>> hello, welcome to the news hour. we're live in doha. coming up in the next 60 minutes. 20 dead including new afghan police recruits after a suicide-bombing in kabul. syria's opposition said it has had assurances for relieve on suffering people as warring sides are push to the engage in talks. stepping up the fight against zika. how genetically modified mosquitoes are buying used to throw the virus.

$7.7billion sold in evidence buried in plastic bags. they busted a massive finance ring. >> hello, your main sports story, pep guardiola named new manager of manchester city. all the information coming up. >> at least oh 20 people have been killed by a suicide-bomber who blew themselves up notice of afghanistan's capital kabul. new recruits are among the victims. jennifer glasse in kabul, jennifer, the taliban has claimed responsibility for this attack, another bold attack by the group. tell us more about what happened today. >> that's right. 20 people dead. 25 injured.

those are the new numbers were certificates and civilians. the suicide-bomber got into a line as entering the civil police quarters. they're lining up. it's just after lunchtime. often people will goouts at lunch to say prayers. the suicide-bomber got into the line and blew himself up. the taliban has claimed responsibility. nato saying this action shows taliban had no respect for the rule of law and those who uphold it. this attack on police officers is nothing to advance the cause of peace. that is key because we're five days away from the next round of talks trying to get the peace process started again. >> we're seeing the number of attacks by the taliban increase

not just in kabul but other areas of afghanistan. do we know what their end game is here as the u.s. china, pakistan, of course, tried to reengage the taliban and get them to negotiate peace with the afghan government. what is the strategy here? >> well, it's not clear fully. we do know that some members--the it will ban has been divided into different groups. some oppose peace talks all together. it's unclear whether these attacks are designed to derail the peace talks or designed to give the taliban more leverage in any sort of peace process moving forward. we do know that the fighting has been terrible all though this winter. a lot of times we see a little bit of lull in the battle field on the winter months, but it has not let up at all. there have been increasing attacks, targeting civilians, journalists, members of security forces around the country.

as the violence conditions many are concerned about what they see as a deteriorating security situation. taliban along the roads in many villages and in more areas than they've patrol recently, and more areas since they were in in power in 2001. what the end game is not clear, and what this will mean on the next round of talks saturday as officials from china, the united states, afghanistan, and pakistan will get together to try and find a way forward to start negotiating with the taliban. many afghans criticizing the government saying how can you negotiate with a group that continues to attack the people and the police of afghanistan. >> jennifer, thank you very much for that update. jennifer glasse reporting there live from with a bull. in other world news syria's opposition said that it has received assurances about

humanitarian actions. it has been confirmed that a key opposition figure the commander of the daesh group is coming to geneva. live to our diplomatic editor james bays, who is covering those talks for us. a lot of effort being made to keep the momentum going, and to get the syrian opposition to participant. tell what's has been happening in the last few hours and where they expect things to go in the next few hours. >> before they arrived in geneva they've been getting encouragement and assurance it is they say in this situation it will benefit them. they'll see some action concrete, measures on the ground to' lifate the suffering of the syrian people. but despite that and there are still division divisions in that opposition block, the opposition block has agreed to a meeting, the first meeting they're going to have here in

the u.n. headquarters. and as you say among those we're secting is mohammed aloush. he's the leader of one of the main armed groups fighting in syria. interestingly russia is one of the sponsors along with the u.s. and other international regional players in this. russia just cached out an irstrike on jaysh al-islam, so russia bombarding a group whose leader is going to be here in the peace talks in a matter of hours' time. that meet something due to take place two hours from now. it is not clear to me if they're going to start without him or not. or whether he's going to be--because he has the job of chief negotiator leading at this meeting.

so there is a possible delay there. >> you say there is a very difficult balancing act isn't it, it continue fighting on the ground. are they any closer to getting some of their demands met? >> well, no, because their demands are not just something that is going to happen. they want something to have happened, and then they're going to continue in their process. now let's remind you what the demands are. they're very clear that it is not their demands. they clear that it was a process that was set up that says that the bombardment in syria should end. the bombardment from the air by the assad regime sometimes using barrel bombs and sometimes using more oh conventional weaponry and the russian air force. rather than a lull in the bombing there is an increase in the bombing. they say that those areas are besieged and there needs to be humanitarian supplies allowed.

