syrian envoy announces a three-week pause in the geneva talks. this is syria's military cuts rebel ally routes to aleppo. >>> shot dead while carrying out a coordinated shooting and stabbing attack in coordination to jerusalem's old city. >>> and south africa's president agrees to pay back some of the $18 million spent to update his home. >> neymar returns to the pitch, and details of the copa del rey match coming up. >> talks have been paused in geneva. they're due to resume 25th of february. the opposition leader said there will not b--they will not return unless there are changes on the ground. this is how they announced the pause in these talks. >> a temperature awar temporary pause. they said there is not a failure in the talks. they came and they stayed. >> shortly after that announcement the head of the syrian government delegation accused the opposition to bough to go pressure from saudi arabia, qatar and turkey to pull out of the talks. the opposition feelings to the u.n. envoy indicate they were not serious about the negotiation. >> the

mohammed jamjoom has the latest from geneva. >> the day after peace talks broke down in geneva, it's becoming clearer how much harder it will be to get all the parties in geneva back as the u.n. special envoy stated to the press yesterday evening, saying it was a temporary pause in the peace talks that we heard many times since last night since the aegean sea, the main negotiating body in geneva. they'll depart today. they said they have no intention of coming back to geneva on january 25th until they see demands being met. until they say lifting the siege happened in syria, and there's more aid getting in, and perhaps political prisoners or some are released. these are the decisions they said had been stipulated in the security council resolution. these are the conditions that they insisted needed to be met for formal negotiations to happen. that's going to be very difficult, to convince them to do that. the syrian regime has been getting advantage in aleppo, aided by russia, russia stated he has no intention of backing off. they say they will not do that while there are terrorists

the question is will the syrian government feel pressured to make some sort of compromise in geneva in to stop bombings in their own safe hold of damascus? >> well, it is being described as one of the worst attacks in the capitol and it is heavily guarded and secure area so definitely a blow to the government and a reminder that controlling territory is not enough. the government may control the territory but opponents can infiltrate and can attack and cause instability. now i.s.i.l. claimed responsibility for this attack, an attack really had a sectarian nature targeting shia area. now whether or not the government is willing to compromise, if you talk to anyone in the opposition they don't believe the government is ready to make any concessions because the government feels strengthened and embolden with support from russia and russia changed the landscape and battlefield lines and government has the upper hand, no, it cannot claim outright victory but it does have the upper hand but at the end of the day the government cannot recapture the whole of syria, it's going to have to reach

we are starting officially the geneva talks. we are actually listening with attention to the concerns of hnc and we are going to tomorrow discuss and listen to the concerns of the government. the discussions are starting but meanwhile the challenge is now let's also have those who have the capacity of discussing this at a different level, time to discuss about ceasefire. tomorrow, we will have another day. we will go deeper and following that, i will be able to update you. meanwhile, the talks have started. >> thank you sir. we will take one question at a time, please. introduce yourself. one question at a time. >> i'm delegating at this time to my colleague because i prefer to do it through professional assistance. >> i'm from syrian center news. spoken about insuranc assurancee syrians. >> translator: wants only dialogue but they wanted facts on the ground. concrete. all these facts should be borne by the international community that should be lifting the embargo on syria and its people, all these countries who are sponsoring

-- offensive against rebel forces is blamed for the suspension of the peace talks in geneva. also on the program, protests as the controversial transpacific trade pact is signed in new zealand. then there were nine. another presidential hopeful drops out of the race for the white house. increased binge drinking in south korea might not be something to celebrate. after only three days indirect talks between the syrian government and opposition groups have been suspended. the u.n. special envoy to syria staffan de mistura said the negotiations will resume on february 25. both sides have blamed each other for the breakdown. our diplomatic editor james bays reports. >> reporter: the u.n. special envoy came out to announce that after less than a week the syria talks are over but he insists only for now. >> i have taken the position to bring a temporary halt, it is not to end. why? they came and they stayed, not only, but both sides insisted on the fact that they are happy to have the political process >> reporter: you said nothing about the military escalation by the syrian govern

s syrian envoy suspended negotiations in geneva on how to end the war in syria. stefan de-mistura said it was temporary talks, and they have not failed, they are due to continue on 25th february. the opposition coordinator said that they will not return until there's a change on the ground. the syrian government will announce later if they'll return. it came after a break through was made on the ground, cutting the rebel supply route between aleppo and the turkish border. more on that shortly. first, here is how the pause in the talks was announced. >> the difficulty in the decision to bring a temporary pause is not the end and is not the falture of the talks. why? they came and they stayed. not only but both sides insisted on the fact that they are interested in having the political process started. >> shortly after the announcement the head of the syrian delegation accused them of bowing to pressure from saudi arabia, turkey and others to pull out of the talks. it was indicated that they weren't serious about the negotiations. >> translation: the decision was m

