our diplomatic editor james bayes has been following the developments at the united states. , james. just how awkward was the atmosphere in the room? >> reporter: it was very strange, because you had the undersecurity council agreeing on something and passing a resolution. 14 countries in favor, only one venezuela abstained saying they felt this created a dangerous path to war, but moments after they agreed and passed the resolution, then there was a pretty furious rauch.

let's go to our diplomatic editor, james bayes joining us from there.ow have the saudi-lead air strikes in yemen affected talks between the parties who support different groups in yemen? >> reporter: well, i don't think they are affecting the actual talks, because i think they have been very strict throughout this whole long series of negotiations to focus only on the nuclear negotiations and the key deadline, or a key deadline is coming up at the end of the month, just days away but it has meant a different atmosphere, because in the sidelines of this meeting, people have been talking about this. they have been talking to reporters, and making phone calls. let me tell you what both sides have been saying. the iranians obviously with close links to the houthis, their foreign minister told reporters we believe there is an urgent need for dialogue without external interference. john kerry obviously a key ally of saudi arabia says he supports the action. he has had a conference call with foreign ministers from gulf countries, and he has told them that amer

james bayes there.ee you have james. >>> libya's tripoli-based government says an air strike has targeted the matiga airport, delaying a group from taking off for morocco. different groups have claimed responsibility for the explosions over the last week. >>> the retrial in egypt of two al jazeera journalists has been adjourned until next wednesday. mohammed fahmy and baher mohamed are accused of aiding the now banned muslim brotherhood. charges which they and al jazeera refute. the postponement came after a brief court session where for the first time witnesses took the standing. natasha ghoneim reports. >> reporter: three men who wrote a report and provided video for the prosecution took the stand in cairo. one after the other. the men said they either didn't see the videos write the report or remember what they wrote. an appeals court has ruled there wasn't enough evidence to conflict mohammed fahmy and boou bah last year. they are accused of aiding the banned muslim brotherhood. mohammed and fahmy a

. >>> james bayes reports now on how the u.n.ity council has tried but mostly failed to agree on a way to end the conflict. >> reporter: four years ago no one could have imagined the scale of this tragedy. the figures are staggering. there's been no actual body count, but it's a estimated as many as 300,000 syrians are dead. many have fled. 3.8 million are refugees. that figure the main contributor to the fact that there are now more displaced people in the world than at anytime since the second word war when the u.n. was created almost 70 years ago. there has been little unity on the global stage. there have been rare moments of agreement in the u.n. security council on chemical weapons, and the growing threat from isil but nothing on a political solution to the dismay of the u.n.'s humanitarian agencies one of those agencies the world food program is lead by this woman. you must get frustrated when you look at the security council and the lack of agreement on syria. >> i get frustrated not only when i look at the security counc

let's speak to james bayes who joins us from the united nations. security council has been meeting, we heard from the libyan envoy to the u.n. but also the u.n. representative for libya. >> reporter: yes, the secretary general special representative has been speaking to the security council with regard to libia. he is trying to facilitate these talks. talks that are supposed to take place in the next 24 hours in morocco. he told the security council what is at stake. >> the overall situation on the ground is deteriorating rapidly, and libya can no longer afford to allow the political crisis and armed conflict that has gripped the country for much of the past year cannot to fester longer. >> james meanwhile we heard from the libyan representative to the u.n., who had some very harsh words for the security council and the international community. >> reporter: yes, and i think this is going to disturb the ambassadors at the security council, because they heard the plan coming from bern deano leon to get both sides together. and then moments later the

we're joined by james bayes where the talks have been taking place. so what has been going on?reporter: well, they are certainly making progress. how much progress depends who you are listening to. because if you listen to the iranian side we're getting some very optimistic comments. we have comments from the head of iran's nuclear energy agency saying that on the technical aspects of all of this they are 90% there. he said there was just one remaining item to be dealt with and then there could be this framework deal which is supposed to be reached by the end of the month. on the other side of things if you listen to u.s. officials, they are more cautious, they say there is a lot of work to be done but they have a somewhat optimistic mode saying yes, progress is being made. talks continuing as we speak right now, and they are political and technical. you have the u.s. secretary of state, and the head of iran's at tonic energy and many others all meeting right now. >> what are the real challenges? >> reporter: well, i'll be honest with you dareen there are so many issues in this

