>> zika virus outbreak in the last hour the world health organization declares it a public health emergency of international concern. hello there i'm barbara serra. you're watching the al jazeera newshour. a new era in myanmar politics, hundreds of politicians take their seats after decades of military rule. and the first real test, for

candidates hoping to become the next president of the united states, we're going to be live in iowa. hello thank you for joining us. in the last hour, the world health organization has declared the outbreak of the zika virus a public health emergency of international concern. the u.n. health agency has warned that the mosquito borne virus is spreading fast across the americas. the illness is suspected of causing birth defects however no firm link has been established. w.h.o. says over 4 million people are likely to be infected this year. >> i am now declaring that the recent includes pe cluster of my and other abnormalities, reported in the americas and in french polly nearb polyniche p a

coordinated response is needed to seek the dee detection of infections and neurological complications. to intensify the control of mosquito populations and to expedite the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines to protect people at risk. >> al jazeera's librarian editor lucia newman joins us. w.h.o. has now declared an international public health emergency. how will that affect the fight against zika in latin and central america?

>> reporter: hello barbara, this will hopefully allow more resources to investigate, all the things we heard the w.h.o. mention, brazil and venezuela are in recession, their public health services are in disarray, they just don't have the resources to really dedicate and in a quick and expedited fashion dedicate these resources to try to find a solution to or at least a vaccine for this virus and also to be able to study much, much more closely the association between zika and congenital birth defects and also neurological consequences that we have been seeing here. there is no scientific proof yet because the zika virus is very difficult to detect. it has a very short window of opportunity if you like for a person to be tested from the time they show the first symptom to the time when the virus

leaves their bloodstream. so all these things have made it more difficult for it to be croiblcategorically determined. >> the situation in brazil is even worse than what people have thought before. >> absolutely, are spreading like wildlife, employeesively, back in october we had hardly heard about it. now at the end of january first day of february there is no one who hasn't herd of it or doesn't know someone who has caught it. we understand it should soon be or by spring or summer it will have hit texas in the united states.

barbara. >> lucia newman, thank you. >> the u.n. envoy to syria says talks to end the stifl war in cn syria have officially started. are insisting and not the only ones that the syrian people while we are having a syrian talks on the future of a political solution they deserve to layer and see facts on the ground in reduction of the violence the fact of the detainees and the fact of the besieged areas. we feel that they have a very strong point. because this is the voice of the syrian people asking for that

when i meet the syrian people they say please when you are having a conference please have something we can see and touch while you are meeting in geneva. >> diplomatic editor james bays has been following the talks, james what do you think the main points are that come out of the meeting between the opposition and staffan de mistura? >> well he is certainly trying to get this process going and give it some momentum. the opposition all along are argue, we are not joining until various things are hatching and certain concrete things are taking place. he has come out and said, the process is underway we are negotiating. that's not how the opposition are taking it. they say they're not there yet and they want to see some concrete action on the ground. this is how an opposition

spokesman put it. >> we came here to discuss with the special envoy the resolution 2254, you know, lifting the siege and stopping the crimes done by russian air strikes in syria. and i believe we received, in fact received very positive messages from the special envoy, and tomorrow he will have a meeting with the regime side and we will wait for reply from him. >> so back to james in geneva. it would be silly to be optimistic at this stage but there does seem to be some kind of momentum. what else is going on apart from the meeting with the opposition and staffan de mistura? >> i think some of the details

that behind the scenes are being discussed we're hearing from the u.n. that the syrian government is giving positive signal for aid going in to one of three places, madaya, remember the image of starving people, that's being negotiated, and mr. demistura, has asked the opposition to provide a list, he says he's hopeful that they'll give him a list and he will give that list to the government. the other key thing is him laying down the gauntlet really to all the international and regional players saying at this stage all along when talks start there should be a ceasefire. he says everyone with influence now needs to put all the pressure on all of those fighting in syria to start a ceasefire. he didn't mention one country but i'm sure his message was aimed at that country, that is

russia because in all the countries involved in supporting these talks, the international players, russia is the only one bombarding participants to these talks with air strikes actually intensified in the last few days. >> james bays with the latest from geneva, james thank you. at least 20 people have been killed and many others injured by a suicide boarm generosity a police building in the average capital kabul. the afghan taliban has claimed responsibility for this attack. al jazeera's jennifer glasse has the lateliest from kabul. >> the bomber chose the busy moments after lunch to strike. outside the headquarters of the civil order police. >> it was a suicide bomber who detonated in front of the police civil order base. after the explosion i saw three

or four wounded people, i do not know anymore. >> reporter: dozens were wounded and killed. security forces raced to the scene and sealed off the area a main thoroughfare in kabul. it is the latest in a series of taliban attacks around the capital in recent weeks. many of the victims are treated at the city's emergency hospital. rkts do sadoctors say there were superficial wounds as well as grave ones. >> i was in the area when suddenly an explosion happened and 20 people received injuries and were lying on the ground. the type of explosion was unclear. >> a nato statement said the attack shows the contempt the taliban have for the rule of law in afghanistan. the taliban have no plan for the development of afghanistan. targeting those who defend their fellow afnling afghans does note the plan of peace.