and the last of their demands is the release of prisoners, people who are wrongfully arrested. i'm hearing in that last category is practice where we might see an initial move, some sort of gesture, some women prisoners being released soon. but it has not happened yet. the opposition are getting delegation are getting quite frustrated by this, and some of them are saying if we don't see something soon we're going to leave. these are telling you that the delegation has got son tensions in it, but people are telling me even those who want to stay go they leave they're all going to leave. >> meanwhile, russia says its launched more than a thousand airstrikes in syria this week. the defense ministry released these images which shows bombing of latakia.

they've dropped 200 tons of humanitarian aids. it's been reported that 1400 civilians have been killed by russia since airstrikes began this september. in yemen al-qaeda fighters reclaim a town that was controlled by the group unti until 2012 when they were forced out by fighters loyal to the government. aaccording to the tribal chiefs most of the fighters come from the surrounding areas. interest has been more fighting in yemen's capital sanaa. supporters of ali abdullah saleh have been killed in the city. the saudi-led coalition meanwhile said it will investigate civilian deaths in yemen during airstrikes against houthi rebels. more than a hundred bombing raids violated humanitarian law.

they accuse houthi rebels of carrying out attacks against civilians. the director of doctors without borders have recently return from the besieged city of taiz in yemen, and he told us more about the situation there. >> the situation in taiz is very dramatic. it's been very a long time since i saw such a situation. it's a city cut in half by the front line and civilians on both sides being seriously affected and heavy shelling, rockets, and tank fire being exchanged on a regular basis. hitting civilian targets as well as military ones. as we're working across the country in many location where is opening new hospitals and location called al-qaeda as we speak. and so we're able to work. however, it is very difficult needs are great, and as there is a multitude of things we cannot

do as an organization. we find that there is not enough actors providing humanitarian assistance across yemen in order to be able to assist the people of yemen. >> the "world health organization" are meeting to decide whether the zika outbreak should be declared an emergency. they have already warned that the virus is spreading fast across the americas. the illness is suspected of causing birth defects however no firm link has been established. and there is new urgecy to controurgency to control the disease with no vaccination available. >> this is the mosquito that spreads dengue fever, yellow fever, and now the zika virus. how to control and even irradicate an insect which numbers in the billions and can can reproduce so pro livecally.

>> one single female can produce the disease. the solution to "s" to breed in the mortality spread that prevents the offspring from reaching adulthood. >> they will control the gene and allow them to create millions of the male insects. the male insects don't bite or spread the diseased but once spreads in the mosquito population it will decimate the mosquito. >> we need to put more males out there so that more of the females mate with ours. every time the male mates with one of ours she's not going to

have viable offspring so you bring the population down. what that means in practice is that in a town within six months you can reduce the mosquito population by over 90%. that's in every case that we've done it. >> between april and november of last year in partnership with the authorities in the brazilian city, they released 25 million of the modified males. it achieve an 82% drop in the number of wild macular veh. the transgenic males are visible to light and it is transferred to their opposite spring. it's a simple matter of seeing hamular veh show up with the red color. they're producing millions of the male motor vehicles every

week. the site of fumigation vehicles blanketing neighborhoods with insecticide but it only has short-lived effect on the over all mosquito population. introducing a self-destruct gene is a far more effective tool, and the u.s. i looking at it keenly in consideration for florida. >> brazil's president has authorized new measures for the zika virus. we go to lucia newman. what has the president announce there had, lucia. >> the president has entered a decree that would allow health workers to forcebly enter homes where there may be possible breeding grounds.

within a ten-day period if the owners of the house or residents do not open the doors, then the police can be used to forcebly make their way inside. this is part of a large campaign that the president has announced to go from house to house, shop to shop, place to place all over the country trying to destroy the breeding grounds of the mosquito that we were just refer to go. this is something very important, particularly now during the rainy season in the northeast of the country, where the largest number of babies with microcephaly have been detected and where there is the largest number of zika cases until now. >> why is it taking so long to determine if the zika cyrus is linked to birth defects and other neurological disorders. why is it take something long? >> that's a very good question. what of the questions i asked,

