. >>> top diplomats are discussing how to end the war in syria, john kerry and sergey lavrov have been meeting in zurich. there is growing uncertainty whether talks between the syrian government and opposition groups will go ahead as planned next week. >>> ministers from seven countries are meeting in front to discuss intensifying the campaign against isil in iraq and syria. >>> for more on that meeting in paris, al jazeera's senior political analyst is with us. u.s. secretary ash carter seeking help for new too fast against isil. will he get that kind of support that he's looking for? >> certainly also the french seem to be excited about what they call how upping up the game against isil. if you saw over the last few weeks at least isil had been carrying a number of attacks in different places, or attacks carried in their name in different countries around the world, so as british defense secretary mr. talon put it, they want now to really take care of the head of the snake, meaning they want to really take on isil in iraq and syria, and certainly the meeting of the defense ministers

we have been telling you about the meeting john kerry and sergei lavrov.'s listen to what lavrov had to say. >> translator: we pointed out that russia is making the necessary moves to make sure that the humanitarian organizations at the u.n. and other organizations are safeguarded and we will be coordinating very closely with the americans in that area, but the main thing that we addressed is coordination first and foremost on anti-terrorist activity. >> paul brennan joining us from zurich. >> reporter: he kept us waiting. he waited until the very end of that very short statement to talk about the political process, as in the syria talks which are due to take place in geneva, and what he said was not conclusive. we were hoping the talks here between john kerry and sergei lavrov will confirm whether or not the talks will place take on the 25th in geneva. he said we hope they will begin as soon as possible, but we don't know the exact date. we hope very much that it will happen this month. and pointed out that there are still 11 or so days left in this month

sergei lavrov, secretary of state john kerry were key in getting that u.n. resolution, diplomatic resolution before christmas. the principle will be aimed at the opposition if syria would sit down with the government that they would get into talks that there would be a cease-fire. >> that there would be a new constitution in six months, that there would be elections, free and fair to an international standard elections in 18 months, a peace road map to syria. that potentially at the moment is falling apart because it's fought clear who those opposition groups are that will represent the opposition. this is somethinger isgy lavrov and secretary of state john kerry can weigh in on. of course, the saudi versus played a significant role in that recently. they brought together a lot of rebel groups to riyadh in saudi arabia just before christmas. it got them all to agree that they were the representatives of the rebel groups. however, the, one of the senior commanders backed by the saudis was killed, very likely, at a russian airstrike not long before christmas.

we just played the clip from sergei lavrov there.went on to say that the talks will begin, we hope, as soon as possible, but i don't know the exact day. he said we hope very much it will happen this month and he pointed out that there are still 11 days left in this month. so i think it's looking increasingly unlikely that the talks will get underway in geneva next monday. but they are putting a brave face on the possibility that the talks will get underway before the end of january. the syrian opposition council which met in riyadh and agree who would be going to geneva, they have threatened to wukt if opposition delegates are imposed upon them by russia, and we're waiting to hear what the russian opposition council thinks. >>> still to come, the financial incentives being offered to thai families to have more babies. >>> plus the search for a president. a palestinian reality show like no other. ♪ ♪ >>> hello again, and a remicer of the top stories. a splinter group of the pakistan taliban has claimed responsibility for an attack on

secretary of state john kerry meets the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov in zurich.h scheduled talks were expected to focus on the setup of a transitional government. they are due to take place in geneva on january 25th, but there are doubts on whether or not they will go ahead. >> translator: we discussed a number of measures which have to be taken in order to provide for a ceasefire. obviously, apart from isil and al-nusra, they remain our enemies, they cannot be subject to a ceasefire, and we will continue to fight them. >> paul brennan is in zurich for us right now. paul, why is there so much doubt about whether this round of talks will go ahead in geneva on the 25th? >> because they don't know who is going to represent the opposition at those talks. there is a dispute between the russian-syrian side, and the u.s. and opposition sides. in riyadh last month, a group formed around the opposition side, put named delegates forward who were going to be representing the opposition side at the talks in geneva, and then at the 11th hour, russia and syria objected to some

