♪ a suicide bomber targets afghan police in kabul killing at least ten people. ♪ we are in doha with the world news in al jazeera and coming up, in the next half hour the u.n. alleges war crimes like starvation cannot be used as a bargaining chip during talks aimed at ending syria's war. new faces of politics in myanmar, mps take their seats after decades of military rule. and stepping up the fight against zika how genetically modified mosquitos are being

used to slow the spread of the virus. ♪ we begin with breaking news out of afghanistan and has been an explosion in kabul, ten people have been killed and several others injured in a suicide bombing near the border police headquarters, police sources say a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the gate of the building. let's go now to our correspondent jennifer glasse who joins us on the phone from kabul and we know the line that has just come in to say the afghanistan taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, what more can you tell us about the bombing? >> reporter: well, it happened a little over an hour and a half ago here in kabul in the center of the city as you said. it was actually outside the civil order police headquarters, a suicide bomber apparently blew

himself up while people were lined outside ten dead and 20 injured and al jazeera learned from the deputy interior minister and most dead and injured are police belonging to the headquarters and it's in the center of town and do know police sealed off the area. this attack claimed by the taliban, the afghan taliban comes just five days before there is supposed to be another round of talks in islamabad on saturday on the 6th where afghan officials, pakistani officials as well as officials from the united states and china are going to try to restart the taliban, a peace process, this is the latest in a series of attacks by the pal taliban and a number of attacks in taliban and violence continues with this latest attack on a civil order police headquarters in the center of town killing ten. >> most likely to be the reaction from the government now? >> well i think the government is going to try and maintain security. they know they are trying to engage the taliban and know they

have a different kind of problem, people are very concerned about security, there was a attack last month that killed seven afghan journalists here and they are very frightened and people are very nervous about security and people are very cautious and the government knows it must bring security and that is one of the biggest challenges. >> jennifer thank you and that is jennifer glasse speaking to us from kabul. and syria opposition says it received assurances from international backers about providing humanitarian relief to suffering people and the group had been threat ebbing to walk out of talks in geneva unless attacks on civilians immediately ended and kal shortly after the u.n. human rights chief said there should be no amnesty on possible war crimes as part of those negotiations. >> where allegations reach the

threshold of war crimes or crimes against humanity that amnes amnestys are not permissible and clearly when looking most recently at the forced starvation of the people of madaya but there are 15 other besieged towns and cities that this is not just a war crime but a crime against humanity if proven. >> now we have full coverage in geneva with mohamed and correspondent dana is covering turkey let's first get the reaction from mohamed who is in geneva. now mohamed has there been any breakthrough whatsoever in those talks? are the opposition any closer to getting what they are demanding? >> well it certainly looks and

appears as though perhaps the opposition is close to a breakthrough. there has been a statement released just in the last half an hour which the agency and the main negotiating body here has stated that they will be meeting today confirming that they will be meeting today as expected at 5:00 p.m. at the u.n. with staffan de mistura the u.n. special envoy to syria and we heard the meeting was going to take place but this is first time the agency confirmed that today, that is a positive sign. the statement went on to say the agency and other opposition groups continue to press for the need for immediate humanitarian assistance in syria for the lifting of sieges, for the end of bombardment and then the statement says they received reassurances from their u.n. partners and others in the international community so this is interesting because if you pars it it doesn't exactly say that, in fact, these negotiations in earnest have begun or these proximity talks

have begun but it certainly is a much more positive tone we are hearing today from the opposition than we heard from the run up to today and earlier i spoke with one of the negotiators here in geneva and i asked her if she felt as though those preconditions that the opposition set were being met and she insisted they were not preconditions but they were stipulated by resolutions passed in the u.n., here is more of what she told me a short while ago. >> this is not a halt. this is not just suspending. this is implementing what is required under international humanitarian law and it's only not preconditioned and please call them implementation of international humanitarian law that is when the negotiating team will be ready to go into any kinds of negotiations whether they are proximity talks or direct talks. >> reporter: mohamed said the opposition sticking to their line there but what will happen if they don't get their