and the answer was that it's very difficult to take the test. zika unlike others is sometimes even hard to diagnose. the symptoms are much lighter and there is a small window of opportunity from the time you see the first system and the time that it pass. even with a blood test you can't tell if a mother has had zika. as well as that, the data between the different hospitals, institutions and doctors of brazil are not very well centralized so they're having a very hard time getting enough data to make it conclusive or to disprove that these birth defects and other neurological problems are being caused, indeed, by the zika virus. >> thank you very much, indeed, for that update. still ahead on the al jazeera news hour, the new faces of politics in myanmar and decades of military rule. in sports barcelona's former

president here in court over the transfer of one of the biggest stars. details later with rahul. >> but first in nigeria, 86 people have been killed on a village in two refugee camps in the northeast. torched homes and open fires as civilians, three suicide-bombers brew themselves up as people tried to get away. some of the victims were reportedly children who weren't alive. joining us now is a researcher on war and conflict studies he's live in coventry. thank you for joining us on al jazeera. why do you think they would

target this particular down? why were these civilians the targets? >> what we need to understand is they are now radioing for soft targets to hit that, and unfortunately they became became unof the soft targets. because of one, they are a sub target, and second because it is a place that is easily to get out of, and it made a target for them. >> you say a place they can easily access and get out of had. this village is only a few kilometers from maidugari. if it is easily accessed, why does it take so long for reinforcements to get there? >> all we need to look at whether the ministr minute--the military can attack. from what i understand, they've

been able to get away from that. >> you say that bom they're using suicide bomber, female suicide-bombers. are they really on a back foot as the military suggests? >> when you look at what they used to do. but now it is clear they have significantly weakened. what they do is strike and quickly get out of that place before the military gets caught up with them. now this clearly signifies that

they have been significantly-- >> okay, apologies, we seem to have lost our guest there talking to us about the bomb attacks in nigeria. he was joining us from coventry. in a few hours voting will begin in the u.s. state of iowa as the republican and democrat partie ic parties vote for their nominees for the presidential election. first here is alan fisher, who was explaining to us first how this early selection process is going to work. >> this is where presidential campaigns come to die. in iowa outside of the top three and dreams of the white house can melt away. both republicans and democrats will caucus here, gather, talks, and pick the person they want to be president. this campaign has been going on for months although it feels much longer than that.

but here now in iowa, in the frozen midwest of america's winter the contests really begins to ease up. here we will get the first real test of public opinion, the first vote, the first indication of where america's two main parties are headed. >> this has been a strange campaign. the conventional wisdom this would end up a contest between hillary clinton from the democrats and republican jeb bush. but one would change the dynam dynamics and the face of politics. >> donald trump changed the race. if you look back, it was going to be a very different kind of conversation, a very different discussion had donald trump not decided to run. >> trump is the most talked about and most covered candidate. >> donald trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united

states. >> the republican field has been packed as trump cakes on ted cruz and among others. that has exposed division on key issues on immigration, taxation, and the best way to handle foreign policy. on the side of the democrats, the field is narrowed to three with hillary clinton and other outsider, socialist senator bernie sanders. he wants to see universal healthcare, free college healthcare and higher taxes to pay for it all. he's calling for support. >> we see that both parties are move to go ideological extremes, obviously more on the republican side, and republicans if they poll them they dislike their party leadership. that is not happening on the democratic side.

i think the democratics are that there is a lot of anxiety about hillary clinton. >> the last two republican win verse not secured the nomination. still the party spent time and money in the state. that's why the iowa caucuses matter because everyone thinks they do. alan fisher, al jazeera, iowa. >> and live for us is kimberly halkett, who joins us outside of the iowa caucus media center. what are we expecting from the candidates today? >> we're expecting the candidates to continue to campaign with races that are so very close on the democratic side and even though there have been very large crowds, as alan pointed out, for republican frontrunner donald trump, they're continuing to hold campaign events, shake hands, and continuing to appeal to iowans to come out and support them on caucus night. that is now just hours away. what is really important here is what is called the ground game, if you will, that political talk

