starving to death, a renewed focus on peace talks in geneva to end the suffering this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, regional security tops the agenda at a summit of african leaders but the situation in burundi continues to divide opinions. efforts to stop a swarm of locusts threatening to destroy the argentinian countryside.

the new game of drones were in south korea where the race is on to shift control from military to civilian attacks. 16 people have starved to death in the besieged syrian town of madaya since aid convoys arrived there earlier this month. that's according to doctors without borders. 30 others are known to have starved to death previously. lifting blockades is a key demand before opposition agree to take part in talks. they have left for geneva where they will apartment indirectly, but they are yet to commit to negotiations with the bashar al-assad government. syrians are thought to be among 40 people drowned.

some of these images are disturbing in this report. >> reporter: it is continued suffering like this that syrian activists hope will make an meaningful impact in geneva. as demonstrators in various parts of syria are imploring diplomats to remember the plight of their people. from those who have too little food to those taking cover from too many bombs. >> translation: we have daily murders, daily kills, many civilians are killed by this terror bombs. it is forbidden international activity. just to remember this, okay. >> reporter: the war zone as the year of talks starting in switzerland, many say they are not hopeful >> >> translation: the u.n. can't ensure the there deliver of milk

to the children of madaya. >> reporter: those in the besieged town of madaya tell al jazeera that despite the delivery of aid people continue to die of starvation. >> translation: the aid is about to run out. it was delivered more than 10 days ago and the u.n. and the red cross know that the aid that we got can't last more than 15 days. even now we still have lots of hunger here. >> reporter: others are as angry with the divided opposition as they are with the syrian government. >> translation: this is a message urging you to unify. it's not just bashar al-assad barrel bombs that are killing us nor russia's missiles. you need to unite. >> reporter: but unity and agreement have been in short supply so far in geneva. where negotiations haven't even started yet. while in syria, the death and devastation continues our diplomatic editor joins

us from geneva. what news of the representatives, have they arrived yet? >> reporter: i've moved from the u.n. headquarters which is on the edge of geneva, by lake geneva, to the center of geneva. just outside a hotel. because that's where we're expecting the opposition delegation in the next hour or so. we're expecting them to land in geneva at some point pretty soon. there may be a slightly delay when they land because we're told the 17-member delegation has some members in it who haven't yet received their sways visas. so delay, and-- swiss visas. so delay. we expect them to advise the press what they're doing here. this is the main opposition group coming from saudi arabia. they said they were not going to come here until their conditions were met.

now they've decided to travel here but it's pretty clear they're not coming yet for negotiation. they've been given assurances by a number of international figures by the u.n., by the russians but most importantly by the u.s. secretary of state john kerry in a phone call, verbal assurances. i think they're trying to see when they arrive here, before anything happens, that some of those measures that they promised will be put in place before they actually take part in any negotiations. we understand that once they're here they will have a meeting with the united nations, highly likely with the special envoy staffan de mistura. i'm told that meeting won't take place now until sunday, and there they will expect, i think, to hear that this there have been some measures taken which goes some way towards the demands they made. remember those demands. they say they're not their demands. they say it was what was laid

out in a security council resolution in december, that the u.n. security council made before these talks should start what about the syrian government representatives who have been there now for several days. are they involved in some sort of talks today? >> reporter: no. nothing really is going on today. i think this is the sort of shape of this process that you're going to see if it does turn into a process and actual talks. it's going to be very slow because these are not going to be face-to-face talks. they're going to be proximity talks. the u.n. feels that two years ago things failed because both sides got together and it got very heated very early on with arguments over something as similar as the order in which to discuss things in the agenda and the syrian government saying we have to discuss terrorism and removing terrorists from syria first and the opposition saying no, we need to talk about a

