>> the u.n. syria envoy say talks to end the war will begin on friday after delays over who should be on the guest list. >> you're watching al jazeera live in london. i'm david foster. the president of tehran arrives in europe,. more refugees come ashore in greece, e.u. ministers consider extended border controls. it is spread by mosquitoes and linked to brain damage in

babies. now there is a clear warning that the zika virus could spread throughout the americas. well, they should already be under way the united nations-backed talk aimed at ending the five-year war in syria stopped before they even began. there were disagreements as to who would take part. now they'll bin guinn on friday and could last months. our diplomatic editor james bays live for us in geneva. he says they will start on friday, but it is him hoping that it will happen. >> absolutely, david. he said at one point that they'll definitely start on friday. he was then picked up on that, and the question is will he start. we can't say definitely in my job. why can't he say definitely? because i can tell you some of

the opposition are deeply unhappy about what happened. after the current process getting the peace talks together, the original meetings were held in vienna, the idea was to get the regional players together and one country was given the task with coming up with the opposition delegation. that was saudi arabia. since then moscow has said it's not happy with the list of th saudi arabia has come up with, and when they spoke to us, they gave us some other details about how he plans to conduct these talks, which are supposed to start on friday. >> our line is no pre-continues. start the talks and why the talks start. the rest is open. it will be uphill. they are not in agreement yet, but we are all feeling what has

happened in the past and the region and the main stakeholder feels the time has come to produce an outcome. >> you've mention who had is object to go certain participants, but who are the participants who have caused this stumbling block? >> well, that depends on who you are and what you want to complain about. but certainly the russians are not happy with the list from riyadh because they're objecting to some of the main fighting groups who they say are jihadists. they say that the lists that came from riyadh was mainly fighting groups, and really didn't represent the broader spectrum of the syrian opposition. certainly secular figures, they say, others on the other side would say some of those that russia want are pretty close, some of them to the government. they're not really opposition at all.

and then the other very difficult area concerns the kurds because another of the important regional players here important in terms of its influence on the opposition is turkey. turkey does not want the coalition group, the puid, which has been fighting a lot in northern syria, fighting a lot against isil and even working in conjunction with the u.s. military, they do not want them represented at the talks. they say that's a red line. they were asked silkily about their presence, and he wouldn't answer the question. we're going to have to watch very closely what happens in the next 24 hours because he says on tuesday he's going to be sending out those invitations, and highways not made it clear how many invitations he's sending to the opposition and who he's inviting. we'll have to watch that extremely closely. >> james, thank you. >> iran's president hassan

rouhani, has arrived in italy for his first europe piano tour. he is expected to sign a number of lucrative business tools including a contract with a business firm. iran is in talks to buy 100 planes from airbus. jacky rowland has more from rome. >> this visit is largely about money, what iran stands to gain and what italy, france, and other european nations stand to gain. now with the former lifting of sanctions with iran, they can see up $150 billion in frozen assets being released. money that iran will now be free to spend on western technology to upgrade its oil and energy sector, and also to upgrade its aging commercial airline fleet. great opportunities there for

countries operating in those sectors. luxury goods, consumer markets, the sophisticated market in iran are hungry to get their hands on those products. however, there is no support. yes, sanctions have been lifted, but there is this mechanism called snap back, which means is there any stage that iran is not complying with every aspect of the nuclear deal, then those sanctions could snap right back into place, which could have an impact on any western nation which invest heavily in the iranian market. >> european ministers are discussing restricting free movement to curb the flow of refugees and migrants across the continent. they're meeting to debate temporarily reintroducing border controls. that is the block of 26 nations which effectively have open borders. the e.u. foreign policy chief

said that they're reassured those people about a promised $3 billion in assistance to help with refugees. >> the talks are on going, i'm very confident that the amount decided would be there in reasonable timing. in between the former decisions taken in december and the current location of the money the commission is carrying on all the assessments of the needs. >> well, with more details on those border restrictions here is barnaby phillips and the border city o. these temporary border controls have been in place since september. these are the main autobahn leading into southern germany. and every now and again a car gets pulled off the autobahn, and the police check the identity they see who is inside.

now this is not what the europe of open borders was meant to look like. it does reflect a continent where politicians are under increasing popular pressure to bring the refugee and migrant crisis under control. that is what the interior ministers meeting in amsterdam today will be discussing. germany would like these border controls, which have been implemented by other countries across the schengen areas from norway, france, austria, denma denmark, for these temporary controls to be extended into 2017. they would like to see the european front police force to have greater control in countries like greece, for example, of course the main inroute from refugees, syria and other countries. and some countries at the schengen meeting will express serious exasperation with