secretary of state john kerry is in zurich to meet the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov.ussia and the u.s. disagree on who should be at the negotiating table over bringing about an end to the war in syria. now those talks scheduled to take place in geneva on january 25, but now there are doubts over whether or not they'll actually go ahead. the talks are expected to focus on the setup of a transitional government, crossing over to paul brennan joining us from zurich, paul, we'll discussion whether the talks next week will actually go ahead in a moment, but first, talk to us about the meeting between secretary of state john kerry and sergey lavrov now underway. >> it's been underway about three hours. i have to say that the indications that i can get from the movement of vehicles over my shoulder is that the meeting could be about to break up. just over three hours after it began, i'll bring you more if i can probably in the next hour when i have an update, but the meeting was called because of doubts about whether or not the meeting on monday due in geneva can actually ta

foreign minister lavrov saying he expects the talks to take place.here are 11 days left in the month. maybe not the 25th. it will happen before the end of the month. it will happen some time before next week. it's the realities of the calendar. in the end, yes, the syrian opposition have problems with the names russia has put forward. i'm told that a few of the names, maybe three of the names could be taken from the russian list and added to the list that came up in riyadh, that's something the opposition would not right. others are pushing to accept this. and don't underestimate the fact that if the u.s. and russia try to push something through, and trying to force people to attend talks, these are the most powerful countries in the world. and they can strong arm people, they could, for example, say to the opposition if you don't come to the talks in geneva, you have no role in the future of syria. that's a big proposition to put to the opposition. in the end it is probably likely they will attend. worth recalling the words in the last few hours of

secretary of state john kerry was getting together with the russian mornin foreign minister sergei lavrov. >> we don't have any thoughts in moving from january and february. this is the position of both russia and the united states. we're confident in the coming days in january these talks will begin. >> well, our diplomatic editor james bays joins me live now from the united nations in new york with a view to taking this forward. they have a bigger group coming together. or perhaps not, they don't know how to put it all together. >> clearly they want these trucks. these talks have to happen soon, but there is a disagreement over who should represent the syrian opposition. russians say they don't have a representative list, and they'll come up with their own list. i'm told perhaps three names could be taken from the russian list and added to the riyadh list. the opposition not at all happy about this, but what you have to remember is if you have the united states and russia both agreeing they want something, those two superpowers in the end probably can twist people's arms. i think its mo

secretary of state john kerry had a meet-up with the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov in zurich. russia and the u.s. have not agreed on who should representatives the position at the negotiating table, and talks about the syrian wore coming up. there are indications that the talks can be delayed by a few days. >> we don't have thoughts on moving the start of talks from january to february. this is the position of russia and the united states. we are confident in the coming days the talks will win. >> the day after a shipment of aid arrived in madaya al jazeera has been out asking, talking to the people that there. they were grateful for the food and the medicine, but they want the siege to end. >> translation: first of all, i have to say thank god for what we have received. let's face it, it is little. it will not be enough. what the u.n. brought you us may last 15 days. if the siege conditions, we'll have the same misery. we need help. the world must do something about the horror. >> translation: the u.n. help is good. it's never enough. people are dying of hunger, starving, an

lavrov said north korea's action violates security council resolutions, and russia is concerned.said his country is ready to join talks on a new resolution. >>> a south korean court has ordered a university professor to compensate those referred to as comfort women, saying she defamed them. park yu-ha wrote that japan's colonial rule of the korean peninsula is to blame for the issue of the comfort women. but she also wrote the belief in south korea that the japanese military forcibly took 200,000 young women does not represent the overall picture, and she claimed the women ended up in their situation in different ways. nine former south korean comfort women sued park for more than $220,000. park claims she had no intention of defaming them. and she says people misinterpreted her book. a district court in seoul ruled the expression she used that the women forged a comrade-like relationship with japanese soldiers distorts the fact that they were victims. the court ordered park to pay about $74,000. the professor is also facing a criminal charge, but authorities have not detained he

