russian air strikes kills at least 30 people. you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters doha. a city is called to a standstill. political limbo in haiti after a presidential run off election is post posed indefinitely. demolition countdown. we meet the residents of hong kong whose homes are days away

from being flattened. we begin with syria where at least 30 people have been killed in suspected russian air strikes. the syrian observetri for human rights say it hit a bus station. it reports that the jets were targeting areas controlled by islamic state in iraq and the levant of the meanwhile world powers are scheduled to discuss the conflict in geneva on monday and it is yet to be agreed which syrian groups will attend. john kerry says he is confident the talks will go ahead. kerry has been meeting the king of saudi arabia in riyadh. the u.s. and its allies are trying to come up way list of opposition groups to join the negotiations >> one thing we did today which i think is important is we set up a clarity for how to proceed

forward in the initial steps of the negotiations on syria. we are confident that with good initiative in the next day or so those talks can get going and that the u.n. representative special envoy will be convening people in an appropriate manner for the proximity talks. >> the works that we're doing is all designed about to bring peace, security and stability in the region and much of that work involves pushing back iran's aggressive actions in the region going to our correspondent. before we talk about the peace efforts, tell us what you're hearing about the civilian deaths? >> reporter: well, what we're hearing is that it is reported that russian air strikes hit the

town of kesham. 29 civilians killed. that figure has risen apparently and the first report suggested seven children. it's unclear now, but certainly civilian deaths in that area. it's in i.s.i.l. held territory. i.s.i.l. has been on the offensive for nearly a week now against regime forces. in the city itself where it holds 60% of the ground and after the weekend when there were very severe attacks on the forces and big lose es, there has been a fight back on the ground and certainly in terms of russian air strikes. there is estimates of in excess of 70 focal of civilians since friday.

these figures are all from authorities, a group based in the u.k., which gets information from all of the resistance groups and various online monitoring groups. the question is whether the fight is escalating there has been effort made to get the warring sides talk. we heard the secretary of state saying he is confident that the talks will continue in geneva. there's confusion over when the talks will start and who is going to be there. >> reporter: that's right. the efforts are in overdrive now. the u.s. is doing all it can. the question is when the talks will take place and what will be

the sides who will appear. we have the assurances from the u.s. that there is agreement now on the opposition side. the russian air strikes stopped the talks. then here in turkey joe biden, the u.s. vice president, having talks with the prime minister of turkey in which there is a disagreement about the role of the syrian party that will have the talks. the conflicts [indistinct] the pkk which america does support

the issues with the pkk but not with the nyd which is seen as an ally because it is fighting i.s.i.l. a very complicated situation indeed. thank you for that. in iraq i.s.i.l. says it has killed 72 soldiers in three separate suicide attacks as it fights to hold on to the city of ramadi. the iraqi army says the latest fighting against the armed group happened in the last stronghold within the city and government forces said we captured ramadi from the armed group. in other world news eastern u.s. cities are at a standstill after a blizzard brought a huge snow fall. a state of emergency has been declared in new york and in several other states. >> reporter: from georgia and the carolinas, the fast moving blanket of snow has kept outdoor activity to a minimum.

winds as high as 90 km/h persuaded motorists to stay off the roads, but many of those who ventured out found the conditions much more than they had bargained for. drivers were stranded along a highway which turned into a parking lot. red cross set up a shelter. >> we will be in a ditch trying to get you out of a ditch. >> reporter: the metro train service was shut down for only the third time in its history. it caused major flooding on the at lat particular coast-- atlantic coast. >> it had come over the wall that was good enough to protect them from any storm >> reporter: after the snow forecast for new york city was raised on to 76 centimeters officials there ordered a rare travel ban. >> all vehicles that are not

emergency vehicles or authorised vehicles involved in direct urgent service to people, need to be off the streets. the nypd will begin enforcing the travel ban from 2 p.m. which will remain in place until further notice. >> reporter: the outages were expected to worsen as ice builds up on power lines. in washington the weather turned streets bear of traffic into a snow boarder's delight. in a national zoo a panda couldn't get enough of the snow. >> reporter: more than 7500 flights have been cancelled which means beginning sunday the airlines airlines

a warning for zeoul for the first time in many years. the u.n. in governments around the world are urging leaders to solve a worsening political crisis. a run off election scheduled for sunday to choose the next president has been put on hold indefinitely. there has been protests in the first round of voting in october. >> reporter: it was the threat of widespread violence that led to haiti's planned election being called off. this is now a nation in limbo. stations have been set ablaze