james bayes, al jazeera. >>> and for a look at what is copping um john siegenthaler here. >> coming upwe'll have more on the shooting of two police officers in ferguson missouri. now state and county authorities are taking over security. and a man hand is underway with last night's shooting suspect. >>> plus using secretive technology to track smartphoneings, turns out some police have been doing it for at least a decade. so how would you know if it's happening to your phone? >> we have strong suspicions when people report their cell phones acting weirdly. the battery is draining. the interference with the ability to communicate >>> also mysterious kra kra -- craters being found in siberia. more are popping up across the landscape, now scientists think they may have figured out what they are made of. we'll have those stories and a lot more coming up in about three minutes. >> thank you. >>> a major discovery from deep space today. nasa has confirmed there was a huge ocean on jupiters biggest moon. scientists say that doesn't necessarily mean it is uninhabitable. the space agency is pla

james bayes reports. >> reporter: my menmy's enemy is my friend.e say that still best explains the range of eye liances in the middle east. in yemen an ongoing military operation lead by saudi arabia one of the u.s.'s closest allies, against the houthis, a group that now control large parts of the country, and has close links with iran. yet turn to iraq and iran and the u.s. find themselves on the same side. iranian units are fighting isil alongside iraq y forces. go just across the border in syria, and things get even more confusing. iran and the u.s. both oppose isil here too. however, the iranians provide direct military assistance to president bashar al-assad while washington remains one of his most ferocious critics. in the swiss lake side resort u.s. secretary of state john kerry is negotiating directly with the iranian foreign minister. after 36 years of mistrust and antagonism, these are difficult and protracted negotiations that have been going on for months and months. both sides have made it clear that their negotiations are strictly lim

they have held days of tough negotiations in the city where our diplomatic editor james bayes is joining now. why have the talks been postponed for now, james? >> reporter: a number of reasons. after intense negotiations going over some six days they have decided to stop it for now. in that news came as john kerry was walking back from lunch answering questions from al jazeera's producer. >> we're recessing the talks. >> and when will you rejoin? >> we'll be back next week? >> here. >> we made a lot of progress. >> reporter: so what happens now? well, we believe that european members of the so-called p5-plus-1, the negotiating group of the international community, will be meeting tomorrow taking place on saturday in many berlin, that meeting. now the reason for that is one of the problems in these talks. that group the p5-plus-1 doesn't seem to be completely united. once again france taking a more hawkish position than the other members. so i think they'll be trying to get some unity in that group in that meeting that takes place in berlin. some other reasons i think for the germans, sec

our diplomatic editor james bayes has been following the developments at the united states. mes. just how awkward was the atmosphere in the room? >> reporter: it was very strange, because you had the undersecurity council agreeing on something and passing a resolution. 14 countries in favor, only one venezuela abstained saying they felt this created a dangerous path to war, but moments after they agreed and passed the resolution, then there was a pretty furious rauch. because the resolution said it is going to add chlorine to the list of chemical weapons, and promises to take action in the future if there are further attacks. but what it doesn't do is say which side was to blame, and that's where the rauch started. because you had western nations say we know this is the assad regime that is responsible, because the international body investigating this said that many of the witnesses it spoke to heard helicopters, and those are only possessed by the assad regime. the russian ambassador completely denied that and said they were subjective witnesses they had spoken to and perha

diplomatic editor james bayes reports now. >> reporter: after six days of almost none stop negotiationsanians, secretary of state john kerry was still being positive. secretary kerry how is going? in >> we're working hard. making some progress. >> reporter: he headed into a lake side restaurant, where he was joined by the energy secretary and a nuclear physicist. >> we're recessing the talks. >> and when will you rejoin? >> we'll be back next week. >> here? >> we made a lot of progress yes. thank you. >>> earlier on the iranian foreign minister had said he was ready to work through the weekend even though it would be the start of the important iranian holiday. we also had been told there were plans for other foreign ministers to join zarif and kerry. so why the sudden postponement? there clearly are still gaps between the two sides? and secretary kerry had to leave anyone on sunday to go to washington, d.c. for a meeting with the afghan president. but the mother of iran's president died, and his brother is one of the main negotiators. the break will also give the international negotiate