s emergency committee in geneva. more than 10 million people are need of urgent food aid in ethiopia due to a drought. ban ki-moon is due for a trip on sunday. the thai government has been drilling wells for search of water. the annual dry season is expected to be one of the worst on record because of the el nino system. wayne hay has been in the country's north-east. >> reporter: in parts of thailand water has become a very precious commodity. the government ordered the drilling of around 6,000 new wells to try to help people through the dry season. at the moment the water is for domestic use only. it is being rationed and sent to homes in rural areas where people are growing increasingly frustrated by the drought. >> translation: it affects everyone around here. we rely on rain for living our lives and farming. i don't understand why we don't have enough water >> reporter: without a lot of irrigation it's atoo too dry here to grow r ice more than twice a year. they have been told not to use any water on their field

s emergency committee in geneva.re is new urgency in the search for ways to control the disease but with potential vaccines still many years away a company from the uk has a new approach aimed at controlling the mosquito which spreads the virus and paul brennan reports from the uk. >> reporter: this is the mosquito, it spreads dengue and chikungunya and yellow fever and now the zika vie ru-- virus and how do we rid this, a female in three months produce 15.6 female off spring all able to spread the disease and the solution of this company architect is to breed in genetically a mortality gene to prevent the off spring from reaching adulthood. in this research labor genetic biologist use an antedote for the gene and they can make the male moss mosquitos and they don't bite or spread diseases but in the wild they can descimate the population. >> they cannot tell the difference between our males and a wild one and if she mates with ours the off spring will die and it's simply a numbers game and need to put more males out

syria talks in geneva formally begin with the opposition taking part in its first official session. plus. >> reporter: i'm in south africa. the land appropriation bill has many concerned >>> we start in the u.s. state of iowa where the race for the white house has begun. delegates have been casting their votes at the iowa caucus to choose their presidential candidate. ted cruz has one against donald trump. hillary clinton and bernie sanders are neck and neck. martin o'malley has bowed out after a weak result >> i congratulate my opponents. i wish o'malley the very best. he is a great person who has served our country. i am excited about really guess into the debate with senator sanders about the best way forward to fight for us and america >> i want to take this opportunity to congratulate secretary clinton and her organization for waging a very vigorous campaign and i want to thank governor o'malley >>> to our correspondent who is in des moines in iowa. clinton and sanders there in a close race. take us through the numbers. how close was it? >> reporter: it's astonishing really for

. >> both sides are here in geneva, and there are talks taking place. there are no actual negotiations. the formal proximity talks with both sides at the same time here in the united nations, they haven't started. i think from the opposition side, there's a little bit of a fudge here p.m. initially they said they wouldn't come unless certain conditions that are in the u.n. security council resolution that created this process were met, the lifting of sieges, stopping of bombardment and the release of prisoners. none of those things have happened. some in the opposition want to keep this process going, they don't want to walk away, and so for now, they're having meetings but saying those meetings are about addressing those concerns rather than actually negotiating. i think they can keep this fudge going for a few days but as i say, there are some in the opposition delegation, particularly the armed groups that say we really need to see something concrete on the ground in syria or we will walk away, so i think a few more days of this slight confusion and

syria talks begin in geneva. >> reporter: i'm in south africa. the land appropriation bill is concerning to farmers >>> in the u.s. where the race for the white house have begun in iowa at the caucus to choose their candidates. ted cruz has won ahead of donald trump. the democratic votes are still being counted by hillary clinton and bernie sanders are neck and neck. already, though, martin o'malley has bowed out after a week result >> i congratulate my esteamed friends and opponents. i wish governor o'malley the very best. he has served our country and i am excited about really getting into the debate with senator sanders about the best way forward to fight for us and america. >> i want to take this opportunity to congratulations secretary clinton and her organization for waging a very vigorous campaign and i want to thank governor o'malley >>> let's get the latest from our correspondent who is in des moines in iowa. this is the second time around that iowa has not given clinton the love that she has always wanted to iowa. was the race between h