lavrov and kerry spoke earlier leading to today's face-to-face meeting. the concern is unless the resolution 2254 was passed back in december, set a framework for talks, political talks leading to a transition, leading to elections in mid-2017, unless we get to the first stage of those talks in january 25, then, frankly, it is going to be difficult to meet those high ambitions that the u.n. set out >>> paul, as these discussions are taking place, the conflict in syria rages on and as we're talking to you right now, we're showing pictures of the suffering that so many syrians are continuing to endure there, but i suppose the fact that the major powers are still talking is something. >> reporter: well, one. things when you see the humanitarian suffering, when you see the fighting on the ground, you could argue that these are symptoms rather than the core issues of the problem. if you could solve politically the conflict in syria, then you automatically solve the humanitarian problems and you solve the conflict, the fighting. that's really what gives these t

lavrov hasn't arrived yet as far as we have seen. what they have to resolve is who is entitled to attend those talks which are due to happen in just five days time. remember, the u.n. resolution 2254, passed back in december, it set a framework for dialogue which was supposed to take place between the syrian regime and opposition figures and then a political transition leading to elections due to take place sometime in the middle of next year. it's quite a tight timetable. who is going to represent the opposition and what has happened is that although we had a riyadh conference of opposition leadership which appeared to get a group together, russia has now come forward with an alternative group which it wants to see around the table too, effectively turning it from a tie an gu lar table-- try an gau lar table with include two sets of opposition. that could prove extremely difficult to negotiate. will the new group of oppositions be acceptable to the current riyadh grouping of opposition. that's unclear. can you actually get a group t

we have nothing to give back, said lavrov, talking about whether crimea would ever be returned to ukraineregarding the implementation of the minsk peace agreement, he said that russia is fully committed to making sure that process happened and he repeated the assertion that it is kiev that has been stalling that process and making it take longer than it should have done. >>> secretary general of the norwegian council said all those involves must about now. >> every hour 50 more families are displaced from their homes and they are now struggling through the horrific cold and snow. so we will put in front of them agreements, please sign, grant us access, and stop attacks against civilians and schools, hospitals, and homes. we could go into all of the besieged areas within days after access being granted. actually within hours in many places, and to the millions in hard to reach areas and across fire, we could reach them all in weeks either cross line or cross boarder from neighboring countries. so please, parties and sponsors coming to geneva, help us do that. now is the momentum. what we d

there's been such talk is he going to step down, and tuesday, the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov had to fight off talk from reporters, saying, no, there was a former chief of intelligence. there was some rumors he had asked assad recently to step down. he said, no there's nothing true to that. nobody's seeking political asylum just yet. this war over there. and it's just so heart-breaking, i think about the children all the time over there. >> can you believe it's been five years of the assault in syria? the flood of refugees continues though no matter where the tide is on that fight. >> so true. >>> coming up, remembering a television legend. >> he's been a hollywood mainstay for more than 40 years. this morning we remember actor abe vigoda. you're watching abc "world news now." >> announcer: "world news now" abc stations.are shut right now after a major crash.. we're hearing one of the cars may have been going over 100 >>> okay, so among those jazzy strains of some of these '70s miller," was likely one of the most recognizable. >> and one of its stars, abe vigoda, one of the wo

lavrov said russia and china both fear the u-s moves will aggravate tension in the region. north korea claimed last week that it had conducted its fourth nuclear test, this time of a more advanced and powerful hydrogen bomb. but the u-s government and other experts are skeptical about the claim. the test has again raised questions among world powers about what can be done to stop the north's nuclear weapons program. turkish police in the mediterranean city of antalya detained three russian nationals today in a raid on suspected according to a private turkish news agency, anti- terrorism police conducted the raids a day after an isis suicide bomber detonated a bomb in istanbul's historic sultanahmet district, killing ten foreigners, most of them german tourists. russia's consulate general in ankara confirmed the detention of the trio. the consul general said the suspects were allegedly in contact with isis fighters in conflict zones and had provided logistical support to the militant group. a woodbury county sheriff's deputy is being credited with saving a woman's life. a wo