future governance for syria. so it will be a much slower process and also the reason that the syrian government are not involved is that the special envoy knows that he has got to be fair. he has had had his meeting with the syrian government and he has to have exactly the same with the opposition at least 239 refugees have drowned trying to make the crossing from turkey to greece. that is according to turkish state media. a boat sank shortly after leaving turkey. some imaging mighting distressing in this report. >> reporter: they are casualties of war and poverty. among them a small boy, oir children and adults too, washed up on a beach in turkey. their boat had sunk not far from the rocks. in all about a third of the 120

people on board didn't make it. drowning as they tried to reach greece, a gateway to europe used by so many before them. some of the victims are thought to have been from syria. all this as politicians in geneva gather for talks to try to end the nearly five-year long war. over night another group of refugees tried to make the journey. the italian coast guard spotted people stranded on rocks near the greek island of lesbos. against the darkness of the night, the only light came from the rescue boat. it was a daring operation with divers trying to reassure the men, women and children that they would be rescued. eventually they were pulled aboard, cold, frightened, but safe.

more than a million refugees and migrants have travelled to europe during the last year. the cold winter weather hasn't stopped people coming, but neither have the conflicts that have driven so many to take the risk of making these journeys the incoming chairman of the african union has called on member states to help in the fight against armed groups in north and west africa. the chad's present was speaking in the e.u. summit. they're waging a group against boko haram. the ongoing violence in burundi was also a key part of the discussions. >> reporter: the heads of state were deliberating on critical matters, security is big on the agenda. they've been talking about south

sudan and the formation of a transitional government there whose deadline has come and gone. terrorism is also a big issue and the heads of state are talking about ways of better cooperation of better ways of sharing counter terrorism intelligence as well, but the big issue is burundi and deployment of protection to burundi with or without the consent of the government. the government and parliament have already rejected such a move and a lot of people are saying that many heads of state will be reluctant to sanction such a move because of noninterference reasons or issues. i'm told what they might be pushing for more aggressively is a political solution, a political dialogue to be held between all warring groups to be able to try and move in country forward the palestine liberation organization has welcomed a french call for international

involvement in ending the israeli occupation. france says it wants a conference to revive talks between the israelis and palestinians. paris also says it will recognise a palestinian state if a final push for talks on a two-state solution fails. u.s. led efforts to broker peace collapsed in 2014. a palestinian journalist who is being detained by israel will continue his hunger strike. he is protesting against a six month sentence and has refused all food and medical treatment since november. he is just one of 680 palestinians being held under administrative detention without charge or trial. the head of the palestinian prisoner society is calling on palestinians to support the journalist.

>> translation: he is in a very critical condition. he could die any minute. he is in high spirits according to the lawyer who met him. he was firm and very determined. his demand was freedom or death. he is not the first to go on a hunger strike but, as everyone knows, the palestinians have a lot to worry about. i hope there will be more popular support still to come on the program around a million people turnout in italy saying no to plans to legalize same-sex union. plus. >> reporter: i'm andrew thomas in sydney. i will be explaining the science behind a tiny wearable technology that could one day alert people to when they've been in the sun too long.

>> this coral is not dead. >> techknow's team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is what innovation looks like. >> can affect and surprise us. >> i feel like we're making an impact. >> let's do it. >> techknow - where technology meets humanity.

welcome back. a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. syria's main opposition group is due to arrive for talks in geneva aimed at ending the country's civil war. meanwhile doctors without borders says the humanitarian situation in syria is still dire with 16 people starving to death-- starving to death. 39 refugees drowned on saturday trying to reach greece. the iraqi military says eight soldiers have been killed by islamic state in iraq and the levant east of ramadi. in fallujah five have been

killed. medical forces say a woman and a child are among the dead. around one million protesters have gathered in rome demanding the italian government drop a bill that would legalize same sex unions unions. >> reporter: tens of thousands of people from all over the country descended on rome on saturday to demonstrate against a law proposed by the italian government that will eventually grant legal recognition to same-sex couples giving them the right to also adopt one of the partner's biological child. that is the most contentious issue. many families say they don't object to rights to same sex couples but they do in relation to adoption because they say the child should have a mother and a forth. that is, of course, a standard that has been maintained by the