across the country. many fear haiti is heading towards a crisis that threatens to destabilize an already franklying im nation. >> we will find and fight. >> reporter: this man was running for president. he is now part of a group of former candidates known as the g8 who have been calling for sweeping change amid accusations of fraud and irregularities. he said the country has some serious challenges ahead >> i have a good feeling. we made a big step in the right direction but it is not the end. we have a long way to go because this fight is more complicated than people think. >> reporter: the people of haiti are going increasingly impatient with the process. this student and musician told us he is rapidly losing hope for

haiti. he tells us many live in inhumane conditions. other observers don't see a way out of the impasse. the president has on to be out of office at the beginning of february. >> translation: we are less than two weeks until february 7, and there is no way to have another election before then. so it will be up to the parliament and the political parties to agree on a position. >> reporter: elections have never been an easy thing in haiti, but in the past decade this country has enjoyed civility. all that has started to unravel in the past few months. perhaps the most important thing is that the next leader has legitimacy. there is more at stake here than a smooth hand over of power. haiti is still struggling to

recover from a devastating earthquake. poverty and unemployment are rampant. its leaders can't run what its government sees as free and fair elections. it's the 50 million people who may ultimately pay the price stay with us on al jazeera. coming up after the break we're in moldova where protesters say the prime minister is under control of a tycoon there. an an amnesty on guns. n guns.

welcome back.

you're watching al jazeera live from doha. a reminder on our top stories. at least 30 people have been killed in syria. fighters jets targeted a village in the eastern city. eastern u.s. cities, including new york and washington dc are at a standstill after a blizzard brought huge snow fall. a warning for seoul for the first time in five years. governments around the world are urging haiti's feuding leaders to settle a crisis. the next president poll has been put on hold. to yemen where the u.n. is seeking unlimited access to

tiez. it has been conflict. >> reporter: the u.n. says 200 thousand civilians are living under what it calls a virtual state of siege. houthi rebels are blocking aid into the city. they're also stopping the sick and injured from leaving to get medical treatment elsewhere. >> translation: i was hit by a shell and have been in hospital for three months. i need medical attention abroad. i lost my legs and there is treatment for me here >> reporter: the city's hospitals are struggling to cope with demand. more than 90% are closed and those still open are short of staff, medicine and electricity. around 5,000 people need specialist treatment that their clinics cannot provide. they're warning that patients will ends up with lifelong disabilities unless they receive the help they need. >> translation: many of our

patients are in need of urgent medical care abroad and haven't been able to travel. the siege has prevented medicine from leaving the city. >> reporter: the world health organisation is most of those killed are civilians. the u.s. government is calling on all sides in the conflict to resume peace talks. it also says a tax on the red sea port should stop immediately in order to allow aid in >> a lot of the people need the basic necessitates to live, but on top of that schools have been interrupted. children haven't been able to go back to school and a lot of them are being recruited to join the war by militias. >> reporter: this bakery is now using wood instead of fuel to make its bread. there is a severe shortage of diesel and it is expensive on the black market. the city is under siege, so to

spare residents additional costs we have returned to using woods. after ten months of fighting they want the war to end and until it does their situation will continue to deteriorate chinese president xi jinping visit to iran appears to be paying off. the counsel announced plans to strengthen economic ties. he is the first head of state to visit iran since the sanctions were lifted. >> translation: we are delighted to see this trip taking place at the very appropriate historical time in the post-sanctions era. we decided to increase mutual trade, up to 600 billion dollars. to secure security and stability in the middle east we are offering help to countries which suffer from terrorism, like

afghanistan, iraq, syria and yemen. we also offer intellectual intelligence to fight terrorism a security situation is under control after a week of nationwide protests in tunisia. he promised to tackle employment. protests were triggered by a man who died while climbing a power poll and was electrocuted. >> translation: what people have created was a revolution. revolution that never happened before. we are almost the only ones who have experienced success in the framework we're in now to moldova where the opposition is expecting tens of thousands of people to join a

rally in the capital on sunday. protesters are calling for fresh elections after appointment of a prime minister who they say is taking his orders from business tycoons >> reporter: things have gone from bad to worse here. joblessness, a weakening currency, fuel and food prices on the rise. nobody has anything good to say about the situation. >> translation: come to the village and see how much we pay for pasta and sugar. >> reporter: nobody we spoke to have has anything positive to say about their politicians >> translation: i pray to god for help. i don't trust anyone any more. i've lost all faith. >> reporter: the people here had disillusioned and this is in part because this country has been suffering from political paralysis. there have been four prime ministers in the last 12 months and since october no government until this week. on wednesday angry crowds stormed parliament incensesd by