said it's received assurances on providing relief to people as negotiations for talks continue in geneva. >> the new faces of politics in myanmar, taking their seats after decades of military rule. >>> stepping up the fight against zika. modified mosquitoes being used to slow the spread of the virus. >>> at least 17 people have been killed in an explosion in afghanistan's capitol. several others were injured in cap bull near the police headquarters. new police recruits are among the dead. the afghan taliban has claimed responsibility. live to our correspondent jennifer glass in kabul for us. a pretty bold and blazen attack by the taliban. what happened in this one? >> it was a bold attack that happened in the early hours of the afternoon here in broad daylight. the suicide bomber, this taliban suicide bomber joined a line of new recruits and others trying to order the afghan civil police headquarters in the center of town and blew himself up, as you said. a senior official tells us 17 have died and dozens injured in that attack in the center of town. this is not far from the kabul zoo on

again to see the special envoy but for now they're staying in geneva. they know very well that their position is being under mined by the russian and syrian government military opposite ration, which they believe was carefully timed for this moment. they want their allies to speak out. the ongoing bombardment is not only causing bloodshed in syria, it risks destroying these talks. james bays, al jazeera, geneva. >> well, the middle east expert from the school of economic science. it's incredible the shift we see now in syria. over the last two weeks, how much do you think the balance of power has shifted in syria over the past few weeks? >> it has shifted. it has shafted, not dramatically, but it has shifted a great deal. the russian intervention over the last two months has allowed the syrian army to create major gains in the north, in the south, and even the americans have acknowledged that the syrian army and russians have made a major offense. they're trying to separate damascus, and the syrian army is on the offensive. the syrian airstrikes have he

but the opposition said that it's undermining talks in geneva. hello there, i'm barbara and you're watching aljazeera live from london. and also, the race to be the presidential candidate. and it's not donald trump. and yemen's national museum is destroyed by fire after two days of heavy shelling. and how the world health organization is stepping up in the fight against the zika virus. thank you for joining us. syrian government forces have launched a major offensive from the north of aleppo and captured several strategically important towns. they're trying to cut rebel supply lines to aleppo and also to the turkish border. with the support of russian strikes, they have captured. the aim is to break through territory north of aleppo to reach the village. they would cut off the fighters in the north and prevent the reinforcement from getting through. reporting from northern turkey, close to the syrian border. >> reporter: this battle can change the balance of power in the strategic corner of syria. they're taking town by town in the northern count

they were given assurances that you come here to geneva and something will happen. the government will give a gesture pretty much on day one. that didn't happen. what happened was the reverse. what happened was the increase in the violence. a new initiative around aleppo about the syrian government, back by russian bombardment. when they came here this morning, he came here to this hotel, i was in the hospital all afternoon because the opposition wouldn't go to the u.n. i was just outside of the room, i was told it was an intense and emotional meeting that they had with the special envoy. the special envoy again left the room and we were told that he was heading towards the restroom. i'm told he was accompanied by other special envoys from western countries, including the u.k. and the u.s. whether they wrote the statement. >> they're insisting that the talks were not a failure, but there are many looking in from the outside who will think they are a failure. >> well, i think they are a failure. russia is supposed to be one of the sponsors in this process, yet they'r

>>> syria's government and opposition trade blame as talks in geneva collapse. the world news from al jazeera. also coming up, britain's prime minister calls for billions more in aid for syria's refugees as donors meet in london. obama uses a visit to a mosque to take a stand against bigotry and an attack on islam is an attack on all faith. the u.n. mass suspended talks at ending syria's five year war. the government and opposition blame each other after the collapse after just two days. on the ground the war rages on. it appears that the regime is winning. they are claiming a major victim in aleppo with the support of russian air power. in a moment we will have the latest on the frighting, firstly get's get more on the stalled talks from our correspondent who is in geneva. >> reporter: just give us an jaup date of what has happened-- an update on what has happened >> reporter: today we are just expecting members of the main opposition negotiating the delegation here, they're going to be departing. it is really a pessimistic mood here. it has been progressively

again to see the special envoy, but for now they're staying in geneva. they know very well that their position has been undermined by the russian and syrian government military operation which they believe was carefully timed for this moment. they want their allies to speak out, the ongoing bombardment is not only causing problems is syrian i can't it is risking these talks >>> to yemen where about 40 houthi fighters have been killed by saudi-led air strikes. it happened north-east of the capital in a mountain range where pro-government fighters are trying to take back control. six yemeni soldiers and allied fighters from the resistance armed group were also killed in clashes around the camp. further south shelling in the city of taiz has destroyed yemen's national museum. historical artefacts have been lost forever. >> translation: i stand here inside the national museum in the city of taiz. the museum has been under heavy shelling now under the forces of the president. you can see the fire is in every corner here in the building. everything was burnt d

