>> diplomatic push to end the war in syria with the latest from turkey and the gulf states holding meetings. i'm lauren taylor, we're live from london. coming up, protests spread over rising unemployment in tunisia. state of emergency in seven u.s. states in a few blizzard hits the country's east coast. and it's all about a document at sundance film festival. more and more people are flocking to see factual films.

hello, the u.s. is making a renewed diplomatic push to find a resolution to end the war in syria. secretary of state john kerry is in saudi arabia meeting leaders from the golf to try to ease concerns about warming u.s. iranian ties. kerry said he's confident the talks scheduled for next week will go ahead. did he fought confirm the exact day they'll start. >> one of the things we did today, which i think is really important, is we set up a clarity for how to proceed forward in the initial steps of the negotiations on syria. and we are confident that with good initiative in the next day or so those talks can get going, and the u.n. representative special envoy will be able to continue in an appropriate

manner for proximity talks that will be the first meeting in geneva to begin to lay down the process to try very hard to commit to the geneva communique have and have transition that takes place with the u.n. security council resolutions as well as the communiques of the syria international support group. >> meanwhile, u.s. vice president joe biden is in istanbul meeting with turkey's prime minister. turkey is estimated to host more than a million syrians. turkey is part of the u.s.-led coalition launching attract in syria against isil. i had been said that the u.s. and turkey are prepared for a military solution against isil if a political one is not possible. we have more from istanbul. >> this is an opportunity to

remind u.s. vice president joe biden of turkey's opposition to any involvement of the syrian kurds in any discussions on the final s. any final settlement for the syrian crisis. the views are if the kurds must be involved in any way then they should be with the regime. they should be sitting assad. they should not be sitting with opposition groups. >> the pkk is just like isil. the ypg. >> the pks is as much of a threat as isil and al nusra, he didn't draw connection between the pkk and the syrian kurds, the ypg because on the ground in syria they're the most effective partner with the u.s. in fighting against isil.

>> there is a thorough understanding that isil presents clear and present danger. not only to to europe, to the neighborhood, but particularly to turkey. and we have some robust cooperation and commitment to defeat isil. >> for that part, the largest syrian kurdish political group has said if it is not represented in any syria peace talks then those talks will fail. >> the security situation has improved since the occurify came into affect on friday. nearly four days of protests and riots where people talk about high unemployment and high costs of living.

>> tunisia's prime minister faces the toughest challenge yet to his government he has been in power for become a year but his authority has been challenged by the arrests. some of these protests turned into looting and attacks on security forces and government buildings. >> many enemies do not wish to seek tunisia or tunisians successful. they feel undermined. they're doing all they can to disturb the harmony of our democracy and the historic transition period tunisia has seen. the transition is inevitable. the transition is irreversible. >> the opposition blames the government for the unrest. saying it has failed to implement genuine reforms. on the streets people remain divided over how to solve

tunisia's simmering discontent. >> i'm totally against imposing a curfew. there are people who work at night. by imposing the occur to you you compromise the security. in the government must take extreme steps to find jobs for the people. i don't know how, but that is their job. >> new elections have been displace displace missed by commentators as a risky step. elections were last held in october 2015. many fear there could be more instability. the curfew could start each evening. a few months ago an attack took

the lives of 38 high school day makers in the resort. so the security forces have extensive powers in curbing unrest and tackling the rise of armed groups. the state of security puts curfews in place. but the curfew will hardly resolve the deep-rooted problem. and for the tunisians trust for political leaders seems to be wearing thin. hashem ahelbarra, to you nice. >> in the u.s. a blizzard dumps a huge amounts of snow across the country's east coast. thousands of flights have been canceled, and transport in many cities have ground to a standstill. a thousand car crashes has left

11 people dead. tom ackerman joins us live. what are some of the most hit places? >> it's gone down as far south as georgia an you can see the winds pick up in washington. we've had 40 centimeters of snow accumulate in washington. we have an estimated 12 to 15 hours left in this storm. meanwhile, the forecasts are getting more and more severe as you go further north. the state of new york has just declared a state of emergency so

now they expect 76 centimeters of snow in the city of new york. and the mayor, bill de blasio, has ordered a ban of all cars in road traffic in in the city. which is an unusual event for new york city. >> what kinds of problems will they encounter in the coming weeks? >> you nay recall the storm in new england last january, just about this time last january, it took them it took two months for them to deplete the piles of snow they had taken off the streets of boston. we don't know if that will be matched in new york city, but that is obviously one of the concerns in the mayor in making that kind of a ban on car traffic. we don't know how long that will

remain in force. the other danger, which is a major concern are power lines. as the snow accumulates, but more over as the ice begins to add to the weight of the power lines you'll see more and more outages. we saw 170 households report their power out in north and south carolina. we expect those numbers to grow as well in the coming ours, and in fact, it takes sometimes--there are communities that it take up to a week to ten days if not more before power is fully restored. >> thank you for that update from washington, d.c. >> the cdc in the united states is warning women of the zika

viral-bourne. >> the mosquito-borne zika virus has been around for years in africa and southeast asia, and at that time it barely registered as a problem. that is until it turned newspaper brazil. in nine months there have been half a million cases of contagion with the virus and a dramatic rise of birth defects in babies. >> normally zika is not a grave, dangerous disease. but what we're seeing in brazil in lots of areas where we have lots of zika infections, women have babies with mic rocephaly. >> microcephaly is a disease where the baby's head and brain does not fully develop.