representatives of india, pakistan, united states and china are expected to meet. whether the taliban will be invited remains to be seen. jennifer glasse, al jazeera, kabul. death comes aday after another palestinian man was killed after wounding three israeli soldiers when he allegedly fired at a checkpoint outside the city of ra rahm a r. gunmen opened fire on civilians and set fire to homes in the

town of delorie, 12 kilometers from the capital. some of the bodies have been burned beyond recognition. boko haram is stepping up attacks on civilians as it loses territory to the nigerian military. still on hand with al jazeera, antiterrorism intelligence. the scam which has defrauded investors of $7.6 billion in china, coming up next.

>> hello, welcome back, here's a reminder of the tom stories on al jazeera. the world health organization has declared the outbreak of the zika virus a public health emergency of international concern. the u.n. envoy to syria says talks aimed at ending civil war in the country have started. staffan de mistura met with the negotiating group in geneva. at least 20 people have been killed and many others injured, by a suicide bomber who blew himself up in the afghan capital kabul. let's go to the u.s. now where presidential hopeful donald trump has been attacking ted cruz. the iowa vote is being held where people choose who they think should be their party's candidate for the election. trump told supporters in iowa if he won the presidency he would

sort out the country's problems very quickly. >> i put out a tweet this morning, we're going to take back our country, day one, we're going to take back our country from these incompetent politicians who don't know what they're doing, if they did know what, and i will tell you some of it is worse than what you think about not knowing. many times they do things that you say oh, they're not very smart, they can't be doing this, they have to be totally incompetent. the truth is they do things for people that give them the money. >> let's go live now to al jazeera's john hendren who is in newton in iowa state. first turnout. how could that affect the results we see in iowa today? >> reporter: well, barbara, the polls show a tight race. on the democratic side it is a statistical dead heat between hillary clinton and bernie

sanders. and donald trump is only five points ahead of ted cruz his nearest rival. what happens when you get candidates that develop enthusiasm among unlikely voters those polls go out the window. a lot of people who aren't expected to vote show up at the polls. if we see high turnout that's probably good news for outside candidates like donald trump and bernie sanders on the democratic side. what we're waiting to see is when those caucuses start whether they are overrun whether there are lines outside. and complicating matters, there is a snow storm that is supposed to hit and that may keep people home but they're expected to start after the caucuses end. >> why is this tending to be seen as quite so decisive? >> it's the first one and picked some winners in the past. jimmy carter was a winner in the

'70s and barack obama, eight years ago, right here had a surprise upset over hillary clinton, and that really propelled his campaign. what happens with when you win is you get more organizational support from the candidates who drop out, you get their people coming to you. you also get money from donors who now suddenly believe you might have a shot at winning. this is what people like bernie sanders are hoping. donald trump doesn't need the money, bernie sanders does. bernie sanders is likely to get a lot more support and that will help him fund his campaign and have the organization he needs to carry it through for all 50 seats, barbara. >> john hendren live for us in iowa, thank you. let's go to the results of another election now in myanmar where hundreds of politician he have been sworn into parliament heralding in a new era for politics. >> can block any constitutional

change. analysts say that will make it difficult for the nld to gofn. >> govern. >> i think as long as the military is part of the government, kit not govern effectively. >> the military themselves were not saying too much. >> is it going to be a good government, a workable government? hello? >> during the years of military rule, nld supporter wintin 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 trust. >> this is a country in need of effective government. often referred to as democracy on a leash, there's month doubting whose hand is on it. the hope for the nld is that 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 lock. getting all ethnic groups to sign up to a national ceasefire, after years of conflict. ending the marginalization and persecution of the minority rohingya. and then, there's the economy. after years of stagnation. there are signs of recovery. tuntun used to have a road side stand selling fuel from bottles now he has a filling station.

