syria's opposition is in geneva but says it won't negotiate unless the bombing of civilians is stopped with the world news from al jazeera, also ahead a far right mob threatens to attack refugees in the cap stall city of sweden. a boost for hillary clinton as the new york times backs her bid for the white house. sport, williams is beaten in a

first grand slam title for kerber the main syrian opposition has arrived in geneva for talks aimed at ending the civil war, but it is still unclear if they will actually take part. opposition members want prisoners released and end the bombing of civilian and blockades lifted before talks begin >> we are ready here to make it a success to start negotiation, but at least we should see something, you know, on the ground there in syria. we should really stop these massacres against our people. so please help us, you know. save our children, save the remaining children of syria. we are then willing to do anything. we want to put an end to this war. we want to put an end to this i.s.i.s., terrorism in syria, we want to put an end to what this

dictatorship is doing. we want to see new syria meanwhile in syria itself up to 400,000 people are trapped and in need of emergency help. many have died trying to escape to a better life in europe. our correspondent is in gaziantep. >> reporter: this is the reality in syria. the government backed by russian air power is on the offensive. their focus now is on the suburbs south-west of the capital damascus. they're in the siege after the rebels did not have an alter mate um. it is under a glovt blockade. >> translation: when the regime entered the area, their strategy is to blockade and fighters into submission. even while geneva is happening,

they are tritening sieges like in the area area and the air strikes are increasing. >> reporter: many are not supporting in talks with the government. the committee wants goodwill gestures, including an end to the bombardment and blockades and end to the deobtain ees before entering the negotiations >> translation: we are not against the meeting. it is bombarding us. >> reporter: people inside hop sigs held territories are also concerned about what they see is a shift in u.s. policy. they believe washington is cooperating with the government's main backer, russia. the two powers are behind a u.n. peace plan that could see the syrian president stay in office at least during the transition period. >> translation: at the beginning the u.s. publicly stood against bashar al-assad, but they kept making false promises to the opposition and

now their true position is out in the open. the u.s. is not against bashar al-assad. they accept him on the negotiating table. the u.s. no longer hides the fact that they consider him a leader. >> reporter: he has always been an obstacle on the road to peace. many in the opposition believe russia's intervention has changed the military and political balance in favor of bashar al-assad. recent battle field games has made the ai regime stronger. that is why the opposition believes it has little to gain by negotiating. it is one of the reasons why it is pushing for concessions before agreeing to talks. diplomacy has so far seen only failures in this conflict. many people feel their voices have become irrelevant. >> translation: syrians should be the ones to decide their nature, but unfortunately big powers intervened and are imposing their decisions. >> reporter: for now there is a road map, but the warring sides are nowhere close to discussing

a solution at least 37 refugees mostly syrians drowned on saturday when their boat hit rocks and capsized. they were attempting to reach lesbos from turkey. >> reporter: they are casualties of war and poverty. among them a small boy. other children and adults too. washed up on a beach in turkey. their boat had sunk not far from the rocks. in all, it's thought about a third of those 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. >> we will save you. don't worry >> reporter: overnight 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 boast. it was-- 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 and neither have the conflicts that have driven so many to take the risk of making these journeys a german politician has provoked outrage that if needs be police should shoot migrants entering the country illegal. the chairman of the right wing

afd party said germany needed controls and as a last resort there should be resort to firearms. there have been more anti immigration protests in sweden amid heightened tension and tilt security. on friday a gang of masked men ran to the streets of stockholm threatening to attack refugees. >> reporter: police moved in when protesters from two rival groups began to fight. an anti refugee group was calling for the resignation of their prime minister. they're angry their country of ten million allowed in 160,000 asylum seekers last year. facing them were more than 200 anti fascists. >> translation: i was pulled down to the ground and one tried to kick me. i managed to grab his foot. the police stopped the incident.

>> reporter: swedish police are on heightened alert deploying officers and helicopter surveillance. they made several arrests on friday after a gang of some 100 masked men ran through the streets, threatening some refugees and attacking others. >> the target were younger children, children or youths within the central station. of course, a lot of these attacks revolve around a lot of these discussions going on in the last few weeks. >> reporter: knee owe nazi say it's a duty of the people. on thursday staff at an asylum center for unaccompanied center for children locked themselves in a room. a female was fatally stabbed. concern over how many asylum seekers are reaching sweden is not restricted to the far right. >> they meet on facebook, or other social media for ums and

then go out to do what they feel is necessary to have an environment where refugees are not feeling welcome >> reporter: the government says half of those who applied for asylum last year are to have their claims rejected. as many as hassle of those will be forced to leave democratic contender hillary clinton's bid for the white house has received a big boost from the new york times. the paper's endorsement comes just 36 hours before voters in iowa get their say on who should be their candidates for the presidential election. >> reporter: hillary clinton has received a major endorsement from a top newspaper here in the united states, the new york in its editorial calling her the most broadly and deeply qualified presidential candidate in modern history. with the new york times does not talk about is when hillary