for getting out and shaking hands and going door to door. that is something that we know hillary clinton, who is said to have one of the better ground games on the democratic side did very intensely over the weekend. we're told in her campaign she went to 125,000 homes in iowa. we know on the sander side, 76,000 homes. this tells you they're not going to take anything for fronted. this is something that we need to point out, whoever wins the iowa caucus does not necessarily win the nomination on the democratic or republican side but it is important. what happens historically nobody has ever gone on to win the presidency who has come in less than third. they all know that. that's why this is important to have a strong showing. >> very very much for that. let's get more from the streets. john a very close race, as we've said. how does this race get to the

county where non-established candidates are doing so well, and established candidates like jeb bush on the republican side are not? >> well, iowa has a history of putting an about a in a peel in front of the frontrunner and this year is even more the case. i'm standing a few doors down from the hillary clinton campaign office. this is the second time she was expected to walk away from an easy victory in iowa and the second time she was given a tough race. the second time was a young rising candidate barack obama, and this time it is bernie sanders, a 70-something socialist who is giving her a run for her money because he's getting votes from the youth she had been seeking that obama had been getting last time around. and then of course you've got donald trump on the other side. what we here from the people we're talking to is they are angers and they don't like the way washington is not working for them. i talked to a couple last night,

the husband was leaning towards trump. the wife was leaning towards ted cruz. neither are the established republican party would pick. this is an unusual year in iowa. >> thank you very much john hedron, as we continue to follow the very latest from the u.s. presidential race on al jazeera. still ahead on this news hour, failing crops. the drought in southern africa that leaves millions struggling for food. >> i'm in cartagena, colombia. >> and in sport we'll hear from th djokovic about his request quest to become the greatest player of all time.

>> welcome back. you're watching the news hour, a reminder now of our pop stories. 20 people have been killed and several others injured in a

suicide-bombing in kabul. the afghan taliban has claimed responsibility. it has been confirmed that a key leader of the jaysh al-islam group will be attending talks in geneva that is aimed to ending the conflict that has kille killed many and displaced others. now the government of the southern africanalation of lisoto has declared an emergency as drought hit farming communities. hundreds of thousands of people will need food aid in the coming year.

>> we are village relies on the food it grows despite months of no rain, she planted hoping for a successful harvest. but that is unlikely. it claims that these plants should have been five times their height. the world food program said that drought will hit 80% of the population the hardest. people in these areas depend on farming and shortage of potable water is making the situation worse.

>> if we do not react now we'll have people who have lost their assets. it means that they will fall into deeper poverty. >> a third of the population will need food assistance. the agency responsible for disaster manage i want said that it needs three times that amount. it's still waiting for that money. >> it goes without saying. >> the dam is the largest in the country and second biggest on the continent. it's at its lowest levels in a decade. it's part of the highlands water project that exports water to neighboring south africa bringing in much needed income. across the mountains farmers say

any rain now would be too late. and as winter approaches communities worry about the road ahead. al jazeera, lesutu. >> in thailand the government is facing similar problems as it drills thousands of new wells in search of water. the dry season is expected to be one of the worst on record because of the el niño weather system. we met some of those who were effected and we have this report. >> in parts of thailand water has become a very precious commodity. the government ordered the drilling of 6,000 new wells to help people through the dry season. at the moment the water is for domestic use only. it's been rationed and sent to homes in rural areas where people are growing increasingly frustrated by the drought. >> it effects everyone around here. why? we rely on rain for living our lives and farming.

i don't understand why we don't have enough water. >> without a lot of irrigation it's too dry here to grow rice more than once a year. so many farmers usually plant alternative crops in the dry season. but now they're being told not to use any water on their fields. rare clouds and light rain offer some hope but no change for this man, who normally grows soybeans this time of year. >> i don't have enough water to do anything now. we can't even use water in canal it's provided by the irrigation department. >> there are creative sources of food and income left in the fields but thailand's economy is struggling, and on the back of a slump in rice exports last year it's a worrying time. this is not just an environmental issue. it's also a symptom of thailand's volatile political situation because governments come and go so quickly real

national issues like developing a sustainable water management plan are neglected. the irrigation department said that the problem is lack of water storage. >> our water management plan is based on scientific and academic research and results, but we don't have enough dams or reservoirs to keep all the rainfall. >> others disagree, and believe governments don't work closely enough with farmers to find solutions. some blame a lack of seasonal planning. so the risk management. if you don't have risk management you may have problems like this. >> it will extend to the next rice crop, which is due to begin in june. al jazeera. >> south sudanese government troops are accused of killing 50

civilians by locking them into inside a contain wherever they suffocated. the allegation was made public in ethiopia by a commission monitoring the cease-fire between south you dan's governments and rebels. it is said to have happened in october of last year. joining me now, director and chief of general staff office for the south sudanese army. thank you so much for being on al jazeera. what do you respond to this accusation that the south sudanese government troops killed 50 people in such a horrific manner. >> the accusation is untrue and unfounded completely.