james bayes thanks so much. >>> fighters from the al-qaeda-linked group, the al-nusra front helped launch operation. they have taken over 17 government check points in syria. >>> at least 23 people have been arrested in tunis in connection with the deadly attack on the museum. security has been tightened across the country on the wake of the assault. the interior ministry say the arrest mean they have seized 80% of the group behind the shootings. >>> nigeria's president and opposition have signed a pledge for a peaceful election. security has been a big concern in the build-up to the vote. ballot papers and result sheets have been sent under police guard to an election depot. >>> oil is one of the issues in the election. as harrah reports the region is one of the country's poorest. >> reporter: they know what they are doing is illegal, but they don't care. young unemployed men steal crude oil from pipelines, then refine it in the creek of the nigh-- nigher delta. they say this belongs to the community. >> they are eating our money. so when you have something and somebody is eating it. you

bring you more highlights from this press conference on al jazeera in half an hour when we speak to james bayesal leaders in south sudan have been unable to reach a peace deal. let's get an update from catherine soy who joins us on the line. what are you hearing catherine? >> reporter: let me just start by saying that this comes as no surprise. the warring parties came to the talks with very hard line positions. we're hearing that they seem to have agreed on nothing. there is still a lot of contention we're hearing on power sharing, the security arrangement, especially in juba who will control juba. who will provide security. there are two armies -- there are two armies. will they remain separated or be reintegrated immediately. they also disagree on the composition of transitional parliament as well. the special envoy has said that they are at a dead lock basically. so yet another deadline has come. and it will be interesting to see what happens now. will threatened sanctions be enforced. will they involve any african union, will there be another extension. everything is still up in the air. >

and that's where our diplomatic editor james bayes is joining us from now. why have the talks been adjourned? >> reporter: as you say, six days of intense negotiations, and just a few hours ago, we were hearing there were initial plans to get all of the foreign ministers to join secretary of state john kerry, and iranian foreign minister zarif. and then that changed. >> we're recessing the talks. >> and when will you rejoin? >> we'll be back next week? >> here? >> we made a lot of progress. >> reporter: so why the change? well, i think there were a number of reasons. they have been making some progress here but there are still gaps between both sides and i think they want to take stock of the situation. and secretary of state john kerry had to leave anyway on sunday to be back in washington, d.c. to meet the afghan president. another factor in all of this is there seems to be some divisions between the international community negotiating with iran the p5-plus-1, france taking a particularly hawkish position on the deal. the u.s. talking about a ten-year deal

james bayes has a preview. >> reporter: the place where both iranian and u.s.iplomats hope there will be a break through in their long-running nuclear negotiation. seven different delegations will again be gathering. john kerry put aside all other business and spent all of last week here with his iranian opposite number secretary kerry knows critics in the u.s. congress are circling and that his window of opportunity to get a deal may be closing. mr. zarif also has critical voices at home hard liners who oppose any deal. analysts say the stakes are high. >> the domestic political pressure that both sides have been feeling has not reseeded in any way shape or form and as they continue to reach closer and closer to that march 31st deadline, the pressure has only increased. so i think you're going to see a sense of urgency that we haven't seen before and greater flks flexibility that we haven't seen before. because the craziest things happen as you approach the 90th minute. >> reporter: the talks have made some progress. one of the main sticking points is sanction

james bayes has more from the talks in switzerland. >> reporter: after six days of almost non-stop negotiationsanians, secretary of state john kerry was still being positive. how is going? >> we're working hard. making some progress. >> reporter: secretary kerry headed into a lake side restaurant, where he was joined by energy secretary and the nuclear fizzist who has been heading the technical negotiation for the u.s. after lunch news that the talks were being adjourned for now. >> we're recessing the talks. >> when will you be back in >> next week. >> reporter:er -- earlier, the iranian minister had said he was ready to work through the weekend. we also had been told there were plans for other foreign ministers to zarif and kerry as talks were nearing the final crunch leg. there clearly are still gaps between the two sides, and secretary kerry had to leave anyone on sunday to go to washington, d.c. for a meeting with the afghan president. but there's another reason too, the mother of iran's president died and his brother is one of the main negotiators. the break will also give the internation