clinton on the issue of trust comes out very low. this is another problem for her in light of the recent revelations again about her use of a private email server. she was reportedly a year ago felling many of her potential supporters that the use of that private server was okay because she did not have any top secret information in those emails. now as of friday the state department saying that is not the case. in fact, seven email chains or 20 emails in total are so top secret they cannot be released to the public through a freedom of information request. this is something that her opponents have seized upon >> hillary clinton is disqualified from being president. she is disqualified. this thing with her emails is a big deal. just yesterday they couldn't release them. you read this. they couldn't because some of

the emails are so sebstive, so classified that they can't release them. it would be damaging to release them. what else do we need to know? i can tell you this. she thinks she is above the law >> reporter: the question becomes just how much will this email issue affect hillary clinton in the iowa caucus. it is now just two days from that caucus and it is expected not to have a major impact given that hillary clinton is leading in the polls here and most of the caucus goers have made up their minds. it is expected to be a problem in new hampshire where she is trailing bernie sanders, her main rival. it is also expected to be a problem if she is made the democratic presidential nominee when she faces off against her republican opponent the diplomatic tension between turkey and russia has escalated after turkey claimed a russian jet violated its airspace on friday. last november turkey shot down a russian fighter plane after it allegedly violated airspace for 17 seconds.

the turkish president sent this warning to moscow. >> translation: if russia continues to violate turkey's sovereignty, they will bear the consequences. such irresponsible will not improve the relationship between the region. it will do harm time for a short break. when we come back, an ancient church reveals a secret during its first renovation in 1500 years. plus transition of power, hundreds of newcomers take their seat in myanmar's parliament. more on that. stay with us.

welcome back.

the top stories here. the main syrian opposition is in geneva for talks aimed at stopping the civil war. it is unclear whether they will take part. dozens of refugees, including children, have drowned after their boat sank off the coast of turkey. the victims are thought to have been from syria and afghanistan and trying to reach greece. another 75 refugees were rescued. hillary clinton's bid for the white house has been given a big boost by the new york times which has endorsed her. by monday voters in iowa will decide who they want to be their candidates for the presidential election. peru has reported its first case of the zika virus. a venezuelan man is now recovering and his house has been fumigated.

so far 23 countries have been affected by the mosquito-born virus which has been linked to berth defects. >> reporter: the concern here is they don't want a repeat of what happened with the ebola virus or epidemic from last year. they're trying to take a proactive stance. there are so many unknowns with this, whether or not a mother is infected with the zika virus whether she can pass it to her babe. officials are trying to determine this. a blood test to detect the virus, if you don't get tested within the three to five days within the onset of symptoms it is difficult to defect. the symptoms mirrors dengue

fever and chickekungunychikungu. only one in four people actually exhibit symptoms. so all of these are sort of like a perfect storm making it very difficult for health officials, but the world health organisation at this point does have a strategy. the strae >> reporter: it says it to really work with health officials in the affected countries to expand the ability to test for the virus and also to eliminate breeding of mosquitos because in the end that is really what will help, but also to tell people to wear insect repellant, wear long sleeves and pants, sleep with mosquito netting, but again without a vaccine it is very difficult for people to prevent getting bitten by a mosquito. so i think the race is on and at this point is to determine if pregnant women, if they get infected with the virus are passing if on to their newborns in the form of a neurological disease south sudan has an abundance

of oil but it is making a loss from its production. the country has to pay the country for exporting through the country. >> reporter: the streets of here are quieter than usual. the drop in global oil prices is hitting the country hard >> translation: in the past, it would have been enough to feed you. now it's only enough to buy water. two pounds used to be enough to buy sugar but now you have to buy sugar for six pounds >> reporter: when south sudan gained independence from sudan it tin hertd the majority of the oil fields, but because both countries relied on that oil revenue, a transitional financial agreement was drawn up. south sudan agreed to pay sudan three billion dollars over a period of three and a half years. it is this transitional payment that is really hurting south sudan. the government has to pay about

$10 tore every barrel-- for every barrel of oil it trance ports for sudan. while transport costs are not uncommon, the south sudan ease have to pay 15 dollars dollars it transports. with south sudan's grade of oil currently trading at about $20 and costs at $25, it is actually losing money by producing oil. >> south sudan is the only country that i know of that is making a loss on the oil production, it's paying another country to pay the oil. this is pretty negative. >> reporter: to force a renegotiation of the agreement, the government recently threatened to shut down production altogether. the tactic seems to have worked as the delegation is expected soon >>. it has shown a willingness to

review because the burden was very huge on the republic of south sudan because when we have - we were paying to sudan was bigger than what we were getting. >> reporter: when the transitional fees were decided, the price of oil was much higher. now that it has declined, south sudan's greatest asset has become a financial burden a new report found the past 10 years have been the most deadly for journalists working in the femaled. the international fed raying of journalists says almost 23 # 0 have been killed trying to do their job in the past 25 years. the rising death toll has been linked to instability. >> the last 10 years was the most dangerous in pacific and

middle eastern because many revolutions in tunisia, in libya, in yemen, in syria and now we are in these regions a massive 70-car pile up has claimed the lives of four people in slovenia. this was on the highway about 70 kilometers about south-west of the capital. cars, trucks and buses crumpled blocking the highway for hours. crews struggled to provide help due to the scale of the accident. thick fog in the area is being blamed. thousands of people have protested in paris over security measures put in place following the november attacks. the french government is considering extending the country's state of emergency. that will give authorities the power to detain and arrest people without a warrant.

