editor. rob, face to face talks are not taking place this friday. what is happening there and said? collects what exactly is happening is a little difficult to say. ofare operating on a vacuum information today, but it is clear that things are not going according to plan. it had planned to be a joint meeting with the two sides together and a yuan envoy. that did not happen. the parallel talks that were meant to happen during the day foiled and it had been hoped that there would be a joint meeting at the end of the day. that is clearly not going to happen. thatyria regime is saying they are putting forward demands that make it impossible to make progress, in particular, demanding that the regime recognized the communiqué of , according to their

interpretation of it, which means bashar al-assad has to go. that is where we are stumbling at the moment. the regime has had a meeting with the envoy this morning. this afternoon, there is due to be a meeting with the opposition with the envoy. at the moment, it appears that things are not going well at all. >> clearly, a rocky start to this conference. is anything filtering out? to you know what is being discussed? know what is being discussed? >> at the moment, it does not seem anything is being discussed. they have not even gotten the little steps that everyone had hoped would lead to more serious talks down the road. the idea would be that they would establish humanitarian core doors, local cease-fires, and prisoners releases -- humanitarian core doors, local cease-fires, and prisoners released. the opposition itself is not a

particularly good terms with the fighters on the ground in syria. said they had been negotiating before the geneva conference started with forces on the ground. they can to go shade a cease- fire in aleppo and homs, but it has not even gotten that fire -- that far. they cannot even agree on where to start talking. >> we will check back in with you as things develop. for more analysis on the international efforts to find peace in syria, i am joined by wilfred the lefty, a former officer of diplomacy. we just heard from our chief editor. it is pretty rough going there in geneva. what is your outlook for this conference? >> when you look at the conference, geneva two, you have to think in three phases.

the first phase is the mega form diplomacy. declarations, unilateral pop .gain the -- propaganda we have now moved today into what one can call the indirect diplomacy. still two rooms and the envoy shuttling between the two, no eye to eye contact, no face-to- face contact. mediator to to the bring them into one room and let them have a face-to-face meeting , since they have not been eye to eye for some years. only then will we enter the phase of what i call quiet diplomacy. the preconditions for quiet diplomacy is, first, an agenda on which all can agree. we have heard agenda points like cease-fire, prisoners exchange, humanitarian assistance. the other prerequisite is

inclusive participation. we have not heard of iranians being present in geneva. and once the minimal and temporary agenda of not to fix the war, but to amend it toward genuine peace talks and problem solving, once we have set the agenda, it is a matter of the strategy of the mediator. it must be a strategy of pluralism. -- >> before we get to that strategy, let's talk about today's hitch. the opposition is saying they want agreement on the geneva one communiqué, the calls for a transitional government with full executive powers. therer in a communiqué, is no mention about the president, or lack thereof of president bashar al-assad. that is where this whole agreement hinges postop --

hinges. where does this go from now? >> it is detrimental for anyone to set preconditions or red lines. this is not how you open the mind of clear adversaries. that is -- otherwise they would not be there. it is to come to a clear understanding of the other side requests. what you should be interested in is the other yonder own site. you know your own site. -- beyond your own side. you know your own side. until you get to the psychology, you will not have genuine results and outcomes. therefore it is a very long process. thewe are just in preliminary phases. and preconditions, i repeat, on of aide are the start total failure. >> you are saying that the

opposition saying this, it is already setting things off on the wrong foot and it is not going to happen? >> this is window dressing. this is the continuation of diplomacy, mega form including the media. >> the syrian regime, their representatives are saying if then any concrete negotiations do not start, they are threatening to walk away by tomorrow. is that playing the same game as the opposition? >> that is a threat that one has to test. and the very experienced mediator will test their political will for any sort of first contact and debate with each other, to build confidence on these minimal measures, such as cease-fire. if there is no political will to interim onms in the these matters, no reason and no use to continue to conference.