they did not verify this information, and if they did, we would have known because we are members you say you're unaware and you say that it is not true as well. this is not the first accusation made against the south sudanese army, accusations against th them at all. are you investigating at all? >> we're happy to open the ground for any entity who wants to verify this information because this information is not true. when i say it isn't true we mean that it is not true.

nobody inch us about this it is verified and investigated. >> but what have you done yourself? what has the south sudanese army--sorry, i apologize for interrupting you, but what has the south sudanese army done itself to investigate? you can't expect others to investigate when accusations are made against your own men. what have you done to investigate, and to make sure that people are held accountable? >> it has just come to our tension right now, and since the command has received this information, i was authorized to come and speak to state exactly what i've just stated. we're we wish to get to the

bottom of it. >> if the investigation finds this hoff requiric act was committed what is your army going to do to make sure that such violations don't happen again? >> they've used the information that has been provided in this report. if they use to verify this, how they discuss this committee or not. so this did not take place. >> you say nothing was happened and you were not been made aware, but we've seen many cease-fire violations since the agreement. how committed is the south sudanese government to this peace deal?

to this truce still? >> our forces have not engaged in any escalating opposition. and we have decided implementing the agreement as everyone is aware. we've we have received the delegation, the advanced team, and we're working in calibration with other entities to make sure that this agreement is realized. >> for the time being it does not seem that this cease-fire is being respected. thank you for joining us, chief of general staff for the south sudanese army who is speaking to

us from juba. thank you for your time. >> police in china have arrested 21 people detected to an investment scheme that defrauded people of $7.6 billion alleged allegedly. executives from online finance company is accused of stealing from 900,000 investors. according to state media the suspect uses funds from new investors to pay old debt. they allegedly concealed the evidence by hiding the accounts in plastic bag its underground. we have more from beijing. >> this is one of the largest financial scams in china. the company connect borrowers with lenders and it's known as peer to peer lending. they would promise high returns on their product.

in just one and a half years alone they chinese financing has grown popular as consumers discovered how easy it is not only to borrow money but to make money using their mobile phones and laptops. as this case shows it is extremely regulate this finance-based activity. >> in myanmar hundreds of politicians have been sworn in parliament heralding a new era.

>> members of parliament from mea myanmar get a quarter of change. analysts say that it will make it difficult for the nld to governor. >> the military themselves were not saying too much. >> they were constantly in and out of detention reconciliation will take effort.

>> it is a very sensitive time. the negotiations need to take place to build up trust. >> this is a country in need of effected government. often referred to as democracy on a leash there is no doubting who's hand is on it. the military feel comfortable enough in this delicate relationship that they don't exercise their powers. the list of priorities for the new mps is long getting all ethnic groups to sign up to a national cease-fire after years of conflict, ending the marginalization and persecution of the minority are a hingega. >> they used to have a roadside store selling fuel from bottles. now he has a filling station.

>> among all the other parliamenparticleother priorities of the new parliament, there are cause that need to be changed with an agreement from the military. in this atmospher atmosphere of change even that seems impossible.

>> welcome back. in columbia organizers of a lit hear festival believe they can use the power of words and reading to be rising in colomb colombia. >> colombia was still a country struggling with violence and international isolation. today with the peace deal at hand and enjoying a tourist boom, these are common.