conditions met, will they play that card and actually walk out of these talks? >> we are not hearing any threats of walk out and it has differentiated today on this morning from the last couple of days. it was such a difficult route to try to get the members of the opposition actually here. what we have seen today is that the opposition is trying to present a more centralized message, they have their spokespeople ready for comment much more so than they were the last few days. there is a lot less confusion as far as different messages going forward so it seems as though they are on point right now and trying to showcase they will be meeting, that they feel more positive about the possibility of meeting with mr. staffan de mistura but again if you look at the language of the release that has come out just in the last half an hour it does not say, in fact, that this is the beginning

of proximity talks on behalf of the syrian opposition. it once again reiterates that they feel the need for immediate aid, humanitarian assistance for syria and lifting of any seenl that is talking about bombardment and it's a negotiation before the negotiation and the fact there is a meeting today it's a big step forward for the opposition but the hours ahead could be hideled as complications as we have seen in the last few days and we will wait for the day and see how it unfolds. >> that is the game wait and see within speaking to us from geneva and let's go now live to zaina who is there on the turkish side of the border with syria. zaina we know there have been some bombings overnight in damascus near a holy shia shrine and of course the syrian delegation suggested the timing of these bombs have links to the

opposition as well as terrorism. the question is will the syrian government feel pressured to make some sort of compromise in geneva in order to stop bombings in their own safe hold of damascus? >> well, it is being described as one of the worst attacks in the capitol and it is heavily guarded and secure area so definitely a blow to the government and a reminder that controlling territory is not enough. the government may control the territory but opponents can infiltrate and can attack and cause instability. now i.s.i.l. claimed responsibility for this attack, an attack really had a sectarian nature targeting shia area. now whether or not the government is willing to compromise, if you talk to anyone in the opposition they don't believe the government is ready to make any concessions because the government feels strengthened and embolden with

support from russia and russia changed the landscape and battlefield lines and government has the upper hand, no, it cannot claim outright victory but it does have the upper hand but at the end of the day the government cannot recapture the whole of syria, it's going to have to reach some sort of a deal but we always have to remember that what is happening in geneva is as a result of the community to push them to negotiate to find a political settlement because for the international community the priority is for this political settlement to happen in order to confront groups like i.s.i.l. >> zaina we know a senior u.s. official has traveled to kobani and have been essential in the fight with i.s.i.l. and also not invited to the geneva talks, talk to us about the significance of this meeting between the senior u.s. official and the ypg.

>> reporter: undoubtedly a significant meeting and like you mentioned the timing is important. we understand the high ranking delegation from the coalition that is fighting i.s.i.l. is in the northeast of syria, in areas under kurdish control including obama special envoy as well as french and british officials now like you mentioned the ypg they wanted to be in geneva and believe they have a right to be on that table but turkey an ally of the united states exerted pressure for the ypg to be excluded from talks because turkey says they are terrorists but they are working with them and the only partners on the ground so many believe the visit of the delegation is show support for the kurds and give assurances you are still partners but at the same time it's a message to russia because russia is pushing for pyd to take part in the talks and russia and the united states are really vying for influence over the kurdish groups which is a very strong force and really some of even described them as

king makers in the conflict. >> zaina thank you for that update and speaking to us from the gaza tip on the turkish side of the syrian border. 18-year-old palestinian man has been shot dead in the occupied west bank and follows the killing of a palestinian officer on sunday after firing at hours in ramallah and are carrying out security checks and over 100 and 25 others have been killed in unrest since october. al-qaeda says they reclaimed the town in yemen and it was controlled by the group until to 2012 when they were forced out by the government and fighters who seized the camp from surrounding areas and there has been more fighting in yemen's capitol sanaa, dozens of houthi

rebels and supporters of saleh have been killed east of the city after an attack by the popular resistance backed by the national yemeni army. meanwhile the saudi-led coalition in yemen says it will investigate civilian deaths during its air strikes against houthi rebels and comes days after the ambassador of the u.n. talked about the air campaign and blames houthi rebels for carrying out indiscriminate attacks. dozens killed in suspected boko haram attacks in northeastern nigeria and gunmen opened fire of civilians and set fire to homes close to maiduguri and some of the victims were children and boko haram stepping up attacks on villages as it's losing territory to the military. next up a race for the white house and the upcoming vote in iowa could be a decisive

movement for presidential hopefuls and making space for mixed gender praying at the holiest site. ♪