in brazil there was 150 cases in the country. since october that has jumped to 4,000. the link to the zika virus has not yet been confirmed but it's enough to prompt health officials to react as if there is one. >> we really are advising that pregnant women, so we're advising pregnant women not to travel through these areas. >> there have been a handful of cases in the united states. health officials are still not clear why it has flared into an epidemic so quickly, but they're worried that the olympics in rio de janeiro could make it spread even further. >> it's the olympic games and people will be arriving from all

over the world to rio de janeiro, so they'll be at risk and be exposed to the virus. it's not just for brazil's public health but the public health worldwide. >> as of yet there is no treatment or vaccine for the zika virus. they've been advising women not to get regular at all for now. it is the same mosquito that carries dengue fever and other diseases that thrive and breed in mall amounts of water. avoiding or limiting exposure to the mosquito is the only answer. making mosquito eradication programs like these all the more important. al jazeera. >> still to come. >> okay, google, how much tax are you going to pay here in the u.k.? >> google has to pay $185 million in back-dated taxes in the u.k. the move described as trivial by

critics. plus... >> i'm in south africa. we're going to show you how they are saving lives. against mosquitos. >> they'd kill one person every 12 seconds. >> just like that, i might have genetically modified a mosquito. >> it's like a video game with genes. >> this is what innovation looks like. >> i feel like we're making an impact. >> let's do it. >> techknow, where technology meets humanity.

>> the only live national news show at 11:00 eastern. >> we start with breaking news. >> let's take a closer look. ed. >> secretary of state john kerry says he's confident that talks will go ahead tunisia's.

>> a major success after google offered to bay $185 million in back dated catches and change how it accounts for tax in the u.k. >> okay, google, how much tax are you going to pay here in the u.k.? well, that's something that google can answer in a heartbeat. the firm is going to shell out 130 million pounds. that's $185 million, money many people feel is long overdue. the question is, okay, google, is it enough? >> well, google thinks so. it has reached an agreement with the tax man after a long, open audit. that is to cover a decade of under payments, and the company is going to pay more in the future, saying it will change the way it calculates its taxes

based on revenue which reflects the size and scope of its u.k. business. which leads to the question, okay, google, how big exactly is that business? >> well, $164 million in the u.k. in 2013. nearer to $950 million if we're talking dollars. but then look at the figures filed in the u.s. where google had revenues of $5.6 billion that year. and $6.5 billion a year later in 2014. quite a discrepancy. that's revenue, and revenue isn't taxable profit. there are costs to bear in mind. but it shows google earns a lot in britain that does not go through its british accounts. it's all pretty confusing and pretty complex, and it is all perfectly legal. this is the boss of google u.k. to defend it.

listen to the fiery words directed at them. >> how do you think they feel every time they switch on to google, and they remember and just it reminds them of your rather devious if i may say so contemplated and in my view unethical behavior. >> i think if ordinary people listened to that statement they would be rightly concerned, but i don't think that's a fair representation of how we operate. >> okay, google, why pay now? >> they say that they see the way the world is changing, and they want to be seen as paying their fair share. but at the same time, they're under pressure that has been an audit, and governments want to get more tax out of companies like google. >> so the tax man gets its cash, google solves its problem, and everyone is happy, right? wrong. this is causing anger among opposition politician who is say that google should pay a lot

more and it's a paltry amount. and authorities those negotiating for google for their settlement, and they may demand much more. but for google this is an issue that is not going away soon. >> the world economic forum has drown to a close i--drawn to a close in davos. >> the global economics is barely black and white. but in davos where the white is explanatory, and the black has been oil and it's falling prices and how to mitigate their effects. we've seen prices fall before, but the speed this time is a new damaging impact. >> it has absolutely collapsed, and had a knock-on effect. i think you have in some sense the new economics. in the long run the benefits that they'll trickle through, .