>> how can the mediator convince them to show the political will? >> to try to find out the position of both parties on the real and root causes of conflict. one of the basic realities in this conflict is the ethnic pluralism. we know the shiites, the sunnis, the kurds, the christians, the druids, and various other drives -- tribes, they have to listen to each other's demand, expectations, their personal psychology. all of this has to be dissected in order to find a minimal common ground. it is no use to start with , or with sentences such as "assad has to go." regime change in any

negotiations is the last thing to envisage. because it cuts off the political will of those concerned, who feel threatened by regime change. right, wilfred polaski, former german ambassador, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. this is a competent a situation and we see that it continues. thank you for coming in. tensions are running high in cairo. three blasts have struck the egyptian capital this friday. first, a car bomb that hit police headquarters in the early morning hours, killing at least four. the second and third blasts also policeng police off -- forces. security has been stepped up across the capital and there have been mass protests against the new regime. the anniversary -- the third anniversary of the beginning of the revolution. >> on blasts -- bomb blasts

across the egyptian capital, sending debris flying in front of the building. egyptian media and police sources are saying a car approached from the south of the building. several people were killed and injured. gunshots were also reported. this man who lived nearby described the scene. >> we were home when all of a sudden, everything exploded in the apartment. the furniture, the walls fell. my two-year-old son is injured. my daughter got shot. man threw a say a hand grenade parked in a metro station in a busy neighborhood. gathered, chanting anti-muslim brotherhood slogans. no one has claimed response ability for the blast. the latest in a string of attacks since egypt forcibly

removed president mohammed morsi last july. >> the finishing touches are being put on geneva's new constitution. has -- thetion assembly has approved the final legislation. approval is expected on the charter on saturday. after theears beginning of the arab spring, a breakthrough in tunisia. articles of a46 new constitution. canadian --hat each can recognize themselves in today's constitution. today, we have really succeeded in finding the necessary consensus. >> the charter now seasons -- needs to be submitted for a vote on saturday.

the constitution need a two thirds majority. failing that, it will be put to a referendum. mps hope they can unite the divided country. constitution will be voted by more than two thirds. why not with 90% of the assembly? and -- >> the interim prime minister must then pilate tunisia to parliamentary and presidential elections at the end of the year. no easy task when high affectingnt is politics. ukraineresident of yielded nothing in the second round of talks. deadlockclared that would lead to more protests. at least for -- at least three

protesters were killed recently. 24's go over craig reports from the capital. craig reports from the capital. >> this is one of the biggest changes we've seen in recent days. surroundedbuildings by protesters. as far as i know, they have occupied local government buildings there. that is the latest news i have. they also tried into other western towns. but police chased them out again. have attempted to take control of local government buildings in that a number of other cities, including one or two in the east and south, but i don't think they have been successful. the big question remains whether people will rise up in eastern and southern ukraine. -- thesians in the past

russian speaker in the past has had support. that does not seem to be happening now. much more radical protests are beginning to be seen in a great number of towns in the ukraine. >> a report from kiev. -- french president, aligned the french president hollande the pope.ezvous with the visit comes as the president faces tensions here in the country over his private life. and this just coming out, the president has defended everywhere the right to religious freedom, this coming in the aftermath of his meeting with the pope francis at the vatican. we will have more on that coming up in the next half-hour. putting words into actions, analysts warn making south sudan's new cease-fire on the

ground is far from guaranteed. some 10,000 people are feared to have died in weeks of fighting come and millions have been forced from their homes. henry brown has more. >> ending more than five weeks of fighting, a divided africa's new his nation. rebels reached a pact to end the violence within 24 hours. hear --nd before you here for peace and consolation, withded for our region commitment to these agreements. >> the deal will put in place a verification and monitoring mechanism for truce and allow unrestricted access to aid workers. south sudan's government also agreed to free 11 detainees.

chiefe government's negotiator voiced skepticism over the rebels ability to change their operations. >> in terms of whether they agree to the cessation of , that is up to the capacity of the rebel group to guarantee the democratic transfer of power. because if they do lose that faith, then our society will bloat. fighting erupted in mid- december, the violence with the taking on an ethnic dimension. up to 2000 people have died and more than half a million had to flee their homes. >> a reminder now of our headlines. face-to-face talks over the syrian delegation will not be held this friday. no signs ofhowed compromise. bloodshed on the streets of

cairo. the egyptian capital was hit by three blasts. tensions are high on the third anniversary of the country's revolution. and protesters in ts expand their barricades as talks over political deadlock comes up empty. ofk to our top story out geneva, where efforts to find a diplomatic solution to end the war in syria are underway. the mediator is meeting with rivaling factions for a second day, this after face-to-face talks were scrapped. for more on the fighting and those affected by the board -- by the war, i'm joined by the humanitarian chief who joined us at the economic forum in dollars. thank you for taking the time to speak with us. firstly, this geneva to conference has gotten off to a rocky start. threatening to walk out and there is little hope for major progress. are there areas where you think some compromise can be found?