the opposition in geneva says russia is actively undermining the peace process. it continues to bomb the areas. in jordan, british foreign secretary phillip hammond condemned russia's airstrikes in syria. >> a couple of months ago, it was a steady trickle of people returning to their homes from syria in this camp did he spite what is going on in the country. that has now stopped and a new tired of refugees heading in this direction because of the russia bombing, russia cannot continue to sit at the table as a sponsor of the political process and at the same time, be bombing the civilian areas of the groups of people that we believe will form the backbone of the new syria once assad is gone. >> we've seep a situation on the ground in syria, but what about the efforts in geneva to end the conflicts? let's speak to muhammed. the bombing of civilians is exactly what the syrian opposition in geneva has been calling for, the end of the bombing, anyway. they've been calling for that. in the last hour, we've heard from both the syrian delegation and main opposition deleg

he is on the ground in geneva. >> both sides are here in geneva and there are talks taking place.e no actual negotiations, the formal proximity talks with both sides at the same time here in the united nations haven't started. from the opposition side, there's a little bit of a fudge here. initially they said they wouldn't come unless certain conditions that are in the u.n. security council resolution that cradled this pros were met, the lifting of sieges, stopping of bombardment and the release of prisoners. none of those things have happened. some in the opposition want to keep this process going, they don't want to walk away, and so for now, they're having meetings but saying those meetings are about addressing those concerns rather than actually negotiating. i think they can keep this fudge going for a few days but as i say, there are some in the opposition delegation, particularly the armed groups that say we really need to see something concrete on the ground in syria or we will walk away, so i think a few more days of this slight confusion and then i think there will need t

in geneva they're attempting to find common ground. al jazeera's diplomatic editor james bays has this report from switzer. >> and the delegation from the syrian regime arriving at the u.n. they're supposed to be talking peace. instead, the government has launched a major escalation. the man in charge of convening the talks has repeatedly called for the lifting of sieges and has asked all the the countries who are in the sponsor of this process however, opposition members say th they've carried out heavy bombing in support of the defense around aleppo. >> we're hoping for a good surprise and nice surprise that would have give us some oxygen to hope and to reassure our people that we made the right decision by coming to geneva. instead, we had this unbelievable attack of this morning, unprecedented air bombing on the city of aleppo and on the city of homs. aleppo is currently under huge attacks. we have not seen that since the beginning of the revolution. it looks even like aleppo might be besieged. >> members of the main opposition blo

single day as a tactic by the assad regime so we need to speak out powerfully about the urgent need of genevadeliver a ceasefire, to deliver humanitarian assistance and to get civilians from stopping being bombed on a daily basis. >> let's go now to hashem live for us in rome where the coalition talks are taking place and kerry was highlighting the suffering of civilians under threat and what is the strategy when it comes to taking on iraq and syria hashem? >> from the face of secretary of state john kerry you can tell that the international coalition is now determined to find a way out of the crisis in syria and iraq and take on i.s.i.l. but their biggest problem i think they are facing right now is to balance two things, take on i.s.i.l. on one hand and at the same time find a permanent solution to the crisis in syria and why he is putting more emphasis on the need to put an end to the humanitarian catastrophe and allow aid to civilians trapped on the outskirts of the capitol damascus because the international coalition is worried about the fact that if the crisis continues this is going to

headquarters in geneva, the u.n. special envoy stefan de mistura felt that this marked the formal start of the syria peace talks process. an opposition spokesman said they want to see concrete developments on the ground. >> 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 removed, in fact, very positive maisages from the special envoy, and tomorrow he will have a meeting with the regime side, and we'll wait for a reply from him. >> mr de mistura also used this to send a message to the regional and international countries that have been setting up the process. he said it was time for an immediate ceasefire. >> there was a message in the vienna meetings, that when the geneva walks will start they should be at the beginning of a serial discussion about ceasefire. that is not something i can discuss, it is something to be discussed at the level of the i.s. g, and those countries involved in take

also a had dash dash in geneva, syria's government and opposition trade blame as talks collapse. >>> julian assange looks to have won his case at the u.n., he's still in the ecuadoran embassy and british police say he's facing arrest >>> oil giant shell is looking to cut 10,000 jobs. we look at the crisis across the world. >>> first up, the u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon says the first steps in syria's talks have been undermined by the government's offensive in aleppo, talking at a major conference in london to drum up $9 billion in aide. in a moment we'll have the latest on the fighting in syria. first, more on the donor conference from barnaby phillips in london. and what have we been hearing this morning. >> we have heard a success of features about the magnitude, the scale of humanitarian disaster. i know these are numbers, they do bear rapting. the fact that half of syria's population has been displaced during five years now of horrific fighting. something like 4 million of those people have fled abroad between 6 and 7 million displaced within syria itself, the humanitarian