obama and putin spoke last wednesday and kerry and lavrov today.plex and the prospects for success look quite slim at this stage. >>> russia says it's deployed more than 6,000 air missions over syria since it joined the fighting last september. >>> in iraq, sunni lawmakers are boycotting parliament saying abadi has not disarmed the militias. they say dozens of sunnies are killed and their mosques stet on fire. the attacks come after an isil bomb killed 23 shia last week. >>> the former u.s. marine released from iran said he feels born again. he spent four years in jail and talked from germany about being one of those five americans who were released. >> i feel extremely lucky, alive for the first time in a long time and very humble would at everybody's support from the president to congress to my fellow marines and especially my family, who have really gone through so much throughout this time. >> one of the americans who disappeared in iran eight years ago is still missing. f.b.i. agent robert levinson, the nuclear deal said will help to find him.

there's been such talk is he going to step down and tuesday, the russian foreign minister sergey lavrovrove had to fight off talk from reporters saying no, there was a former chief of intelligence there were some rumors he asked assad to step down. he said there's nothing true to that. it's been such a long draw on this war over there. it's heart breaking i think about the children all the time over there. >> can you believe it's been five years of the assault in syria. the flood of refugees continues though no matter where the tide is on that fight. >> so true. >>> coming up remembering a television legend. >> he's been a hollywood mainstay for more than 40 years. this morning we remember actor abe vigoda. you're watching abc "world news tt0w!tw((i! %4@-2&t tt0w!tw((i! el@-8!8 tt0w!tw((i! ed@->#é tt0w!tw((i% )8h-í] tt0w!tw((i% kzh-c2é tt0w!tw((i% n-h-6[p tt0w!tw((i% 0ph-(>> okay, so among those jazzy strains of '70s sit-com theme songs, "barney miller" was likely one of the most recognizable. >> abe vigoda became a perso

the meeting with sergei lavrov today is to determine who is eligible to join the mediated peace talks on syria. no agreement so far as to which of the syrian military -- the syrian militant groups should be game for strikes and which should be part of the talks. our correspondent takes a closer look at the international coalition operation in syria and iraq. buildings are flattened by recent air raids in iraq's mosul abiggest city, base missile strike. -- the jihadists lost millions of dollars. 21 coalition airstrikes also destroyed oil facilities near ramadi and a cache of weapons. the us-led coalition began bombing iraq and syria in late summer of 2014. since then they have launched over 6000 airstrikes in iraq and over 3000 in syria. the main cities targeted are ramadi.d baiji and france has stepped up its efforts, contributed to 20% of airstrikes. u.s. officials said last week that coalition airstrikes killed eight civilians in 2015, but air wars, a collective of independent journalists tracking the number of airstrikes and casualties, say that hundreds of people have died. milita

russian foreign minister sergei lavrov has already said that we cannot achieve the results we want, aefinitive political resolution in syria in if the pyd is excluded. and the leader of the pyd he has always said we expect to be invited. he hasn't received an invite yet, and they represent a large section of syrian society. there are a lot of syrian kurds living in the country, and he says we should be represented around those tables, and if we're not, then these geneva 3 talks could fail he suspects like the geneva 2 talks that failed, because he says not every -- every aspect of syrian society was represented around the table. >> bernie sanders reporting there. >>> the united nations has not yet revealed a full list of who will attend the talks. >>> the u.n. envoy to libya warned that the political process is taking too long and that is allowing further expansion of isil. that concern has the u.s. and itself allies looking at expanding their military campaign against isil to include libya. jamie mcintyre joins us live at the pentagon. so jamie what are military officials saying? >>

first met in europe, the united states and russia and later on november 14, and then kerry invited lavrov to the united nations and the end of december, second part of december and there where they agreed to u.s. e. u.n. resolution due to fight for, clearly throughout the two month process and through today, there's a realignment of the american position with a russian position, and that's where he falls, on the free alignment of basic the americans moving closer to the russians on the question of the opposition, on the questions of negotiations and on the questions of -- united nations council resolution to fight for on the insistence of the russians demonstrated the person who had this leeway of basically defining who will negotiate with the syrian government come 29. >> are we again then seeing the russians leaning on them getting more opposition groups involved than initially the saudi's wanted? >> clearly, and not only that, remember, it was a bit of while ago, three years ago, that the united states and others, the so-called international community called the syrian national coaliti