>> we are creating the space to imagine the world as one. >> big names in literature and the arts are still the backbone of the event. but in addition to the written word the festival has gained confidence and began to tackle political and economic issues. >> what you need is a combination of government and market. >> this year's top ticks are renowned economists. >> the rise of politics and age we need a way for people to enter understand the different nation, and i think this kind of different countries come together and talk is essential

in today's world. >> but for all it's openness the festival is attended mostlily colombians elites and here in cartagena, there is some doubt that there is impact for the larger population. at this book market, few have even heard about it. others wish they can be involved. >> we don't see many benefits. those who go to those events don't come here and many don't even know about it. >> the festival organizers acknowledge these limits. they've been offering free tickets to students and sending their guests to surrounding towns and poor neighborhoods.

they believe it is worst talking one word at a time. >> time now for sports. >> well, monday the biggest move does not involved a player. pep guardiola has agreed to take over as manager next season. minor munich beat opposite manchester city will be the third club that guardiola has managed. the arrival of the spaniard is the biggest coup for the abu dhabi based owner since they took over the club in 2008. now they have the most coveted club manager.

well manchester city also confirmed that pellegrini will stay until the end of the season. they had this statement: >> i don't think it is good for more speculation about different things. i spoke with the players two weeks ago, and i will do it. >> that is the current boss. but what about the new one? what will manchester city get for what is certain to be a huge amount of money? well, guardiola is proven

winner. in four remarkable years he won far too many trophies we could put on this graphic. he left in 2012 and was away from the game for a year before returning to bayern munich in 2013. and the trophies just kept on coming. back-to-back bundesliga title, usually they haven't won the champions league with bayern munich although they are to the knock out stages of this season's competition. now guardiola's former club, one of their star players neymar will appear in a spanish court on tuesday to answer questions about a 2013 transfer from brazilian club santos. on monday the current club president and the man he succeeded gave evidence at the

high court in madrid. they're being investigated for not paying enough tax on the transfer havingly claimed it was worth $74 million. it was more like $90 million. well, neymar will be questioned along side his father, who is also his agent. now they will open up finances in public scrutiny. if elected the general secretary will be from somewhere other than europe. >> i'm convinced that the general secretary should not be european. why not an african? it is a very important

continent. 54 members, people what are passionate and capable people. why not open the doors in general to the administration. >> djokovic wants to become the greatest tennis player of all time and his record has put him well on the way of achieving that. the world number one would show up on monday after beating andy murray on monday. >> being at 9 pea the peak of my abilities i can feel that i can achieve much more. how far i can go, i don't know, it's an individual sport. i hope that i can respect and live this kind of lifestyle that helps me to reach this point of my career and my life, and if it

stays that way i don't think anything is unreachable. >> bad weather forced the tournament to a singapore open. 12 players return to the course earlier for the deciding few holes. among them jordan spieth who would stay an extra day to make one shot to finish the final round. they would speak a birdie put on the 18. south koresouth korean sohan would steel the one-stroke win over spieth and it was the first international victory for the 24-year-old. the golden state warriors remain clear at the top of the pacific division after beating the knicks on sunday.

meanwhile, the minnesota timberwolves with a terrible start after losing 11 straight games on the road. they come at the hands of the portland trailblazers, mccallum would add another for the playsers after they won their season best fourth game in a row. now just a few days away from the climax of the nfl season, broncos quarterback peyton manning said that this might be his last. he's 39 years old and he's the oldest quarterback to start a super bowl, and a second championship would be the perfect end to his career. but the panthers are among the rest republican record.

that's super bowl on sunday. now in recent years the--this is a normally a single clash between the western and eastern conferences. this year it was fit into three 20-minnesotay games between divisions. it's part of the nhl approach to make the game more accessible others. and they refused to invite enforcer john scott despite the fans voting him. it is said he's part of the old-style nhl. but the nhl had to back down because of the support for scott. >> that's it. more later. >> thank you very much. thanks for watching.

>> a critical first step on the road to the white house. >> you have to find common ground. >> i'm doing what's right for you. >> that's the kind of debate that we need to have. >> stay with al jazeera america for... >> it's going to be about getting people out to the caucus, which is not an easy thing to do. >> comprehensive coverage that's... >> the focus will be on south carolina tonight. >> understanding the epidemic. >> it was terrifying. >> it's like navigating a minefield. >> go inside the new medical breakthrough. >> you had quite a reaction there. >> that's crazy. >> i really feel my life changing. >> the freedom is unbelievable. >> techknow's team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is what innovation looks like. >> ...can affect and surpise us. >> i feel like we're making an impact. >> let's do it. >> techknow, where technology meets humanity... >> only on al jazeera america.