a complete make over in 1500 years on one of the world's most famous churches is beginning to take place. it is being renovated by a team of italian experts. our correspondent has been taking a look. >> reporter: what's believed to be the birth place of jesus christ has survived many incidents, even an earthquake, but history and the weather have taken their toll. now for the first time since the 6th century the church of the nativity has been completely restored from ceiling to floor. the latest focus has been the mosaic and it has uncovered something new hidden underneath the wall plaster. >> translation: we were lucky to discover an angel in its entirety that has just the top part of its head missing. we have restored it. this will give a different vision of the chump than before the restoration. it will be a beautiful end result.

>> reporter: we were shown what it looked like before the italian team of experts start the work. centuries of candle smoke and varnish have dulled their image. it is a remarkable restoration that is giving the church an in this case lift. the roof and windows were restored first because rain was leaking through, so they're essential repairs. this holy site is administered by three different churches. they each over see different parts invisible tightly guarded lines that if crossed can turn violent. >> translation: it happened before in some cases there were serious scuffles between disputes over who cleans which centimeters. >> reporter: just like this, breefts and monks fighting with brooms following a communal clean five years ago.

someone may have brushed a little too far. sensitivities that boiled down to the idea that if you clean it or take care of it, it's yours. those centuries old rivalries have been put aside in a rare moment of consensus over seen by the palestinian authority. perhaps the idea dawning that the results of benefit all. the roof no longer leaks, the mosaic shines and in time once the scaffolding and sheets are removed, the church of the nativity will be seen as it hasn't for centuries after an historic transfer of power to an elected civilian government, mps in myanmar are gathering for their new parliamentary session. the military backed government was swept away last year which has ruled for decades. >> reporter: the measured early morning routine of myanmar's capital doesn't betray it, but

there is history in the making. this woman is one of those making it. she and hundreds of other newly elected members of parliament for the national league for democracy or n.l.d. are about to take up their seats. >> translation: myanmar has been waiting for this day for so long. so many ordinary people and members of the n.l.d. have sacrificed their lives to get here. >> reporter: but the military still retains great power. it has control over important ministries and automatically gets a quarter of all seats in parliament allowing it to block any changes to the constitution. despite their overwhelming majority, the n.l.d. mps know they have to cooperate with the military to rule effectively. they also know the ultimate prize for that cooperation could be a change in the constitution, allowing their leader aung san suu kyi finally to become president.

aung san suu kyi is stopped from becoming president by a clause in the constitution that disqualifys the parent of a foreign national. her two sons hold british passports. but there's speculation the military might withdraw its objection in the new spirit of reconciliation. >> translation: whether you are in parliament or outside of it, we can all work together for the benefit of the people and the country. >> reporter: at this event for the outgoing mps at the military-backed government and their civilian successors, there was reconciliation in abundance. >> translation: now our time is up. we dutifully leave for the new people to come in. >> reporter: and then from one of the former generals an serenade. crooning to the most influential politician in myanmar right now

and possibly its president in waiting. whose dreams may yet come true now a young boy from afghanistan has become a global sensation after photos of his football jersey made out of a plastic bag stole parts on the internet. the five year old had been asking his family for a team jersey of his favorite football player, but it was too expensive, so he and his brothers decided to take matters into their own hands and create a replica jersey instead. >> translation: my name is arif. i am his father. he is a fan of messi. he says his name every day and heap asks me to find a real shirt for him with his name on it. i said how can i bring such a shirt for you?

so he found a striped plastic bag and made a shirt out of it. when he wakes up at night he says his name. he says he wants to see messi there could be some good news. a twitter account run by his fans has claimed the team is trying to find out who the boy is so that they can arrange something special for him. now, german tennis player kerber has understands number one to win the open. williams had been aiming for a 22 and grand slam title, this was kerber's success. >> reporter: she arrived at the final hoping to clinch a record 22 grands slam titles. for her opponent this was to be the match of her life. this was the 28-year-old's first ever grands slam final. but the nightmare for williams began when she made 23 unforced errors, helping kerber take a

six four leave. it was the first time she has taken a set-off williams in three and a half years. the world number one regained some of her composure in the second set, but managed to take the set six three and force a decider. williams' efforts equalled steffi graff's before she hit a volly long. a victory in just over two hours sealing one of the biggest shocks in tennis history. >> my whole life i was working really hard and now i can say i'm a grand slam champion so it sounds very crazy. >> every time i walk in this room everyone expects me to win every single match every single day of my life. as much as i would like to be a

robot i'm not, and i try to, but it's - i do the best that i can. >> reporter: she becomes the first german to win a grand slam title since her idon in 1999 all the news, of course, at our website. there it is, the address, aljazeera.com thank for joining us for "america tonight" i am joanie khefpbl a new threat has emerged with international healthcare workers warning of the devastating conference as more and more cases of the