the appointment of a new prime minister. he is standing on the right is a close aleye of the man doing the talking. the most powerful tycoon turned politician. the opposition, a loose grouping of parties, pro-european and pro-russian want immediate elections. they accuse the businessman of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the country's banks. >> translation: since independence, we have suffered and suffered and suffered. we are on the verge of having a criminal dictatorship. we have to ready to oppose that at any cost >> reporter: the new government thats the backing of brussels and washington and says there will be no new elections. >> translation: believe that early elections are not the solution for the country right now. we're in a difficult financial situation and we have to find

urgent solutions. >> reporter: camped in the city center for months now are a hard-core of protesters from across the political spectrum. they're hoping tens of thousands of ordinary people are ready to join them regardless of their gee political persuasion. -- geopolitical persuasion in poland thousands of protesters have marched in the capital. the demonstration was against a new conservative government's evidence to boost police surveillance powers. it has made changes in the judiciary and state media which opponents say undermine their independence. two palestinian teen analer were shot dead. a between around the age of 18 was shot dead in a town of the jerusalem. in a separate incident a 13-year-old girl was shot and killed by a security guard. she tried to stab the guard

outside a settlement. at least 163 palestinians and 25 israelis have been killed in violence since october last year. 17-year-old gunman has been charged following canada's worst mass shooting in a decade. he is accused of shooting two brothers. he then opened fire in a high scho school. a teacher and assistant were killed. the gunmen was arrested outside the school and later charged with four counts of first degree murder. to nigeria where a state has set up an nishtive for illegal weapons to be handed in without their owners being charged. some crime victims say an amnesty is not enough to bring down the rate of violence. in benue hundreds have been left dead. >> reporter: hundreds of illegally owned rifles, ingredient aids and home-made

bombs surrendered to police. their owners won't be charged of any. fighting started here during last year's election. on and off tribal tensions over landownership have flanked the state for years. many have acquired weapons to defend themselves. hundreds have been killed. the husband and son of this woman was shot and killed in separate attacks that were politically motivated. >> translation: when high husband was murdered, i was in the bedroom. i heard boom boom twice, i got scared. the shots continued for a while. when i went outside i went out screaming. she says the amnesty has greatly improved security. self-confessed criminal has handed over 84 rifles. >> translation: violence escalated because people were attacking communities. my community.

so i was protecting my female. now i am protecting all people. >> reporter: many victims are worried that criminals are not being punished and will re-offend. many of the communities affected by crime and violence in the state say the government needs to do a lot more than the amnesty program. they say they need help dealing with the impact of crime. >> this amnesty program, i think the best thing to do. >> reporter: state government leaders defend the amnesty. >> the security council demanded for the people to have mercy. we are working together. we are finding how we can make life more meaningful and better for our people. >> reporter: state government says the amnesty has reduced crime in the area by 70%.

training and educational programs will be provided for anyone who is given a pardon. victims of crime say the priority should be giving them compensation so they can rebuild their lives the hong kong government is going ahead with the demolition of the city's last urban walled village despite protest from the villagers. some homes have already been knocked down but a group of residents is refusing to leave demanding that the site be protected. >> reporter: it is not often you see a low-rise structure in the heart of hong kong. this village is home to around 100 people, some who have been here all their life. >> translation: my father built this house all by himself. so this house is now 50 to 60 years old. >> reporter: he was born here as one of 15 households that he still calls home. his days are numbered because of government plans to demolish the

site at the end of the month. >> translation: if the government was about the people, it wouldn't force us to give up our homes before we have been resettled. >> reporter: the village was originally built by indigenous people in the 16th century with the walls acting as defense against local pirates. three-quarters of the homes have already been demolished with plans to convert this private site in housing >> it is full of shopping and housing and we can - as we know the newspaper development will provide-- the new development will provide two tall private participates for the doctor - apartments for the areas. >> reporter: the history is that these people are proud of. the government has offered some compensation, but not everyone

is convinced it is enough to help them secure a home elsewhere >> this small amount of money you cannot do anything. a flat is very expensive to rent. >> reporter: as well as residents there are small businesses, including this man. he has been running this store for 40 years. >> translation: the compensation that the government offers is not enough for renovating a new premise or starting a new one. i don't be able to run a business any more >> reporter: the spokesperson of the government wasn't available for comment. if they don't leave by the end of the month, they face criminal charges and heavy tea fine-- hefty fines two volcanos in mexico have thrown large cash into the air.

one erupted 12 times in 12 hours on saturday. a reminder that you can keep up-to-date with all of the news all the time at aljazeera.com, the very latest is the syrian crime there and others. aljazeera.com is the website. genetic modification, incredible science in the lab usually means this. it can be controversial, it can also be extremely beneficial. >> just like that, i'm genetically modified the mosquitos that carry two deadly diseases, malaria and dengue fever. both show promise they can work