aid trucks finally moving towards besieged towns in syria. hello again from doha, everyone. this is the world news from al jazeera. china is accused of deploying missiles to a contested island in the south china sea. thousands gather in protests demanding the resignation of the government in kosovo. >> preserving america's musical

past, top awards for the golden records. developing news this hour, we're getting reports that finally the convoy of aid trucks are getting ready to move into besieged areas. we have a report from the syria, turkey border. >> like you mentioned, the u.n. aid trucks have started to move. there was an agreement between staffan de mistura and the foreign minister aid will reach seven besieged areas. two areas are government held towns besieged by the rebels as well as another government controlled neighborhood besieged by isil. activists on the ground especially in those areas say this is progress and welcome any aid, but say this is not enough, because what they need is the

same aid deliveries in order to survive. the u.n. listed 18 besieged areas i have not syria, so say this is not enough. activists in the northern country side of homs, this is a battleground where there is a shortage of food, medical supplies, in fact the u.n. itself said 120,000 people are at risk of starvation. yes, this is progress, very slow, but undoubtedly, they are welcoming this. >> zeina, this is kind of happening in reverse. you've got the aid moving before the cessation of hostilities and the second thing, that cessation was supposed to happen by tomorrow, thursday and looks very, very unlikely. >> very unlikely. what we understand is that the task force charged with implementing a ceasefire in syria will be holding their first meeting on friday. russian and american officials will be part of that group

discussing this, but the biggest problem, really, is that most divisive issue and that is who is a terrorist and who is not. you need to reach an international consensus on who is a terrorist, because at the end of the day, the pause in the fighting agreed in munich excludes al-nusra front and isil. the international community does consider them terrorists, but there are other groups which belong to a saudi backed opposition that russia considers terrorists, so this is where the problem lies and even rebel commanders on the ground say a pause in the fighting cannot happen because they believe there's a loophole. russia will be able to continue targeting the so-called moderate opposition, the opposition that the west actually considers partners on the excuse or using the presence of nusra on the ground as a pretext to attack them. you need that agreement on who is a terrorist and who is not

before a ceasefire can really be implemented on the ground. >> thank you, zeina hodor. we go now to beirut to the human director for syria with mercy call. i understand, correct me if i'm wrong, your aid operations are outside of this u.n. operation. you work with syrian groups to get into hard to reach areas. is that right? >> yeah, that's right. that's one of the points we're trying to make as parts of this agreement, negotiation for humanitarian actions need to also include actors beyond the united nations and particularly syrian organizations, they are the ones with best access to some of these besieged areas and most able to help. >> how do you and your groups get in safely, as i was just talking to zeina, sort of waiting for a cessation of hostilities to really move in. how does your group operate? >> a very good question and

obviously we don't want to discuss openly how we work in these dangerous areas, but obviously local groups are the best contacts and the best access, because in many sense they are from these areas and we rely on local leaderships to get into those areas. >> are we talking about absolute basics of food and water here? >> absolutely. the needs are enormous, and the access is very small, but wherever we can, we are trying to provide food items and obviously it is a cold winter in syria, so winterization, blankets and heaters so people can withstand the cold. clothes for children, for duties, shoes, very basic items is what we are trying to provide. >> do you have enough of those items to give them? i guess we are talking about the donations towards your group and to other charity to say then send in. >> yeah, we are in good

position. financing is not our problem with that we have a lot of money to operate at the moment and are able to procure most of those items, but it's very difficult to physically get the items in and that's the biggest challenge we're facing right now particularly in besieged areas. >> can you tell me if you've either been into syria yourself or your colleagues have been in, what are the lasting impression for you that you all have seen there? >> i haven't had access to syria recently myself, but some people recently through one of our local contacts in one of the areas where we're trying to get access to, really the situation is dire. i can't emphasize that enough. when we have a situation that people haven't had any in take of food into the area since christmas day, since 25 december, people are on the brink of starvation, they have