greece, i don't expect that to happen, but it does show the way in which european solidarity is creaking under the strain of the refugee crisis. >> the european union law enforcement agencies warning that isil is planning a large scale attack on europe. it comes as the armed group shows fighters training in syria before the paris attacks of last november. in response the french president françois hollande has vowed to extend the state of emergency in france and continued airstrikes against the group. >> we will never be impressed by this. these publications will only magnify these results to protect the french, two decisions we've taken. but also to continue attacking this organization that threatens and kills our children. this is the reason wee,

president and myself have stood against terrorism. >> marking five years since the up rising of toppled president hosni mubarak. security forces have ropedly used tear gas and gas bombs to protesto--against protesters. many feel extremely let down. >> it was supposed to be a new dawn as millions of egyptians came together. people from all faiths, backgrounds and ages united in the call for change. nearly 50% of egypt's population is less than 24 years old, so the youth were the driving force

of the evolution. even opposing football fans, join the protests. and it started with a tech-savvy generation that galvanized crowds through social media and mobile phones. >> the youth are the leaders of what was happening. also we were not into politics. we didn't care or know much about politics. we just knew this was wrong and we should speak up to that. that's exactly what happened. >> it was a period of demanding political freedom. political forces joined the protesters all calling for an end to decades of tyranny and injustice. in the days it took hosni mubarak to step down hundreds of protesters were killed. since then an elected government was put into and stricter laws have been set.

many who called for the revolution are now in exile or in jail. >> the same tool that united us to topple dictators eventually tour us apart. >> people like nobel peace prize winner and former vice president are now living outside of the country. prominent blogger and pro no, sir activist has been jailed for five years for violating protest laws. >> most remember the crackdown and it's aftermath. but despite feeling betrayed he said he also has a sense of accomplishment. >> we always blame the previous generation, how they never really moved up to what is going on. they never talked about the--all the corruption about the regime and all of that. >> i believe the evolution happening in the next five years, that will happen.

>> five years on, a bloodstained chapter in egypt's history overshadow what many egyptians saw as the egyptian revolution. al jazeera. >> the "world health organization" warning that the zika virus could spread right across north, south, and central america. the latest outbreak of the mosquito-born the virus, which is said to be perhaps causing brain damage in babies has been found in 21 countries. mainly in south america. speaking at the "world health organization" most of the americas are now at risk. >> the spread of the zika virus to areas with little population immunity is another cause for concern especially given the possible link between infraction during pregnancy and babies born with small heads.

>> sri lanka's president tells al jazeera foreign prosecutors won't be needed to investigate allegations of war crimes in the country. the cleanup is underway in the u.s. as towns and cities emerge from the damaging dump of snow.

>> good to have have your company here. the u.n. envoy to syria say that delayed talks will now start on friday. indirect negotiations after

disagreements over who will take part. the iranian president hasan rahani in italy on his first european tour since the lifting of international sanctions on tehran this month. and the "world health organization" in the zik --saying that the zika virus is likely to spread across the americas. temperatures in northern china, they were down to minus 40 degrees. in south korea thousands were left stranded after flight were canceled, and there has been travel chaos in japan after a cold front dumped snows. >> the country. in the u.s. a big clean up is underway after massive snow storms there, millions of commuters have struggled to get into work, school slowed down by

icy roads, and by cross-examined train lines. thousands of flights have been canceled, too. >> talks about the afghan government is positive. this is after two days in qatar where the taliban has an office. during meetings the group demanded the release of political information to end the war. two eaks after fighters attack the pakistan consulate in jalalabad, we have this exclusive report from the afghanistan-pakistan border. >> on the front line of afghanistan's fight against the islamic state in iraq and the levant it runs through a vast

mountainous area near the border with pakistan. we had a strong army escort up to this military post. the government relies on these villages to keep isil at bai --at bay. >> we're defending our country. it is our duty. >> off camera this fighter tells me he does not have enough bullets to fight. isil is not far from here. their flag says it all. this is isil territory. isil emerged in afghanistan over a year ago, mainly in the east of the country. afghan leaders say it is mainly made up of foreigners, and that it has attracted transformer members of the taliban and al qaeda. it is not too long before we hear the first volley of bullets. [ gunfire ] the army's guns are capable to subdue incoming fighter.

tense moments follow and fighters take their positions. there has been fighting and clashes for the last half hour. we're one kilometer away from the village where isil is present there. there they have the village and it's clear who is in control. of that area. now the afghan intelligence military sources have told us that there are four or five fighters based based on the border between afghanistan and pakistan. it's very mountainous terrain. >> there are over 10,000 afghan security forces based in the province. they are tasked with fighting isil and the taliban. the commander says isil will be defeated soon. >> they posed a serious threat in the beginning. we'll defeat them by march. tell isil that they don't have a

footstep here. >> the afghan military of defense says that more than 190 isil fighters have been killed during the last two months. not far from the base this market is busy. for many here else is more than a threat. it is a reality. >> the government controls the main roads. isil carries the rest. they're carrying out executions. >> the army is overstretched fighting a resilient enemy, but it it's battle with isil is better and will be over soon. >> at least 28 people have been killed in a suicide attack in the far north of cameroon. suicide bombers struck a town. two detonating explosives to the market. last december two female