again to see the special envoy but for now they're staying in geneva. they know very well that their position is undermined by the russian and syrian government which they believed was timed for this moment. they want their allies to speak out. the bombardment is not only causing blood in syria but it is risking these talks >>> to yemen where about 40 houthi fighters have reportedly been killed by saudi-led air strikes. it happened north-east of the capital in the mountain range where pro-government fighters are trying to take back control. six yemeni soldiers and allied fighters from the popular resistance armed group were also killed in the clashes around the camp. japan has put its military on alert to shoot down a north korean rocket if it threatens japanese certain. the north koreans insist that the rocket will carry a harmless satellite. japan's prime minister says he and other leaders are far from convinced. >> translation: when north korea says it will launch a satellite, it really means a ballistic missile. these tests is an obvious violation o

the parties back to geneva on 25 february. he said it was just a temporary pause in these peace talks. we heard many times since last night from the hnc, that's the main opposition party here, they will be departing today. they say they have no intention of coming back on 25 february until they actually see some of their demands being met. until, they say, that the lifting the siege has happened in syria and that there's more humanitarian aid getting in and some political prisoners are released. these are the conditions that over the past several days they've insisted needed to be met before formal negotiations could happen. on the syrian regime side, that's going to be very difficult for staffan de mistura to convince them to do that. the syrian regime has been getting military advantage in aleppo, aided by russia and russia stated that they have no intention of backing off from aerial bombard many. they say they're not going to do that while there are still terrorists in syria. it is a complicated and even more difficult to

rusk: the geneva conference of laos was 14. there was fewer in 1954. are you referring to that group? mr. sparkman: there was a proposal to reconvene the conference, the geneva conference. sec. rusk: that suggestion has been -- excuse me -- mr. sparkman: go ahead. sec. rusk: that suggestion has been made many times, chiefly from our side. the other side has been unwilling to come to such a conference. we have indicated that it was one of our 14 points that we would welcome a conference on southeast asia or on any part of it. thought seven or nine months ago that there was a nibble on this direction from the other side. a delegation to moscow and in their joint givenique, they seemed to approval on a drink medication with hanoi and laos. something happened with that -- approval on a joint communication with hanoi and laos. something happened with that and those conferences were not held. we will be glad to see a conference on vietnam or allow us or cambodia or all three or cambodiaor laos or all three together. mr. sparkman: do you know of any channel t

the head flew into geneva a few hours ago, so he could be part of the discussions.re is a sense of real frustration and building anger amongst those hnc members. one said earlier in the day that right now russia isn't just bombing aleppo, they are also bombing the geneva syrian talks. really the opposition feels as though the russians and the syrian regime have completely undermined them. they have not met any of the conditions they needed to meet. the talks have come to a complete stand still. we don't know if there will be anymore official meetings. frankly the syrian regime and the syrian opposition have maintained that these talks have not officially started. earlier in the day we heard from the head of the syrian regime delegation here in geneva. let's take a listen to some of what he had to say to reporters earlier today. >> we will stay as long as it is required by the formalities and the organizational matters, because we are still mainly speaking with the organizational matters. we don't know who will be our interlocutories, we do not know how many delegati

in geneva. yesterday we saw both sides talking to the media. what can we expect today? >> reporter: i will try to breakdown the schedule as we've been told it will go today. right now behind this hotel there are supposed to be meetings going on this morning, delegates, members of the opposition, the high negotiation council, they can agree on how to go forward. they're also expected to meet later today with staffan de mistura, the u.n. envoy staffan de mistura for syria, although the opposition here has stressed on many occasions that just because they may meet at the u.n. with staffan de mistura does not mean they are actually taking part in these talks, whether you want to call them negotiations or proximity talks as we've heard. in the next couple of hour we are expecting there be a meeting at the u.n. between the delegation and staffan de mistura to try to get that going forward. it has been quite chaotic on the ground here. schedules that may be agreed in the morning are not adhered to. thi

ed gritzner/lake geneva, wi police dept.) "the divers have indicated that most of them are resting on the ice that they were on top of, so the weight of the vehicle's pushing them down at certain angles." amidst some award- winning snow sculptures, the mess on the lake was the bigger spectacle. (lindsay urbaitis/ spectator) "like i said just terrifying and just you know, thank the lord that no one was in any of the carsrs" lake geneva police said no one was injured. deborah/elisa gusty today! elisa elisisraffa eraffa@kcautv.co m blizzard warning in effect for northern iowa, concerns of blowing snow and reduced visibility. don't travel.. take winter surivival kit reduced visibility. don't travel.. take winterurivival kit if you have to travel. wind advisory in effect for sioux city, parts of iowa, guguy winds.. 40 to 50 mph. be alert when driving, tie down items ananwatch for blowing snow. blizzards don't require heavy snow.. just gusty winds and low visibility. we are seeing snow on hd radar. i've seen reports of them being o