>> you hardly saw a car or motor bike. now at least every house has at least one motor bike. >> and among all the other priorities of this new parliament the business of a new president. nld leader aung san suu kyi is blocked by a constitutional clause that would need to be changed from agreement with the military. in this new atmosphere of change even that seems possible. rob mcbride al jazeera, myanmar. the leaders of belgium and france have vowed to work more closely on security and information sharing to prevent further incidents like last year's attacks in paris. they were planned in belgium and a subsequent investigation revealed lost opportunities between authorities in the two countries. >> translator: we have cooperation in all of the fields that we have discussed, intelligence, policing, judicial matters, strengthen our ability

to investigate and detect movement of peoples who potentially are threats to our countries. >> neave barker is with us, the investigation on those attacks on paris showing the links, what do they actually plan to do together, how do they think that's going to stop further attacks? >> well, as we heard there from the french prime minister, this, mini summit is largely about finding a common solution to what is essentially a shared problem a shared threat of there being potentially further attacks in the future. of course soon after the paris attacks, both countries acted rather unilaterally in shoring up the security on the trustees paris and over in france the french government were quick to introduce a state of emergency.

there were loopholes, there were gaps in intelligence and that has been the real source of some tensions between france and belgium. the french accusing the belgian government of not doing enough to keep see suspects fleeing from france into belgium. there is an active search for salah ben islam. salaam. from brussels into france too carry out these deadl deadly at. shared database of information a list of suspects, both intelligence agencies working closer together, and for it not just to be limited to both brussels and france but for these requirements to also be extended across the whole of the continent also to make sure that anybody who poses a real threat to any eu or schengen state is

under the radar of the intelligence services across europe. >> neave barker in brussels, thank you. the u.k. has approved a scient's request. critics say it crosses too many ethical boundaries and could be leading to so-called designer babies. phil lavelle has more. >> this is where the story is about, the human embryo where the scientists should genetically modify these but it is a ethical mine field and the argument about it all is about to get much louder here in the u.k. because permission has now been granted. this organization the frances ickrick institute has now said yes, the scientists needed that

license to go ahead and perform what's called genome editing to help us establish links between development of fertilized eggs. >> understand the causes of infertility, for example, why the embryo does not emplant into the uterus, into the woomed, wos very important that this research go ahead. >> is there's a whole list of rules to go along with it. first for basic research. second, no implanting into women, 45 day maximum life period. despite all of that, there is some concern among some people about what could potentially follow in the future. >> the editing of dna in a human embryo is highly controversial,

it is opposed by most research scientists around the world and banned in 40 countries. britain is at risk of becoming a rogue state. it is dangerous because of the unpredictable effects on the human genome that could be passed down into generations and unnecessary. >> all of this follows a similar procedure which happened in china. a team of scientists became the first in the world to announce they had altered human genes in embryos. the process can begin almost immediately. >> south korea's pilots are taking flight with many leaving the country's biggest airline for better pay in china and elsewhere. and as emily forcette reports.

>> the korean air's flight similarities are busy. inside a replica cockpit of a boeing 747, this crew practices an emergency landing. why are so many of their dleegz leaving the country? >> the first reason is that the korean airlines system did not provide any hope for the pilot. the second reason is that there is a huge gap in salary compared to that of neighboring countries, especially china. >> last year 122 pilots left the company, more than seven times the number for the year before. a third of them went to join the aviation boom in china for double even triple the pay. trade unions here are dmansing a 37% pay rise. korean says their pilots already earn about $116,000 a year. >> increase of about 1.9% this

year, so the gap is too big for us to total, so the number is quite unacceptable. >> union leaders say the flood of pilots is much too high, many of them don't have the necessary experience. korean, have the ability to train up new pilots and recruit sensed pilots the fill the gap but they admit the current situation is far from ideal. pilots on domestic routes while flying the same number of hours as their long haul colleagues are in command of many more individual flights. >> so in that case the labor intensity and the stress could be doubled up or the the more frequent flight pilots. so we, when we are investigating

the by government they don't count that kind of a frequency fact. >> whether it be for more money less stress or both, a growing number of pilots are opting for a one way ticket. many of them bound for china. harry fawcett, al jazeera, seoul. >> 21 people connected to an investment scene that allegedly defrauded investors to 7.6 billion. investigators largest peer to peer lending company called ezu bao are accused of scamming people online using funds from new investors to pay old debts. they allegedly concealed the evidence by burying the account books. it's thought to be china's largest case of investor fraud. we'll have more on that story and everything else we have been

covering really on our website. you can see our front page there and our top story, the world health organization has declared that the zika virus is now a global health emergency, that news coming out in the past hour or so. >> i'm nidhi dutt, in indonesia, where orangutan conservationists are climbing to new heights. >> and i'm russell beard in flanders in belgium, to meet to meet the urban miners turning rubbish into rate