their own business. so as soon as they come to the party, that mitigation against risk for their own business. >> reporter: the government says not all minors are eligible for the free housing scheme because they earn more than the qualifying monthly salary. for minors here too poor to live better but too rich for government housing assistance, tensions continue to build. pope francis has held a private meeting with the former ceo of google. it prompted some discussion that the pontiff may be working on an an initiative with eric shid t.

the hope had has admitted he himself cannot use a computer just yet. authorities in the german town have banned male refugees from using a local pool after complaints of people being harassed. the pool in a suburb has a refugee shelter nearby. a member of the local social services department says the pool was the scene of repeated advancements towards women by young men. now, tim peek has become the first british astronaut to walk in space. have a look at this. while the british spaceman and

nasa's astronaut, were replacing a broken box. they were making the switch in darkness to present electricity from flowing through the solar power system and hitting them. peek said he felt iks sill rated but has no time to dwell on those emotions. tehran's compliance with the iran nuclear deal are likely to be released on saturday. it includes the decommissioning of its own heavy water nuclear reactor. iran said the reactor core has been removed and concreted over. the u.s. is waiting for inspectors to confirm that tehran has been compliant before it lifts sanctions. and you can always find out much more on many of the stories

we are covering on our website. in that is what the front page looks like at the moment. and a reminder the address as ever to click on to is aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com for all of your latest-breaking news and sport as well. >> 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. are oil anic