the talks officially begin now in geneva. i will come back to that in a minute. we have an opportunity here that we didn't have a few months ago, and my profound gratitude to every country that came to vienna twice and to new york under tough circumstances, everybody's schedules were pressed but we got to the talks and that was the objective. in libya we're on the brink of getting a government of national unity and that will prevent d.a.e.s.h. from turning libya into a strangle hold and that country's future, as everybody knows, that country has resources. the last thinking in the world you-- thing you want in the world you want is a false caliphate with billions of dollars of oil revenue. we need to forge ahead with training personnel and we need to make sure that there's a decisive territory edge to create a safe environment for government to stand up and operate. this is a major obligation for those countries, us among them, who were there at the very beginning when we felt compelled to protect people from 10,000 or more people being slaughterered by the dicta

as the talks continue in geneva, a meeting with the u.n. special envoy staffan de mistura was very positive. the group has threatened to walk away from indirect talks with the government unless humanitarian concerns were addressed first. they're due to meet again in a few hours. let's get the latest from our correspondent in geneva. what can we expect today? >> reporter: pleat try and breakdown the latest. right now there are meetings going on in the hotel behind us, members of the opposition trying to figure out how to go forward today. there will be a meeting to be held later today with staffan de mistura and members of the opposition, or the opposition said just because they're going to the meet with him does not mean that they are actually participating in these proximity talks or negotiations, whichever you want to call them. also in the next couple of hours there's expected to be a meeting between the syrian regimes delegation and staffan de mistura held at the u.n. here. i want to get more perspective about what's going on exactly wi

but message from geneva was not promising at all. because the talks did not continue due to the situation on the ground. but we have to know -- all of us we have to know, if there is no good message from geneva next time, we will be having many more donor's conferences in the future without any solution. >> and he is talking about the failure of the geneva talks which when they were postponed were painted as a temporary cessation, but the sense we have got since then with the opposition refusing to take part with the accusations being leveled by those members of the regime, the government delegation, it is going to be hard to pull these people back together. >> yeah, how easy it is going to be to get them back together. i put that question to staffan de mistura, and he said i can't tell you. i have to give my assessment to ban ki-moon. but then i spoke to insiders who said it was going to be very difficult. >> a cessation to the bombing, the lifting of sieges -- >> yeah, maybe even early, early stages they were hoping for a release o

signing and ratification of the geneva protocol. in 1966 the u.s. claimed that it did not use chemical weapons in vietnam. it instead used chemical agents and not against personnel. so they are not weapons if they are not antipersonnel -- used for antipersonnel purposes. the u.s. had used chemical agents including white phosphorous in world war ii, but began using herbicides to clear around bases as defensive measures. then further field as an offensive strategy, always careful to3hap call it a chemic agent. in response to the united states' actions in vietnam and its refusal to sign the geneva protocol the u.n. refined its definition in 1967 i believe it was to include any chemical agent used during warfare that may be toxic to man, animals or plants. this is where we get the idea of ecoside. so inventing ecocide. scientists in the united states and elsewhere began radicalizing themselves and organizing themselves and other sympathetic people to their view of the use of chemical agents in war as ecocide so it's the destruction, the murder of ecosys

where russia is supports a government offensive blamed for undermining talks in geneva. activists say 45 civilians were killed on tuesday, and they are reporting the heaviest bombardment in the area since the war began five years ago. emergency workers are searching for survivors, and amid the disruption, this child was trapped in rubble for hours, presumed killed. rescue workers found him in time. let's have a look at the map. the advance began on sunday, and it's taken a string of villages, including these. the regime is trying to link up with territory it controls. and the aim is to cut off rebels inside aleppo city, the largest city in syria. zeina khodr is on the turkish side of the syrian border, how is that offensive shaping up in aleppo. >> well, it is ongoing, and the government is advancing. we managed to speak to some ssa commanders in the area. what they tell us is that they are in a difficult position, under a lot of pressure, and have sent some reinforcements to the front line and heavier weapons, they say they are facing a lot of difficulties. according to