♪ welcome back, quick recap of the top stories on al jazeera and ten people have been killed and several others injured in a suicide bombing in kabul, suicide bomber detonated explosives near the headquarters of afghanistan border police and claimed responsibility for the attack. syria opposition says it received assure ens from

international backers about providing humanitarian relief from suffering people and threatened to walk out of talks in geneva unless there was an immediate end to attacks on civilians and dozens of people have been killed in suspected boko haram attacks in northeastern nigeria, gunmen opened fire on civilians and set fire to homes in the town of close to maiduguri. politicians sworn in harolding in for the country and she won in november ending 50 years of military year and rob mcbride reports. >> reporter: parliament for man mar national league for democracy or nld finally take power but it's a power shared. after half a century in control the military will still retain a firm hold. they get a quarter of all seats in parliament, keep control of important ministries and can

block any constitutional change. analysts say that will make it difficult for the nld to govern. >> as a military they are sitting in the parliament and the energy of the government cannot govern effectively. >> reporter: the military themselves will not say too much. it is going to be a good and workable government? hello? during the years of military rule nld supporter was constantly in and out of detention, reconciliation will take effort. >> translator: it is a very sensitive time, negotiations need to take place to build up tru trust. >> this is a country in need of effective government. often referred to as democracy on a leash there is no doubting whose hand is on it, hope for nld is that the military feel

comfortable enough in this delicate relationship they don't exercise their powers. the list of priority for the new mps is long, getting all ethnic groups to sign up to a national ceasefire after years of conflict. ending the marginalization and persecution of rohinga and after stagnation there are signs of recovery. he used to have a roadside store selling fuel from bottles, now he has a fueling station. >> translator: you saw a car or motor bike but now nearly every house has at least one motor bike. >> reporter: and among the other priorities of this new parliament the business of a new president. nld leader is blocked by a constitutional clause that would need to be changed with agreement from the military. in this new atmosphere of change

even that seems possible. rob mcbride, al jazeera, myanmar. the world health organization is meeting on monday to decide whether the zika virus outbreak should be declared a global emergency and u.n. health agency warned the mosquito-borne virus suspected of causing beth defects is spreading fast ayos the americas and paul brennan is in the uk where scientists are working on a solution. >> reporter: this is the mosquito that spreads dengu and chikungunya disease and yellow nooefer and now the zika virus but how to control and even eradicate an insect with numbers in the billions and can reproduce so prolifically. one female in three months is produce 15.6 million female off spring or able to spread the disease and the solution of this company architect is to breed in genetically a mortality gene that prevents the off spring

ever reaching adulthood. in this research lab in england genetic biologists use an antidote to control the self limiting gene and can produce male moss mosquitos but once released the males can desimate the population. >> when we release the males the females cannot tell the difference between ours and a wild one and it's 50/50 and if she mates with ours the off spring will die and it's a numbers game and need more males out there so females will mate with ours because when a female mates with one of ours she will not have viable of spring and bring the population down and in a town in six months you reduce the mosquito population down 50%

in every case we have done it. in april in partnership with authorities in the brazil city architect released 25 million of the modified males. it achieved an 82% drop in the number of wild mosquito larvae and identifiable through a color marker invisible under normal light which is passed on to larvae off spring and monitoring the pros process is seeing how many show up with a red color and they have a factory in braville producing the mosquitos every week and building a bigger facility to produce tens of millions of mosquitos a week with regulatory approval. the site of fumigation vehicles with insectside and a gene is a

far more effective today and u.s. regulators looking keenly at the trans genetic mosquito in florida, paul brennan. french and belgium will have a antiterrorism talk and improve security measures but will not address the under lying social causes and lee barker reports now from brussels. >> reporter: on the surface life in brussels is deceptively normal and this popular market draws tourists and locals like it always has done but patrols are never far away, reminder of suspects linked to the paris attacks and security is relaxed but officially an attack is still possible and probable and for many belgiums life goes on. >> if anything is going to happen it will. we see a little bit more police