>> the political talks were always going to be difficult. we knew that. the mediator knows that and he will make every effort to keep them on track. on the humanitarian side, we to take thiss extremely seriously. we got millions of people inside in desperateho are need. i heard reports overnight of 1.5 million people in the africa government. -- hetheca government. we have people across the country that need serious help. >> how would you like to see this and acted? a time difficult time in

of war. >> in the absence of a cease- fire, and there doesn't seem to be much hope that right now. i think we should do this on a local basis, community by community, area by area. let's get those countries that have influenced him -- that have influence on the ground am including the government, to work with us to use that influence to secure those positives,-- those ande can get the help in health care to those who need it. there are terrible reports of people not having enough to eat, people being on the brig of running out of food. we got to address this as a matter of urgency. is on whatight now we are not able to do because there are millions of people that we are still not able to reach. >> this has been the concern for three years, since fighting has gone on.

has there been any increase in access granted to aid workers since the un's call early in october? >> it has been very small. i think that the international andunity should be ashamed how little more we have been able to do since the security council passed that presidential statement in october. yarmuk, an, -- area that is about five kilometers outside of damascus, we have managed to get five parcels of food in there. there are thousands there that we need to get to. in the northeast of syria we need to deliver by road. we need convoys of aid coming in . because of differences between the troops on the ground and the government, we have been only to take -- we have only been able to take stuff in by air. it is far too little.

there is a great deal more we can do if we have the political will behind us. >> has access to humanitarian beennd the denial of it used as a weapon? >> in my view, using a siege of communities, blockading is being usedhis as a weapon of war, absolutely. we all its own logic, know that. each side thinks that they can win. it is clear, i think of a few listens the political discussions that there is a feeling that they cannot. this could drag on for years and years while the political negotiations continue. let's take action on the humanitarian front. iss than two years ago when first went to syria, we were talking about a million people. and then we thought it was a lot. now it is more than 9 million people.

of growth, we don't want to see when we are talking about people whose lives are threatened, whose communities have been destroyed by violence. people have had to move more than once, or indeed have had to leave their country altogether, because there is no more that they can do. >> you have been in contact with the u.n. mediator. you do say, of course, these political negotiations can take a very long time. do you see anything concrete coming out of this round of directlyt can improve the situation on the ground? >> i think there are a number of things that could come out on the humanitarian side. whether the parties have the courage to put their people first and come to those agreements on the humanitarian side, we will have to see. >> let's talk about about the situation on the ground.

you have visited the country numerous times now. you mentioned a cease-fire could be a way to help the people there affected by the fighting. how much has rebel infighting affected access to areas? >> we are seeing blockages that are coming from rebel infighting, as you have called , but there are also groups on the ground that have made it very clear to us that they will not give us access. our focus has got to be on the government and the areas that areas where and the they are continuing to blockade communities. and also on those opposition groups that are blockading communities, negotiating with them for the access, and getting these local humanitarian truces. we know a political solution is ultimately what we need.

but we are three years in. people are continuing to suffer day in and day out. and without a political solution, we have to do our best on the humanitarian side. that is what i and my colleagues are focusing on right now. >> tell us which areas exactly .re these besieged communities and described the situation for the people caught in the communities. >> you've got places like yarm demir, and in aleppo, blockade you being -- blockade being used as weapons of war. but there are also a lot of places that are just hard to get to, principal because of security. we've got 2.5 million people in those areas. heka,s i've mentioned, het

an area of 1.5 million people. they are running out of food and we are not able to bring food in. medicalave need attention and are not able to leave. people need medications and they are not available. children are not in school. the situation is terrible. people without work, no jobs for them. people fearful of their lives because the violence is continuing day in and day out. i was in damascus just 10 days ago and i spoke to people who had to flee from their communities. the stories that they told were horrific. >> let's talk about the people outside of syria, those who have fled the fighting. citythe u.n. want to international trinity take a more active role in handling refugees? to see a more

onernational role in taking refugees? >> i think we have seen neighboring countries keep their borders open -- lebanon, turkey, egypt, other countries in north africa all doing their bit. to see other countries keeping their borders open, too. i know that my colleague who is the high commissioner for refugees has been talking to countries in the european union, and he says and we all agree with him that we should not see people from syria and other countries drowning trying to get to countries in europe.

>> hello. welcome to the health show. you the mosting

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