malnutrition. pregnant women are no longer able to breastfeed their children, because they themselves are malnourished and people are trying any means they can to survive and the situation really does seem to be extremely harsh oak. >> ashley, thank you very much for your time, do appreciate it. moving on to other news, china has been accused of deploying an advanced grouped to air missile system in the south cline in a sea on the woodie island. beijing said western media is misportraying the issue. that is what we've seen previously of woody island. it shows a lot of work going on and that is a runway that has been constructed by the chinese there. woody island, part of the parcels chain of island, also

claimed by taiwan and vietnam. beijing said it also owns the spratley islands and others further north all upsetting the philippines and vietnam, all claiming part of it. the red line is the whole area cline in a is claiming, those territorial waters. >> woody island has been in beijing's hands since 1974. in 2012, china formally declared a city on this tiny speck of land, home to more than 1,000 people. according to taiwan, which claims the island along with vietnam, it's also home to two ground to air missile batteries. china blamed news stories but didn't deny that the reports were true. >> as for the limited and necessary self defense facility chew china has built on the

island stationed by chinese personnel, this is consistent with serve preservation and protection chinese is entitled to under international law. >> for china what is self defense, the united states sees at militarization. the united states has sailed war ships within a few kilometers of islands where sovereignty is disputed. president obama has promised more of the same. >> i think it's clear that this is part of a trajectory towards china preparing these islands for possible deployment of either military fighters or missiles. fear in washington, that this washington, that this would deny these areas of the ability of u.s. navy ships and other navy

ships to deploy freely without the threat of the use of force. >> taiwan's president-elect is due to take office in may with a mandate to cool recently improved relations with beijing. she's called for self restraint. >> i think the south china sea is a region that everyone pays close attention to especially on the issue of the dispute over sovereignty in the south china sea. it is a comparatively tense situation. we call on all sides to stick to the principle that resolving the dispute in a peaceful manner. self restraint is most important. >> the tensions between the world's two largest powers in the region extend to the korean peninsula as well. after the rocket launch, the u.s. is in talks with south korea about deploying a missile system known as fad. that is something beijing is opposed to, seeing it as a direct threat to its own military interest. >> some in washington want to pressure china to reign in its ally from pyongyang.

american f 22 stealth fatallers demonstrating what the u.s. calls to its commitment to defending its ally. it's a show of force that will be noted just as much by the leadership in beijing. no surprise those tensions top the agenda at a meeting of southeast asian leaders in california, that is asean. u.s. president barack obama called for a demilitarization of the disputed area and called for measures to deepen ties between the region and the united states. beyond the nices is concerned about iraqi civilians stranded by fighting, stuck in the middle of battles between isil and kurdish forces near sinjar. they have been unable to get food or water for weeks. kurdish forces recaptured 16 junior in november, 15 months after isil killed or enslaved members of the yazidi religious minority who live there. the direct or of the human rights office at the united

nations assistance mission for iraq says there are grave concerns for the people in sinjar in areas recaptured by isil. >> with this particular group of individuals, they have serious concerns, because around mid november last year, 1,800 individuals who are arab sunnis from a tribe had fled from their villages and they got trapped near the village between the front lines of the peshmerga and isil, which is located about a kilometer or two kilometers away from them. since that time, a large number had drifted away back to isil controlled areas and isil has actually seen most of them and detained an area you south of talafar. isil has been murdering people trying to leave their area. they are rewarded as being

unbelievers and given the count against them that they are devil worshipers and basically that if they don't convert upon capture, they have a right to enslave them. this is the whole perversion of the islamic ideology and unfortunate, the yazidi have borne the brunt of this. members of the sunni arab community as well are equally targeted if suspected of not supporting isil or the extremist ideological in they were rae tases. isil thinks up abhorring ways to murder people who disagree with them. in a moment, more on the 3,700 refugees who have gone missing or drowned trying to reach greece.

>> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts,

beyond the soundbites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is. top stories for you here on al jazeera, convoys of aid trucks have started moving into besieged syrian areas. a humanitarian operation which followed discussions in damascus with the u.n. special envoy staffan de mistura. china is accused of deploying missiles on a disputed island in the south china sea. taiwan said they placed surface to air as i say miles on the woody island. the u.n. concerned about hundreds of iraqi civilians stranded by fighting near sinjar in the north.

kurdish forces recaptured the town in november 15 months after isil killed or enslaved members of the yazidi religious minority. lets take you to the capital of kosovo, thousands gathering there at an opposition independence day protest. they are demanding the resignation of the government. stefan, what's been happening? >> well, i have never seen so many people in recent kosovo history in the streets. the whole pedestrian zone in the city center is clogged. people from all overcame here today to celebrate independence day and to support the opposition protest, because the opposition leaders are demanding resignation from the prime

minister and foreign minister, the presidential candidate hire in kosovo. this government has agreed with the government of serbia to establish association of the certain minority policies here in kosovo. given the fact that there are still people missing from the war from the end of the 1990's, there were 12,000 people killed during the war with serbian forces here in kosovo. people are strongly opposing to this, not only people who were voting for the opposition parties, because opposition actually had very few m.p.'s in the parliament, but there are people voting for this government who are in the opposition rally. this is very big rally. i've never seen so many people here in one place and they say they will stay here until the current government resigns. there are many albanians, many

flags of the united states of america, flags of germ kneel here, which shows that these people are actually aligned with the west, but they are saying that even though this government is pro western, they are staying here until they resign if that for now, there are no incidents, even though in the previous months there were incidents reported after the opposition rallied, there are huge numbers of police officers all over kosovo because everybody is expecting -- >> stefan, thank you. nearly 4,000 people are known to have drowned in the mediterranean trying to reach europe. of course, many of them are unidentified. there are others who were never found. we have more on that from the greek island. >> the girl was lying face down

in the pebbles, the palms of her hands were so white said the municipal worker, she thought they was wearing gloves. she was 10 or 11 years old. thirty kilometers done the coast, a woman was found in the water, possibly from the same wreck. we found a woman, able 25-35 in a state of decay. she was completely neighborhood. it was an awful sight. she even had her arms and legs but her face was missing. there was no skin or flesh. it was just skull. >> the bodies are among more than 160 found in greek and turkish waters this year. the island sits across the north winds that predominate here, so acts as a knelt for bodies stirred from the depths. turkish fruit juices, anti nausea pills and the life vests that didn't save those who wore them are still on the beaches. >> even in death are degrees of

misfortune. some dead are found, identified and shipped home for pureal. some are listed as missing but never found. some are found but remain identified like the girl who washed up on this beach. there are those who are never sought and never found, the sea claimed them without a tries. >> people have long spoken of the drowned as eaten by fish. >> we have a serious problem with this. many of my customers won't eat fish because of this. it's begun to be very difficult to sell fish. >> these unmarked be graves mark the final resting operation for a young girl, two men in their 20's and the woman who's only distinguishes marks were five gold bracelets buried with her. all that remain of d.n.a. sample that is may one day tell their families what happened to them. 110-year-old girl haunts this surgeon. >> she was wearing a pair of

pink sweat pants with a mickey mouse patch on the side. she was wearing white pots and i think a pink overcoat, and again, her facial features were not visible had been lost to the sea. >> this is all we know about one little girl who took the peril" sea crossing into europe. she is among the unnamed dead. al jazeera. libyans are marking five years since their revolution began. even though muammar gaddafi was overthrown and killed, the country's still at war and has two rival governments. the u.n.'s been trying to end the wrist but decision on a unity government has been delayed many times. the tripoli based general national congress controls western libya while the u.n. backed government in tobruk controls most of the east, including benghazi, which is where the revolution began. we look now at life in libya five years on. >> in the city that started it

all factory five years ago, a police force is coming together. people in benghazi began the revolution against muammar gaddafi. they helped to end what many saw as his tyrannical rule. since then, crimelessness has soared, freedoms curtailed. the u.n. recognized government says it's trying to change this. >> there hasn't been away clear state including the military. thank god security and stability have begun to return bit by bit. >> law and order is one of the first things any new unit government has to tackle. before that, there needs to be a goo government. u.s. president barack obama admits it won't be easy. >> the tragedy of libya over the last several years is libya has a relatively small population and lot of oil wealth and could be really successful. they are divided by tribal lines