but that is about it. i don't really think a lot of people that it stops them from doing their daily business. >> reporter: when they meet on monday it's to find solutions to more violence and it exposed major flaws in policing and gaps in intelligence and both countries are eager to close and two of the known men in the attacks were from belgium or french and they are still looking for the two and one managed to escape paris passing through checkpoints because he had not been identified as a suspect and security is calling for better international cooperation. >> we have to share with other countries that everybody has to be established, set up in order to get all the information about the suspected people. that has not been done yet.

>> reporter: so far france and belgium focused mainly on ramping up security and france carried out thousands of raids and so far four terrorism related investigations have been opened. for weeks the brussels district was the center of intense police activity, many of the paris attackers had links here and bu belgium said it was an incubator of jihadism but better security won't solve the neighborhoods deeper, social problems. >> translator: when there is more security it makes people feel safer. the threats don't disappear like this. we have to provide work and support and we have to change things for the young. >> reporter: the paris attacks were among the deadliest in europe since the second world war and now people welcome greater security and the lure of

radical arms groups remains so too does the risk of more violence. lee barker, al jazeera, brussels. israeli government improved space for nonorthodox jews where men and women will be allowed to pray together until now men and women have prayed separately at the western wall and it's part of the retaining wall where the holy temple stood, holy site in judaism and millions around the world visit the wall to pray. chinese police arrested 21 people connected to a ponzi scheme that allegedly defrauded investors of $7.6 billion. executives from china's largest money lending company are accused of stealing from about 900,000 clients according to state media they scammed people on line using funds from new investors to pay old debt and allegedly concealed the evidence

by hiding the accounts in plastic bags under ground. it is thought to be china's largest case of investor fraud. voting will begin later on monday in the u.s. state of iowa where the republican and democrat parties will start the process of choosing their candidates for this year's presidential election and the aftermath accounting that has been heated at times is a challenge from des moines. >> reporter: where presidential campaigns come to die and the news of iowa outside the top three and dreams of the white house can melt away and both republicans and democrats will caucus and gather and talk, set aside the publicity and pick the person they want to be president. the campaign going on for months and feels much longer than that but here now in iowa in the frozen midwest of america's winter the contest really begins to heat up. here we will get the first real

test of public opinion, the first thoughts, the first indication of where america's two main parties are headed. this has been a strange campaign, conventional wisdom is this would end up a contest of hillary clinton from democrats and jeb bush but one changed the dynamic. >> donald trump getting in the race, i think if you look back on this election it was going to be a very different kind of conversation and a very different discussion had donald trump not decided to run. >> reporter: trump is the most talk about and most covered candidate and provided the most moments of the campaign. >> donald j trup -- trump calling for a shut down of

muslims. >> reporter: that exposed divisions in the party with migration, taxation and the best way to handle foreign policy. on the side of the democrats it's three with two frontrunner hillary clinton and another outsider social acknowledged socialist bernie sanders and wants to see universal healthcare and free education and higher taxes to pay for it all and looking at the split life of party with a sharp contrast inside and outside of both parties and people are fed up with politics as usual. >> we have seen both parties are getting or moving to ideological extremes and happening more on the republican side and republicans if you poll them they really dislike their own party leadership. that is not really happening on the democratic side. i think the democrats it's more that there is a lot of anxiety about hillary clinton. >> reporter: politicians take a

success in iowa but have not secured a nomination and spent time and money in the state and why the iowa caucuses matter because everyone thinks they do, allen fisher, al jazeera, iowa. quick reminder your can always keep up to date with all the latest news on our website on al jazeera.com. i'm ali velshi. on target tonight. countering i.s.i.l. how did they get so powerful so fast and what can america do to protect its people from their threat you know that a small but steady stream of muslims are hell-bent on attacking america. the san bernadino shooting was perpetrated by americans inspired by groups such as al-qaeda and i.s.i.l. after every attack america