james bayes sent us this update. >> reporter: intense diplomatic negotiations continue.ferent delegations in the hotel behind me. the main part of the negotiation is between the u.s. and iran, a meeting of over an hour between secretary of state and foreign minister, after which both said they were taking progress but there were still tough issues to be resolved. the iranians making it clear, they are prepared to stay beyond the weekend when the iranian new year starts. it seems we do potentially have some problems coming from within the p5-plus-1, the international group negotiating with iran. it seems that france is not happy potentially with some parts of the deal concerned about iran's research and development over the period of this deal, and also saying that the proposal from the u.s. that the deal should last for ten years is not long enough. they want iran to be under screwny for a 15-year period. . >>> in pakistan a last minute stay of execution has been issued to a man who was sentenced to death when he was 14. he was scheduled to be hanged for killing a seven

let's bring in james bayes. tell us more about what he had to say about his plan.e was speaking in london and listening to his comments i think they were the most negative so far that he has made. about his plan. his plan for freezes in syria starting in aleppo. in fact starting in just one neighborhood of aleapt -- aleppo. he said he has a clear time line, a commitment from president assad, that there will be an end to all aerial bombardment, and he would be able to go to damascus soon and announce the timing. he went to damascus and that didn't happen. and now he's making comments in this session in london suggesting to the audiences that he wanted their ideas rather than questions. showing a list of those that have died in syria, and at one point saying perhaps aleppo wasn't the right place to cheese for a freeze. i have known him in several places as a diplomat around the world. he is a man who very carefully chooses his words, and for him to suggest that perhaps aleppo wasn't the right place, is a real admission that this is not going very well at all. >> so i

james bayes at the u.n. for us now.t more can you tell us about this latest resolution on syria and what it means. >> reporter: it's a rare moment when the security council managing to agree on a resolution. this resolution was passed. only one country was opposed and that was venezuela. we're still in the meeting right now, some of the countries explaining their national positions. the french ambassador is speaking now, explaining the french positioning in his national capacity as we speak. we have heard from a number of other ambassadors saying this resolution is important because there have been these chlorine attacks in syria, and this promises that there will be measures taken in future if there are chlorine attacks. the venezuelans interesting said they did not support the resolution, because they said it opens a dangerous path to the use of force. >> james two years ago, syria agreed to destroy its entire arsenal of chemical weapons under a deal with the americans and russians so why is the u.n. voting on this ag

thanks so much james bayes. >>> chile deals with two natural disasters, flash floods and fires on oppositee of the country. >>> and the sri lanka president tries to renegotiate deals with china, and in sport the final lineup for the cricket world cup is confirmed. details still ahead with robin. ♪ >>> it's now thought the germanwings plane was deliberately steered into the mountainside. a french prosecutor who listened to the voice recordings says the plane's co-pilot crashed the plane on purpose after locking the captain out of the cockpit. he is a german citizen with no known links to terrorism. the sharp news comes as relatives of those on board traveled to the scene of the crash. charlie angelo reports. >> reporter: as search teams prepare for another day of combing the vast crash site analysis of the black box has already started to reveal the plane's final moments. listening to voice recordings prosecutors say the pilot was locked out of the cockpit during the flight's final moment. the co-pilot apparently conscious was at the control and appears to have deliberately crashed the plan

let's go to our diplomatic editor james bayes.would be a surprise if they didn't discuss what was happening in yemen, given the association when that country and iran. have you any idea what ground they covered? >> reporter: well certainly they have had discussions. the formal negotiations here very strictly limited to iran's nuclear deal because the clock is very much ticking towards the end of the month when they are supposed to try to get that framework deal. that's the deadline. when you have people as important as this talking as much as they are, and staying in the same hotel, of course on the sideline they are talking about owe issues. and iran's foreign minister when he took a break and went for a walk on the like side confirmed to me that yes, yemen is being discussed. >> we condemn them [ inaudible ] loss of human life. everybody has to encourage dialogue and national reconciliation in yemen rather than making it more difficult for the yemenese to come together. this is the hot issue of the day. any two diplomats will di