catholic church and the vatican and that is one of the reasons the pressure from the catholic church and the influence by the church on the italian politics and public opinion is one of the reasons why italy is still the only country in western europe not to have a law that grants rights to same sex couples and protects them legally. that is a problem, though, because last year the european court of human rights has condemnedity lee because of it and that is one of the reasons the government is moving fast in trying to fix that. clearly as the crowds here demonstrate, a lot of italians disagree with that in the u.s. members of the democrat and republican parties are getting ready to choose their candidates for this year's at the iowa kau canses. bernie sanders is almost neck and neck with hillary clinton. sanders' brand of socialism is

proving popular with some voters as our correspondent reports. >> reporter: the time worn rhythms of american politics are changing. for the first time in u.s. history american socialists have a standard there. >> we need an economy that works for working people. >> reporter: who was a major candidate for president >> if it takes us a socialist to show us the way, then god bless him >> the system hasn't worked for a long time. it is not a taboo of the s word because i've seen what capitalism has done these are signs of new times. with iowa to pick on monday. polls show bernie sanders in a dead heat or leading hillary clinton. donald trump leading the republican field iowa could set

up an epic rivalry, a socialist versus the ultimate capitalist. donald trump is already tagging sanders with the other c word >> this socialist/communist, nobody wants to say it. >> reporter: until recently bernie sanders european style socialism was a hard sell in a country that has lange acquitted it with soviet style communism from marches. >>. i want to say. >> reporter: to senator joseph mccarthy. >> have you no sense of decency. >> reporter: to ronald reagan's social medicine. we don't want social medicine. it will invat every area of freedom until one day we will awake to find that we have socialism. >> reporter: that program for the elderly called medicare has

become popular along with the retirement program social security >> at one level we hate socialism, as it were, or democratic socialism. at another level we like a lot of things that democratic socialism does. >> reporter: the bernie sanders campaign is opening the door to a dproeg breed of young locals disillusioned. >> they hear socialist and they see europe today. they see all these benefits to socialism and they don't see the iron curtain and stallin and the negatives that might be associated with it. >> reporter: the campaign trail is long and torturous. for bernie sanders to go from here to history, he will have to carry his brand of american-style socialism to victory from the snow capped corn fields of iowa to washington a u.s. navy warship has sailed into an area of the south

china sea that china claims is it territorial waters. it came within 22 kilometers of one of the disputed islands on saturday. the pentagon says this was a deliberate challenge against efforts to restrict navigation. taiwan and vietnam also lay claim to the islands. south korea is holding its first ever expoe devoted to the dreen industry. it is the military sector that dominates the sky, but as harry faucet reports, new civilian uses are constantly taking off. >> reporter: it is race day for these pie localities, time to get down to business. 780 teams vying for the title on a hazardously windy day. >> translation: i was nervous and it was windy. the drone kept rising so it was difficult. >> reporter: drone racing has only been an organized sport here for four months.

every place was snapped up in a few minutes in this contest. it is happening a few metres from the first drone show, the largest expoe ever to be held in asia. south korea wants in on a fast-growing industry. >> translation: current technology has been developed here mainly in the military sector. we hope to promote the transfer of that technology to the civilian sector. >> reporter: one such effort a tilt drone. the military still dominates the south korean drone industry as it does the global one. what is changing is the ever easier access to this technology, encouraging start-ups to enter the fray. for instance acres droem in its final firm of mimic a bird of pray to keep smaller birds away from farms and airports. >> the price of this is affordable to the farmers around the world right now. >> reporter: the consumer sector

is one of the fastest growing. it could be worth more than 4 billion dollars a year by 2025. it is not hard to see why these things have become cheaper. the problem on the horizon is an increasingly heavy set of regulations meaning that the use could be limited to strictly defined areas. there are concerns of legal liability, privacy and safety. the real threat here of north korean drones. several have been found crashed in several years. south korea enforces strict no fly zones partly as a result. some drone makers mean the small civilian industry will struggle for lift off. the race iing regulations are s to be loosened playings of-- plagues of low