secretary of state john kerry and sergei lavrov, his russian counterpart. they forced this new initiative on syria, and i think if it's going to be rescued it will be down to the u.s. russia already saying it is prepared to play a mediator role between saudi, and secretary of state john kerry has been on the phone to try to resolve what is a very difficult situation with a big regional impact for the middle east. >> well, i know you'll be following all the developments for us. james bays live in new york. thank you. >>> well, at least two sunni mosques have been attacked in just south of the iraqi capital of baghdad. the dome and several walls of the mosque had been destroyed. it's been reported that the attacks are in retaliation of the execution of the senior shia cleric in saudi arabia. we're in baghdad with the latest. >> they did not elaborate, but they said one of the mosques located inside the town, and one to the north, the iraqi prime minister condemned today in a very brief statement put on his page on facebook about this event. he said that the g

they've been contact between the secretary of state kerry, the foreign minister lavrov, foreign minister of the region, visits to ankara and they are still on going. i've been very much aware of the danger of what happened in geneva two, so that's why i've been and am particular careful about the issue about invitations, because they do have an impact on making sure that we don't have a repetition of geneva two, the syrians don't deserve it, geneva doesn't deserve it and the secretary general is feeling very strongly about it. that's why we have been careful and extremely how would i say, sorrow in wanting to make sure that when and if we start, we start at least on the right foot. it will be uphill anyway. well, discussions still on going. let me remind you of some points and give you where we are. security council 254 is very clear in assigning to me special enjoy of the secretary general, the task to finalize the effort of the list of syrian participants taking note of the meetings in moscow can be cairo and in particular the youthful meeting in riyadh on the ninth of december. that's

kerry has been speaking to his russian counterpart, sergei lavrov.will be up to the opposition whether to attend on the list that's been agreed by the international community. i know they will come under a great deal of pressure because i think they will be told that if the syrian government is there and you are not there, it will look like the opposition is the one that doesn't want peace. so, i think it's more likely than not that some sort of talks will take place laudser in the week. i am told those will be proximity talks. the opposition in one room and the syrian in the other with the u.n. envoy shuffling between the two. i am told initially, they will be looking at possible cease-fires in syria and trying to alleviate the humanitarian situation and particular those areas of syria under siege. at least 20 policemen have been killed in ramadi. suicide attacks hit the headquarters of the police. isil killed 72 soldiers in three separate suicide attacks in ramadi. the iraqi army says the latest fighting was in isil's last stronghold in the area. i

given that others are now being invited as well, are they going to come >>> we are just hearing from lavrov in moscow saying it will be basically impossible to reach a syria peace deal without the kurds taking part in those talks in geneva as well. the kurds presence is also another controversial issue here. >> reporter: it is because kurdish fighters particularly in the north of syria have been fighting i.s.i.l. but other opposition groups will say they're not really been doing anything about fighting the bashar al-assad regime and that's why they're not popular among the rest of the opposition. turkey certainly has a problem with some kurdish involvement in this process. that is another headache for staffan de mistura who is under the resolution is the man who sends out the invites, he may have already done it, but send them out at some point in the coming hours. clearly when we get word back on who is invited we will be able to tell you what side he has taken on that kurdish issue >>> thank you for that. in the last hour chinese shares have plunged to more than 6%. investors have panicke

secretary of state will be meeting with sergei lavrov in switzerland, and then he'll be taking a planeo go to riyadh himself to speak with the saudis and i suspect to get mentions from the opposition delegation. they could go to gentleme geneva, but they're worried about what happened two years ago. the syrian government came to talks two years ago in geneva. did not cooperate with those talks. used delaying tactics, and the talks collapsed, and the opposition side said yes, we'll come to geneva again, but we want an assurance that the u.s. and it's allies have a plan b if the syrian government were to do the same thing again. >> thank you very much, indeed. >> airstrikes with the saudi coalition fighting in yemen have left 20 people dead. police building the is a gnaw was hit with reports that civilians were among the dead. they've been carrying out daily strikes against iran-back houthi rebels. >>> meanwhile attacks by the rebels in yemen are beginning to look like a systemic campaign targeting the pro government security services. on sunday an official was killed by a roadside bomb.