and ethnic lines, power plays. >> there are many players. members of two rival governments, their armies, local militias and isil all want control. one former fighter in the libyan revolution says that chaos was inevitable. >> libya is not going to be a unique situation. france went through this, all the countries that were trying really to move from dictatorship in italy rule into a democratic process. it takes some time for that to happen. >> with time, things are improving in some areas. in tripoli and the west where the government is not recognized by the u.n., the city is operational. some families feel safe enough to venture outdoors, and there's optimism about a post muammar gaddafi future. >> the revolution achieved more than 75% have the aspirations of the libyan people.

>> i don't want my son to live like me. i have lived in misery during the previous regime, i was jailed during my honeymoon. i don't want my son and young people to live like i have lived. i want them to live in prosperity in an oil producing country. >> that now rests on the politicians who need to bury their differences if libya's people are to move forward. al jazeera. getting reports of suicide attack at a yemeni military camp in aden. the blast happened as a facility in the district. it's believed eight were killed and dozens more injured. former u.n. secretary has been praised for his leadership after his death monday. he took office in 1992 during a difficult time for the u.n. his time in office was immediately tested with major conflicts in the balkans an and

rwanda. >> a palestinian journalist is on hunger strike. he has been detained in israeli without charge since last november. tuesday, the court rejected his request to be transferred to a hospital in the occupied west bank. he refused food for 84 days now. his lawyers say he would end his hunger strike if he was moved to a palestinian hospital. the technology giant apple is refusing to comply with a u.s. court order to help investigators access an iphone which belonged to a mass shooter. sayed farook and his wife were shot after they killed 14 people in the city of san bernardino. f.b.i. is investigating possible links with isil and trying to access encrypted data on his iphone.

tim cook said break to the order would set a dangerous precedent which would further chip away at people's privacy. a new treatment for cancer's been discovered where a patient's own cells are used to eradicate the cancerous ones. a trial on a group of terminally ill patients had a 94% success rate. u.s. scientists working on the therapy say it is still early days. the grammy award showcases the best of new music globally. taylor swift became the first woman to twice win album of the year. the event marks controversy have those preserving music from centuries ago. >> in the sounds of this year's grammy winner alabama shakes. ♪

>> you can hear echos of blues legend lead belly. or the 1920's blues performers recorded by paramount records which has been reissued and on monday won a grammy for best box set. music that's cherished by the smithsonian center for folk life and cultural heritage, it's mission to preserve original music to the widest public office. melodies from the u.s. virgin islands, by lingual children's tunes and mexican mariachi out of california. that who have a worldwide clientele and keep this afloat. the value has declined, but luckily we've been able to maintain and grow our collections and the revenues

required to support our nonprofit mission. >> this was recorded 1958. >> the smithsonian also keeps a vigilant guard over the musical past of the u.s. and more than 180 other countries. these are the 2200 albums collected by the founder of folk ways records. it was acquired by the smithsonian, growing the collection to 4200 albums, 45,000 tracks in all. >> now is the most optimum time to preserve it. >> tracks threatened by the ravages of time. dave walker's job is to safe them. ♪ >> like this tape of soviet protest songs recorded nearly half a century ago. >> it's high priority for us to go back in time and preserve based on fragility and content. part of what we do as an archive is ensuring that this material is not only preserved for immediate use, but for future generations. >> just as they've documented america's political and social struggles through its music, the

smithsonian staff intends to do the same for other nations and keep it all for posterity. plenty of news available for you 24/7 at aljazeera.com. >> privacy unlogged, apple rejects what it calls a dangerous precedent, court order hack into a phone used by one of the san bernardino shooters. >> we've almost gotten accustomed to how obstructionist the senate's become when it comes to nominations. the president challenges republican lawmakers to do their duty and consider his supreme court nominee. flying to havana, the u.s. and cub