kufts are set to destroy swathes of vegetation. -- locusts. >> reporter: a single locust eats its own body weight in a day and it eats any vegetation. they can fly more than 50 kilometers. that's just one locust. multiplied by millions and that farms part of a ravindran nous-- ravenous force. >> translation: a swarm was here at the end of october. they laid their egg sz and what we're seeing now is the product of that swarm. >> reporter: this region has seen nothing like this since the early 1950s. >> translation: we're going to where they're concentrated and

causing the maximum damage. when we do that, they move elsewhere so we're trying to enthey don't form swarm because if they do they will my great and lay their eggs somewhere else. >> reporter: they're trying to find where the locusts are concentrated and then they fumigate. most of the insects are still jumping. their wings haven't developed to fly. the challenge is to eradicate them before they take to the air in quantities so great they will be impossible to contain. this is a race against time with local people and the authorities working together from dawn to dusk to try to ex-term eight these locusts before they multiply out of control. if they do, they will devour all this vegetation in the whole area, destroying livelihood tz, wiping out whole communities. the climate in this normally arid region has changed. recent winters have been milder and rainfall greater.

that has created the ideal breeding conditions for the locusts. >> translation: this is a job that can't be done alone. everyone is working together private and public and it is going very well. we're all working to less enthe impact of these-- lessen the impact of these locust playings-- plagues. they work out where to fumigate the next morning. if necessity get it right they're on course to contain the threat. if they don't, the locusts multiply and eat everything in their path > 2,000 cases of the zika virus have been found in pregnant women in colombia. zika is now present in 23 countries and territories in the americas. brazil itself halls reported around 3,70 cases. the virus has been linked to a birth defect called microcephaly which shrinks the heads and

brains of babies. australia is well-known for its sun, serve and sand lifestyle and it is that over exposure to the sun's harsh race that is driving up the rates of skin cancer there. the digital age, a wearable patch that alerts people on their smart phones when they're getting too much sun. >> reporter: when doctors look at a scene like this, they see the creation of cancer, skin cancer is more common in australia and new zealand sunny places with lots of fair skinned people than anywhere else. today this lady avoids the beach. she sits in the shade and always wears hat and applies cream. she didn't when he was younger. at 19 she was diagnosed with a cancer on her arm >> there were quite a few times

i would go out for five or ten minutes and before i knew it i was in the sun for a few in the course. >> reporter: technology to protect people from accidental long exposure to the sun and its dangerous race is what engineers are working on at a melbourne university. made from silicone rubber, the engineers are creating thin transparent wearable patches. >> the silicone in the material that we use is really durable so you can stretch and bend it without breaking it. that's the point thf patch, is that you can take this patch, slap it on your arm and forget about it. >> reporter: the real innovation is coating the silicone patch with a layer of zinc oxide. the properties of the oxide

change with rays. the scientists think it will be able to transmit to a smart phone information about the amount of u.s. it and the skin around it has had. it will warn people when their uv exposure is getting high >> getting an s ms on your phone is going to be an alert to let you know you've had too much uv. >> reporter: there are, though, dangers >> we don't want a sensor which will delay people's willingness to put protection on right from the word go when they're outside. >> reporter: as an addition, wearable technology is seen as helpful. this innovation can be massed produced cheaply win five years as a wearable technology to alert people to when they need to wear more or get out of the sun.

andrew thomas you will find plenty more on many of our stories over on our website. that is what our front page looks like right now. you can click onto it by going to aljazeera.com for all your latest news and sport. do check it out. the ghosts of men and women fill the wards of government hospitals across india. they stare silently - suspended in limbo between the living and the dead. these patients are the infected - victims of a contagion so lethal it kills almost one and a