. >>> the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov has said it's impossible to reach an agreement in syria without inviting kurds to take part in the negotiations. >> the fighters which the u.s. supports and who are fighting isil, they're trying to prevent them from participating in the syrian talks. this is our common problem. it's not simply unfair and counterproductive, it's a problem with the u.s. the u.s. believes the kurds are one of its closest allies in the fight against terrorism. i hope the u.s. will not leave this problem unsolved. >> talking about who will be invited and who not, the invitations have been sent out. james bays joins us live. what are you hearing with the invites? >> very short notice being sent to correspondents who cover the u.n. confirming simply the news that invitations to the syrian participants have been sent out. interestingly it adds in accordance with the outlines in security resolution 2254. why they are saying that, it's about the controversy of who should send out the invitations and who decides who should be on the opposition delegation. this is the

kerry has also been speaking to sergei lavrov on the telephone.en up to the opposition to decide whether to attend on the basis of the list that's been agreed by the international community. i know they'll come under a great deal of pressure, because i think they will be told. if the syrian government is there and you are not there, it will look like the opposition is the one that doesn't want peace. so i think it's more likely than not that some sort of talks will take place later in the week. i am told initially those will be so-called proximity talks. the opposition in one room, and the syrian government in the other. with the u.n. an voir shuttling between the two. i am told initially they will be looking at possible ceasefires in syria and trying to alleviate the humanitarian situation, in particularly those areas of syria under siege. ♪ >>> around 15,000 protesters have rallied in the mall dolan capital demanding early elections after the point of a prime minister who they claim is taking orders from business tycoons. robin forester walker i

lavrov says "..how can you talk about political reforms in syria if you ignore a leading kurdish party, a rather strong power which on that land is actively fighting against terrorism?"davutog lu says "..it is unacceptable to let a terrorist organization join opposition parties and attend negotiation talks." all this as europe continues to bear the brunt of those fleeing the fighting... the flood of migrants seeking asylum now has the e-u scrambling to find funding to prevent a humanitarian crisis. in denmark, a controversial new proposal would see refugees' valuables confiscated... the danish parliament approving a controversial new law allowing authorities to confiscate refugees' valuables... to pay for their food and housing. the plan drawing strong reactions from both sides of the debate: you take all the jewels from the refugees in denmark." knuth says "..if you can pay for yourself, well then you should pay for yourself before the danish welfare system does it." european leaders are now putting pressure on greece to stop the flow of migrants... calling for a "plan b" to strengthe

victory of state john kerry and sergey lavrov met in zÜrich, switzerland.utying to which groups should be labeled terrorists and which should be barred from peace talks when negotiations began next week. and the air pollution in china is getting better according to a new report. despite catastrophic levels of smog in northern china this winter that shut down schools and roads. a spelling error landed a 10-year-old muslim boy in error in london. the child mistakenly wrote that terrorist house. areschool says they required to report any possible link to terrorism. their investigation and said there is no reason for concern. republican front runner did donald trump continues to lead his rivals by a large margin in the polls, seeming to be the strongest challenger to hillary clinton according to a monmouth university poll. he is backed by 36% of republican voters in that poll, followed by texas senator ted cruz. meanwhile, a new gallup poll says more americans are pessimistic than optimistic about a trump presidency. global news 24 hours a day from the bloomber