envoy has now met both sides of the conflict for preliminary discussions showing the talks in genevaally getting off the ground. but the humanitarian vcrisis in syria continues and more than 3,000 refugees crossed into turkey in the past three days fleeing advances by pro-government forces and air strikes and we will go to james base who has been following the talks and james we heard in the next half hour or so we are due to hear from the u.n. envoy staffan de mistura do we have any idea what he is likely to say? >> certainly he is going to be speaking to us after his latest meeting with an opposition delegation that started about an hour ago. when that meeting is over not clear if we are going to hear from those opposition members, whether they will brief us here at the united nations and it's interesting if there was a meeting on friday, a similar meeting in the same room, the syrian government delegation didn't speak to reporters and i suspect because the u.n. told them not to here in the united nations where the talks are supposed to take place. another interesting point on this

they diplomatic conferences in syria -- geneva diplomaticbig conferences in geneva did not come to anything. other world leaders, like president obama, seemed to change and take a softer line. let's take a listen to laurent fabius beaten on that issue when he was leaving the foreign ministry today. speaking onabius that issue when he was leaving the foreign ministry today. the latest reports from the united nations show that assad has tens of thousands of people tortured -- had tens of thousands of people tortured, murdered, imprisoned. armen: some have criticized him for this hardline saying -- hardline, saying, you've got to work with him. we cannot dored, that. we would then face a situation where syrians flock to islamic state and other groups, if we fell out as friends. it is not surprising he took this long till the end. he was consistent on that, even though other leaders like obama changed their tune a bit. fabius got criticism on the syrian issue as a result of that. catherine: -- emma: the tax fraud trial of france's former budget minister has been hit by a delay. he stashed milli

and then you had the head of the hnc arriving here in geneva.nd what is interesting about that is instead of the opposition coming to the u.n. and meeting with staffan de mistura meeting at his office, you had him going to their hotel. so it's real shaky ground right now. >> mohammed jamjoom for us in geneva. mohamed as always, thank you very much. when he come back, bill cosby back in court today. the latest attempt to have those sexual assault charges against him dismissed. >>> and president obama going to a mosque today. >>> house republicans are vowing to press on even after their latest effort to end obamacare failed. they couldn't muster the votes to override the president's veto. the house needed a two-thirds majority to do so. it failed on a final vote of 241-186. >>> a bill undermining the iranian deal has now cleared the senate that measure restricts the president's ability to lift sanctions against iran. even if it passes the senate, the president says he will veto it. in just about an hour the president will make his first visit to a

it's been confirmed that a key syrian opposition figure, the commander will be attending talks in geneva in ending the bloody civil war in syria. it comes as the high negotiation committee arrives for first session of the talks. it's been given a positive response. sieges on towns and cities could actually be addressed. the u.n. envoy has met both sides for preliminary discussions. the humanitarian crisis in syria meanwhile continues. more than 3,000 refugees crossed into turkey in the past three days, fleeing advances by pro-government forces backed by russian airstrikes. >> in the last few minutes, i can tell you that the meeting that got underway between the special envoy and the delegation from the opposition. yes, they met 24 hours ago, but not here in the formal setting of the u.s. headquarters, and this is the first formal meeting here between the opposition and the special envoy. mohammad alush is not in that meeting today. we understand it's possible depending on formalities in the airport and length of the meeting that he will come here to the j headquarters and join that deleg

lots of focus on the temporary halt of the syrian peace talks in geneva. it'srine: not surprising, the lead story on lebanon's daily english newspaper. lebanon is home to a massive number of syrian refugees. one in five people in lebanon is a syrian refugee. the paper is reporting that those talks broke down after russian airstrikes helped the syrian army to advance on aleppo. "the independent" is running a ,ather scathing editorial asking "what hope is there for progress in syria when assad uses these negotiations as a cover for a brutal offensive in syria?" even if they manage to reaching agreement between all parties, the civil war is unlikely to end and it may even get worse. the conflict between the she has, represented by assad's government and his allies -- the assad'sepresented by government and his allies, and others -- those peace talks are breaking down, there is another conference underway today. that's in london. it's a big donors conference. catherine: world leaders are gathering, hoping to raise $9 billion for syrian refugees, money that wou