suicide-bombers blew themselves up in the same town. south sudan's rebel leader said that the deal to form an unity government has collapsed that's because the president wants to nearly treble the number of states in south sudan, and to appoint theory governors, which they say runs counter to their power-sharing deal, which they were said to take their old position as vice president. we're in south sudan's capital juba. >> to really understand the root of this problem, it's important to go back to august of last year when the president signed this peace agreement. did he so under extreme international pressure, and he made it clear that was the reason why he was signing it, not because he supported the content. two months after he signed it, h. the question that everybody is asking, did either side have any intention of making peace or was

it simply outside pressure that caused them to do so, and therefore can this one possibly hold? now the head of the negotiating team, who has been overseeing these negotiations, the former president of bats wanna said that reunion that the resolution of 28 states would be very, very disruptive to the process. he knew that it would undermine the progress that they had made. however, did he say that it ought to be implemented any way because they aske ask acted in the spirit of the agreement. it does seem like the peace process has been put on hold for the time being, and it may even be necessary to go back to the negotiating table. >> the president of sri lanka's rejecting the idea of an independent overseas investigation into war crimes. foreign judges and prosecutors will not be allowed to look into alleged atrocities on both sides in the civil war which ended in 2009. an internal task force is now

looking for answers, and as we have reports from the north, 25-year conflict still casts a cloud over many on the island. >> it's a recently appointed investigating team tasked with finding out what happened in the civil war in sri lanka. they tour the villages in the north and east of the country. once the stronghold of the tamil fighters know. >> some people are reluctant, and these in this 30-year-old war. you see there is a long period. and during this period most of these are normal. >> the commission was appointed by the previous government. but the fact-finding mission started only five months ago. >> there are still about 14,000 cases that have not been looked into at all. and that is because it is such a

time-consuming process. what makes this even more difficult, some of the complaints go back to the beginning of the war so as early as 1983. >> it is the last stage of the conflict that could be the most embarrassing for the government. the military allegedly killed thousands of tamils when it fired into an area where it said that the tamil fighters were using civilians as human shields. sri lanka called for an indigestion with the help of international investigators. in an interview, they now reject any foreign involvement. >> we will always act in accordance with the sovereignty of our country and the constitution. for this work we can get technology in certain areas but we definitely don't need outsiders. we have an unbias judiciary in this country. >> but the report by the presidential commission has raised the possibility that war

crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by fighters and soldiers against tamil civilians. >> the crimes that were set out as to be investigated. not that we say those allegations have been committed. they should be investigated. >> thousands of tamils are still missing. this woman last saw her husband in 2006. he had gone out to the market and never returned. >> people told me that he was caught at the checkpoint. but when we asked they said he was released. others said that they saw two bodies on that day. so much time has gone by. i don't think anyone will have a solution. but i can't give up. >> for those still hoping to find out what happened to their loved ones, the political debate is yet another obstacle. for them only the truth will

bring closure to years of pain, but they wonder if that day will ever come. >> the skies were gray but on the 26th of january last year there were still celebrations on sydney harbor for australia day. this year the weather forecast looks good. but on tuesday some won't be celebrating. many aborigine people feel the date is a day to mourn. it marks the landing of the first fleet and the start of the first british colony on the land

now known as australia. for somag some with aborigine heritag heritage. >> the british just came in. >> for those here planning a march on tuesday to mark on what they call invasion day, 1788 began a period when some indigenous australians were massacred and later marginalized. and even today aboriginals are disadvantaged. >> every single one of our people should be standing up and say i will not sing the national anthem on this day. i'm an aboriginal person in this country, and this hurts my people. >> many indigenous people will be taking part in official australia day events and organizers say they're sensitive

to what the day means. >> it is important for us to recognize that australia is a complex state for aboriginal people. but there has been wonderful engagement between australia day and the community. >> for those protesting the biggest issue is the date. australia's national day they think should have nothing to do with the arrival of captain philipp over there in 1788. instead, it should mark the birth of this country on the first of january 1901, when six states became the commonwealth of australia. >> marking january 26th instead is to some offensive. >> that should be australia day. that would be in line with our own history. this is in line with the history of creating war against the aboriginal people. you can't acknowledge that. >> next year australians will vote on whether to change the country's constitution so that it recognizes that the country was inhabited before white

settlers arrived, changing the national day should follow. andrew thomas, al jazeera, sydney. >> the global headlines from all corners of the globe. www.aljazeera.com. that's www.aljazeera.com. >> the fall out from this weekend's snowfall is still being felt up and down the east coast. gone without a trace. california officials are searching for three men who escaped from jail. the push from syria, high level talks could resume later this week. and the fight for voter rights, north carolina's new law tested in federal court a week before the iowa caucuses.