we understand mr kerry has been speaking to lavrov. it will be up to the opposition whether to attend on the basis of the list that has been agreed by the the international community. they will come under a great deal of pressure because they will be told if the syrian government is there and you're not there, it looks like the opposition is the one that doesn't want peace. so i think it is more likely than not that some sort of talks will take place later in the week. i'm told initially those will be so-called proximity talks. the opposition in one room and the syrian government in the other with the u.n. envoy shuffling between the two. i'm told initially they will be looking at possible ceasefires in syria and trying to alleviate the humanitarian situation in particularly those areas of syria under siege >>> at least 20 policemen have been killed by two i.s.i.l. car bombs in a village west of the iraqi city of ramadi. it hit the headquarters of the federal police. earlier i.s.i.l. killed 72 soldiers in three separate suicide attacks

clearly kerry as well as lavrov would have a lot of leverage on the parties in geneva. the question is are they willing to use it and towards what intent. for the time being it's the russians are who is insisting on giving the regime let legitimacy >>> what happens if the talks fail like the other two rounds. what happens then? >> i think we're in more of the same cycle of violence plus talk of political us -- political solutions. you need the political solution in syria. i am not optimistic that these talks will lead to a solution. i'm not just talking about ups and downs and walk-ins and walk-outs. i'm talking that the balance of power do not bode well for peace in syria, but they do both well for legit mizing the-- legitimising for them to gain for ground in syria. unless the americans, the saudis, the turks and others step in aand take more active role, i think the-- >>> you mean militarily? >> no. in support of the opposition because what we have today is we have a direct underground support by the iranians and russians to the regimes. we don't have that any where

. >> we are hearing that the foreign minister of russia sergei lavrov saying they will not accept theempt to dictate what he is calling preconditions. >> reporter: the opposition they not pre-conditions because the agenda was laid out after the meeting of the regional powers of the so-called international syria support group that took place in new york the last of the so-called vienna meetings. and on the day that that meeting ended, the u.n. security council passed resolution 2254, which staffan de mistura says is the agenda for these talks, and the points they are making are paragraphs in the binding international law that is that security council resolution. >> james thank you for that update from geneva. well, a member of the syrian opposition says as long as civilians are being targeted there can be no progress in any type of negotiations. >> we would like to have negotiation, but if the committee cannot force the syrian regime to provide milk to children who are dying, then i think there is no point of having negotiation and asking the regime to surrender power. unfortunately th

john kerry, sergey lavrov. while isis is not included, it would be who would represent the rebels they're arguing about. assad's people would be there representing the government. it's not as if -- we've had peace talks that gave birth to any type of progress, could this one be that, and does the negative foot that we get started off on hurt that process? >> yeah, i think there's no question that prospect any of kind of success here in the near-term is very, very low. we've already had two rounds of these negotiations in 2012, 2014. they were both utter failures and there's no reason to believe that this will be any more successful. in particular, because of the russian, iranian, hezbollah intervention on the side of the assad regime. the assad regime is stronger than it's been at any point in the past several years. it is not going anywhere. that is the fundamental demand of the rebels who are saying that the only way we can have a political solution, if assad goes quickly. that is now impossible. liz: if assa

that's when secretary of state john kerry meets sergey lavrov, the russian prime minister. i think that's when they'll have to come up with a decision as to whether to go ahead ordinary not. >> james bays, thank you. >>> still more to come on the al jazeera newshour including, fears that rebels have infiltrated yemen's security services after a series of attacks targeting progovernment officials. >>> u.k. parliament debates whether to ban donald trump from the country. >>> nba boston celtics and dallas, and a repeat of last season's championship games. games. >>> the u.n.'s world food program has warned that 14 million people are facing hunger in southern africa because of drought made worse because of an el nino weather pattern. 2015 was also south africa's dryest year since records began, the worst affected country is malawi, 2.8 million are expected to go hungry. madagascar, 1.5 million, while in malawi 1.9 million are said to be going hungry. >> the situation we've got in the region as a whole, as i said, mainly as a result of the drought affecting last year's april har