>> a country like norway knows that. it uses its money in a different way. so that it is part of the budge, "the" budget. >> we're using ref news through into our budget. >> what is worth remember something a low oil price is not all bad news. >> countries like india, china, europe, japan, this is definitely good news because they are decreasing as a result of low oil prices. >> low oil prices over all can benefit economies like britain because it reduces costs and consumers are getting a boost. >> long term, however, there still needs to be investment right across the energy sector. power companies are trying to look beyond the current volatility. and right now is between now a

and 2014 about $13 trillion needs to be invested to bring that power to the people who don't have it today or need more. >> what can we take away from all this? it seems that high oil price or low oil price there is something for everyone. perhaps the most important thing, and this has been a buzzword for years. diversification. making sure that an economy is not so reliant on oil that it can't with stand a shock like this. >> south africa has one of the lowest levels of breast-feeding in the world, now they're trying to persuade new moms away from manufacture milk. we have this report from johannesburg. >> she doesn't always know who gets hi her ex-citizen milk. but it makes her feel good that she's helping someone. >> every time you fill up a bottle it's going to a baby who

needs it and it will grow and nurture them. i think that's very important. >> the donated milk is collected or dropped off at human milk banks across the country. >> this is a milk bank where the donated milk is tested for hiv and other diseases. it is then pasteurized and fed to orphans and children who don't live with their biological mother. >> the breast milk reserve has 40 milk banks nationwide. 2,800 babies received donated milk last year. pediatricians and government experts are encouraging breast-feeding rather than manufactured milk. >> in south africa we have dangerously low breast-feeding mothers. >> this baby was born premature and was thought too sick and weak to leave the hospital.

they need donations from the milk bank because she cannot produce enough milk. >> i don't know how my baby would survive. >> 34 newborn babies die before their first birthday in south africa. more human milk banks could help save more lives. >> the u.s. court is considering an audit to stop sow called teacher's sickout that has closed dozens of schools in the city of detroit. teachers have been calling in sick over what they say are unhealthy working conditions. john hedron spoke to the teachers about their concerns. >> in detroit this is where young minds are molds, falling

ceiling tiles and rodents. >> it's not safe and not where you would want to be educated. >> the schools are so run dawn that teachers felt they had to call a strike, a violation against state law. >> i'm not above walking out of here if this is what is right for kids. >> there could an strike eventually. >> there could be eventually. i'm not going to lie about it. but right now i don't feel in is a time. >> even though there is a michigan law against it. >> an unjust law is no law at all. >> the detroit teachers have launched a series of sick-outs calling in ill and shutting down schools. when school managers asked for a retrainin restraining order to stop the sick outs, a judge said no. and the teachers go on. >> we are teach whose love our kids, and because that have we're disrespected and we are tired. >> it's a confrontation rich

with politics. the public education system in this majority black relybly democratic city is run by emergency manager darnell early appointed by governor rick snyder. >> i really hope he gets on it. i guarantee that our state offices do not look like what these kids do. >> they are broke and they could be insolvent by april. >> unfortunately there is not a lot you can offer when you're in a financial situation like we are. i get their concerns, i do. but work stoppage is not the answer. >> some fled to experiment charter schools, some to the suburbs. enrollment has plunged from 150,000 in 2000 to 147,000 now. this is a middle school. on the outside it doesn't look that bad. a bit worn, maybe. some missing tiles, but it's on

the inside where the problems lie. it was a sight that mayor mike duggen saw for the first time this week. >> certainly there were disturbing things that we saw hear today. >> disturbing conditions and a stand off with no end in sight. >> the internet and streaming flat form has seen audiences flocking to documentaries, and it's sparking a strong contest at the sundance festival. >> what are those parts of us that are so deep that no storm can take them away. >> how to let go of the world and love all the things climate can't change is one of dozens of documentaries premiering at the sundance film festival. josh fox spent six years on the project. he said it's meant to encourage action to slow climate change. >> when i say we have to let go of the world, what i mean is this world that is based on greed and competition and in many cases violence, and what we have to do, and when we face

climate change is base our society on things that are much more sustainable. >> the documentaries deal with challenging topics including gun violence, race relations and abortion. >> i think documentaries are not only great forms of entertainment, they're a force for good in a democracy because they make us ask questions of ourselves. >> jim tells the story of james foley, the american war correspondent kidnapped and killed by isil in syria in 2014. director brian oaks was a close friend of foley's since their childhood. >> he was not there to be the story. he was trying to tell these stories of the syrians. i wanted this film to help jim bring those stories bac back to the surface. >> the story of a rap music loving teenage girl from afghanistan growing up as an illegal immigrant in iran. when the director learned the

girl's family planned to sell her as a child bride, she stepped in. >> when her mom came to take her back to afghanistan, my filmmaker-side was excited and happy. but my human side was oh, her life will be ruin: so i made the movie myself. >> she now attends school in the u.s. and campaigns against child marriage. >> the movie has changed my life. now i'm able to change the lives of other girls. >> it's a good time to be a documentary filmmaker thanks to new platforms for directions. channels like home box office and amazon and netflix are buying up documentaries and putting them in front of a wider audience than ever before. >> with netflix and hulu and all these big new companies, it adds so many more options and doors

to filmmakers. >> challenging themes and bigger audiences, part of a new golden age for documentary films. rob reynolds, al jazeera, park city, utah. >> plenty more for you on the website www.aljazeera.com. >> welcome to 101 east. i'm steve chao. in taiwan, an epic david and goliath battle is playing out. in one corner - factory workers who say their former employer exposed them to dangerous cancer-causing chemicals. in the other, an electronics company with deep pockets. 101 east joins the workers hoping to change taiwan's labour laws. >> taiwan in the 1970s...