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

we are live in geneva. how are those events on the ground in syria affecting prospects of those talks? >> they are certainly calling into question the commitment of the international community to actually. one of the things that we've heard so much from the opposition here in the past few days is that they don't trust the syrian regime are calling into question very much the international communities commitment to peace in syria and help for the syrian people. today, really, the whole idea of these talks is sort of coming under question. you know, once news broke that there would be no meeting between the h.n.c., the main opposition negotiating body here put a lot of question marks as far as what is going to happen in the days ahead, if these talks are going to be continuing and at what pace exactly. a few hours back, we did hear from the spokesperson from the high negotiations committee. let's listen to what was said. >> we don't have that little clip lined up hypocritical for russia to play parts in peace

and several other countries are ee meeting in geneva today to discuss how a ceasefire might be implemented in skir i can't. they/-- - syria. the turkish government wants the u.s. to clarify its stance on the syrian kurdish y.p.g. fighters. turkey is blaming the y.p.g. for the attacks in ankara on wednesday, although there has been no claim on responsibility. humanitarian aid air drops to besieged syrian city. 200,000 who have been cut off by i.s.i.l. are in need of food and medicine. >> reporter: convoys of badly needed food and medicine began rolling into besieged towns. aid trucks were allowed into government and rebel-controlled areas. there will be deliveries by road on others soon. ground access is not possible to der azzor. the only way this is by air >> we will also hope then to have progress in reaching the poor people inside of the area besieged by islamic state, der azzor. that can only be done by air drops and the program has a concrete plan of doing so, it is a complicated operation and it would be in many ways the first of its kind ever >> reporter: in south sudan the world fo

brushing up on the geneva convention. what the hell is the geneva convention? you should stay and brush up with me. you talking to me,handleman? you're not scaring me. ok, maybe you are scaring me. ten-hut! ready for inspection? yes, drill sergeant! actually, i could use a few more minutes. put a lid on it, soldier! soldiers, stand at ease. get to your bunks. good job, curtis. well done, matthews. good job, strauss. are you looking for something specific? yes. i'm looking forthe signs of a soldier, and i don'tsee one here. um...sergeant davis, can we talkfor a minute? what happened to us? we used to be so close. don't you remember, backat the recruiting office? well, we'll always have columbus, handleman. but right now, when one of you screws up, you let the whole platoon down. when one of you fails, you all fail! weekend passes revoked, compliments of private irwin handleman. um... guys, i've got some extra fig newtons. [whistling] who am i kidding? celery dog, elyse? steven, tonight you'regoing to get lucky. that's what i was talking about. you've been pathet

the geneva agreements are an adequate basis for peace in southeast asia. a conference on southeast asia or any part thereof. welcome preconditions without negotiations before unconditional discussions as an president johnson push it. a cessation of hostilities could be the first order of business. annoy's four points could be discussed along with other points which others might wish to propose. bases ino u.s. southeast asia. we do not wish to retain troops after peace. we support elections to allow the south vietnamese to give themselves a government of their choice. the countries of southeast asia can be nonaligned or neutral if that be their option. she could participate in a regional effort to which we would be prepared to put his -- contribute at least $1 billion. the viet cong would not have trouble getting their views represented. there is not been the slightest suggestion from the other side as to what they would do if the bombing stopped. these 14 points are and have been on the public record. our government has made clear what kind of peace we are

maybe we'll have geneva 4 and 5. mr. graham: what leverage do we have over assad? mr. mccain: that is the point. there is no leverage, i say to my colleague. meanwhile, while the secretary of state is pressuring the free syria forces and threatening to cut off assistance to them, russia is escalating their bombing campaign and continuing the slaughter of innocent people. meanwhile, there's also enclaves around aleppo and other places where people are literally starving to death. literally starving to death. there are pictures, my friends, on the internet if you'd like to see it. but what does our -- what does our secretary of state do? he calls lavrov. he calls lavrov and complains. and lavrov, of course, he must -- it would be very interesting to know what's going through mr. lavrov's mind, but it's very clear that the secretary of state is the sup supplicant and this incredibly weak economy with a brutal dictator in charge is achieving goals that have been age-old ambitions of the russians. they're now playing a major role in the middle east. mr. graham: can i read t

backed primarily with russian airstrikes that have actually picked up during the geneva peace talks. so the situation is getting very bad, as we heard we've heard syrianed pushing their way towards the turkish border. that's what the updating of the security council was about, number one. but they heard from a special envoy, and he updated the council how the gentlemen me have a talks, why they were put on hold. gave them a very frank assessment of what was going on, and you really got a sense here at the security council of the deep situations. the u.k. and france who clearly want peace in syria, but have differing opinions of how to reach the peace, and who was responsible for the geneva talks having to be postponed. let's listen to what they had to say. >> the syrian regime have made no concessions. quite the contrary on the one hand the syrian regime claims to discuss this in geneva, and on the other hand it intensifies the military offensive with the groups it is supposed to discuss, and an unprecedented torrent of fire. all of this with russia's military support within the fram