but what i want to ask you when we heard from sergei lavrov and john kerry in zurich, not--well, notncordial, but not desperately warm. ash carter and others in paris saying that the russians have got it entirely wrong. what strategy do we see with the coalition trying to deal with russia? >> there is that continuing problem that both america and russia have. they've got huge conflicts over various conflicts. they're not happy about having to work together with syria, but there is a grudging recognition, that's why they're talking, but they have not come up with an agreed plan to deal with particularly the syrian issue. what do we do with assad in order to be able to deal with daesh. i think there is an emerging consensus that assad is a lower priority than daesh, but how to square those two semi conflicting areas, i think there is a ways to go on the diplomacy front to get an agreement. as the time goes on the commitment seems to be waning. certainly the commitment we had three months ago, that seems to be--the momentum seems to be going out of that. there seems to be an attempt to

kerry has also been talking to lavrov. it will be up to them to decide they will attend on the list agreed by the international community. they will come under a great deal of pressure because i think they will be told that if the syrian government is there and you're not there, it will look like the opposition is the one that doesn't want peace. so i think it's more likely than not that some sort of talks will take place later in the week. i'm told initially those will be so-called proximity talks, the opposition in one room and the syrian government in the other with the u.n. envoy shuffling between the two. i'm told initially they will be looking at possible ceasefires in syria and trying to alleviate the humanitarian situation and particularly those areas of syria under siege >>> joining us now is joshua-- joshua landers. how disappointing it that these talks which were due to take place on monday, we have been waiting for them for a while, won't be starting? >> it's very disappointing to many who were hoping to see so

foreign minister lavrov out of russia is saying this british-led inquiry will damage, complicate bilateral ties between the two countries. more importantly, he's saying he thinks the british government could be sued for slander for those findings. >> so not the last we'll hear of that. >> no. >> you've been writing in. we tweeted earlier, who's long oil? who's bullish oil? a couple of you are. mentioned a couple of you already. david says, i'm bull uish on oi thinking longer term. also, orlando says, how can you not be bullish? at this point it's more likely to see $40 per barrel than $20 per barrel. >> and it's two different things. are you bullish on the oil price picking up and bullish on the equity price. >> you can keep your tweets coming through. @nancycnbc, @louisa bojesen. also, we've been talking about beards because of the term lumbar sexual. the caveman look coming back. it was made popular, among others, by tom hardy, who can pull off this slightly overfwroun loovergrown look, as seen on pinterest. there's also now scientific evidence to back up the health benefits of having a

there's been such talk is he going to step down, and tuesday, the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov of rove had to fight off talk from reporters saying, no, there was a former chief of intelligence, there were some rumors he asked assad to step down. that. it's been such a long draw on this war over there. it's heart breaking, i think about the children all the time over there. >> can you believe it's been five years of the assault in syria. the flood of refugees continues though no matter where the tide is on that fight. >> so true. >>> coming up, remembering a television legend. >> he's been a hollywood mainstay for more than 40 years. this morning we remember actor you're watching abc "world news now." >> a it's not always as easy for me as it is for him... it's easy for me cause look at her. aw... so we use k-y ultragel. it enhances my body's natural moisture so i can get into the swing of it a bit quicker. and when i know she's feeling like that, it makes me feel like we're both... when she enjoys it, we enjoy it even more. and i enjoy it. tt0w!tw((i! %4@-2&t tt0w!tw((i! el@-8!

there's been such talk is he going to step down, and tuesday, the russian foreign minister sergey lavrovf rove had to fight off talk from reporters saying, no, there was a former chief of intelligence, there were some rumors he asked assad to step down. he said there's nothing true to that. it's been such a long draw on this war over there. it's heart breaking, i think about the children all the time over there. >> can you believe it's been five years of the assault in syria. the flood of refugees continues though no matter where the tide is on that fight. >> so true. >>> coming up, remembering a television legend. >> he's been a hollywood mainstay for more than 40 years. this morning we remember actor abe vigoda. you're watching abc "world news now." >> ♪ >>> okay, so among those jazzy strains of '70s sit-com theme songs, "barney miller" was likely one of the most recognizable. >> abe vigoda became a persona larger than any of his own characters. he's died. abc's david wright looks back on his il trus lustrious career. >> if anyone wants to arrange a meeting -- >> reporter: his most fam