envoy staffan de mistura staffan de mistura. i suspect there's also something about the media coverage which is explaining why they're coming here as well because what you're going to have at the moment is the syrian government here speaking to mr staffan de mistura and i'm certain the ambassador of the u.n. will come straight out to the cameras and saying we came here for peace and where is the opposition? now it looks likely that a small group of opposition players coming from riyadh will be coming here by the very end of the day, but not a full negotiating delegation >>> thank you for that. james bays will keep us right up-to-date with that. in the mean time turkey is saying that it hopes the syrian opposition will go to those talks. the prime minister says he is hoping the opposition groups preconditions for talks will be met.

envoy staffan de mistura staffan de mistura came to a motel and listened to the concerns. they raising the items in the resolution from the end of last year about stopping the be that as it may borrowedment in syria, stopping the sieges in syria and releasing the prisoner. mr staffan de mistura said he listened to what they say. i asked him if he could deliver on the items that they raised. he said no, first he must listen to them. what has happened since then is the opposition members have been having their own meeting to decide what they think of what mr staffan de mistura said to them. the word we're going from the hotel is there seems to be some disagreement on what was said to them by mr staffan de mistura. while all this was going on, another group of opposition members were actually briefing the press at a press conference and, again, there at the press conference the opposition made their conditions clear. >> translation: we wish to see forward reaching the starving to death women and children. we wish to see the women released from the regime's prisons. we wish to

staffan de mistura shuttling between it and mr. mistura said anyone who takes part in the negotiation in either delegation will not be allowed to be a part of the transitional government that the talks are supposed to create, so there are rules in place but for talks that for now look far from certain. james base, al jazeera, u.n. >>> large explosion near the airport in the northern city in mali, local media say it was caused by a land mine targeting a u.n. vehicle, sources in kadal say some people have been injured. some kenya troops killed arrived home and died when the african union peace keepers were attacked on friday and al-shabab says it killed more than 100 soldiers but kenya officials have not confirmed the final death toll as yet. the body of alberta was found in his apartment a year ago sparking protests and accusations of a presidential cover up and daniel reports now from the argentine capitol buenos aires. >> reporter: a year on and there are more questions than answers. these people are still asking how alberto nissm

the special envoy for syria of the united nation, staffan de mistura, has just arrived for the crucial meeting of the day, the meeting with the opposition delegation. we were expecting, i told you when i spoke to you an hour ago, this meeting to take place in a few hours time. we were told by a number of sources it was going to take place five hours from now. it seems to have been put forward. the press were all gathered in another hotel because we were told there was an imminent press conference. it is not clear whether that was a coincidence or whether it was some sort of decoy operation going on so the press didn't see mr staffan de mistura arriving for the meeting. certainly he was casually dressed in his weekend clothes and roll-top sweater when he came to meet the opposition. he wasn't giving much away and said he will speak to us after the meeting with the opposition. the opposition members i spoke to as they walked towards the meeting told me that they wanted to make it very clear to mr staffan de mistura that they are entirely embracing this process. they want there to be peac

staffan de mistura shuttling between them. i'm told that mr. de mistura has said that anyone who takes part in the negotiations in either delegation will not be allowed to be part of the transitional government that the talks are supposed to create. so there are rules in place but for talks that for now look far from certain. james base, al jazeera, the united nations. >> let's take a closer look at this now and joining us from london is the chair of contemporary middle east studies at the london school of economics and always good to have you on the show. now there is a lot of hope for these talks to take place in geneva but still there is a lot of differences and all the parties that are supposed to take that in these talks are not united, they can't agree on an agenda, they cannot agree on a direction, is there any point then in forcing these talks to go ahead? >> you know, when major point for your viewers and first of all the security council stipulates that the meeting should take place on the 25th of january. secondly the idea behind the

this question must be raised to mr staffan de mistura, the special envoy. the special envoy is concerned by forming the opposition teams. we are concerned with our affairs as representatives of the syrian government, according to the resolution 2254 this condition must be met. the widest spectrum of the opposition and this stipulation has not been honoured. as we speak, we are not aware who are we going to see against this or who are we going to talk to, who we are going to engage in dialogue with. all the matters mentioned by you and those were not mentioned will be on the negotiating table under the auspices of the special envoy. this is a very important

staffan de mistura is going to be negotiating with them about humanitarian access, do you have any uneasy about that? >> a lot of uneasy about the fact that siege and denial of access is a tactic of war in syria. i have a lot of uneasy about that as do all of us and this is what we try everyday to try and make a dent on by trying to go to these places and reach the people and try to make even if a small difference as we have been able to do in resent weeks i'm sure you followed that quite closely. the securityouncil has been helpful to some extent, security council resolution 2165 allowed us to reach more people across border because since july 2014 the u.n. was not able to do so and that resolution helped us to reach millions of people across

. >> all i can say about the talks is they will start as plan as staffan de mistura announced.'t have a time. i don't have the exact location and i can't tell you anything about the delegations. but there will be more later this morning. that i can promise. >> all right let's go live to our diplomatic editor live in geneva and sounding optimistic but he didn't look it, did he, particularly? what is the stated play at the moment? >> well, there is certainly activity taking place at the u.n. headquarters in geneva and certainly there will be discussions but i don't think there are going to be what we were thinking was going to happen which are the start of proper negotiations and that is because all the parties at this stage are not here. the syrian government delegation we understand and have not yet seen any pictures of them and we understand they have landed at geneva airport, delegation headed by the ambassador to new york bashar bringing a big delegation we understand to geneva and i understand in the coming hours he is going to be meeting the u.n. envoy staffan de mistura a

envoy staffan de mistura. probably not today, saturday, but probably on sunday i think is more likely. that will be to state their position and then i think they want to take stock of the situation, see whether the assurances they've received from the u.n., from the russians who they have also been speaking to, other international players, but importantly from the secretary of state john kerry who has given them verbal assurances that the concerns they've raised will be dealt with before they actually say yes, we're a formal party to these negotiations and we will sit down for talks, although initially they will be indirect talks >>> do you think the u.n. will take the view that at least the delegation has actually arrived in geneva now? >> reporter: yes. i think that the u.n. will be relieved that they're here and that rather than trying to communicate messages to them in saudi arabia, rather than having the saudis pass on messages, rather than having various world leaders encouraging them to come, they will

headquarters by lake geneva in this grand building where he will meet staffan de mistura the u.n.. we have some other opposition figures who are in geneva, been here for some days and are not part though of the main opposition block, that main block of political groups and armed groups who were convened in saudi arabia, the so called riyadh list and they have written a letter making their position very clear to the united nations and security council we are not coming to geneva until our conditions are met and having said they they are coming to geneva, a small group of the negotiating committee we understand to begin with and maybe three or four people are actually going to now make their way to geneva to have discussions with staffan de mistura we believe probably to make it clear what the rest of their negotiating team are not coming here and it's not really clear whether this is to prepare the way perhaps to back down a little and for the rest of their team to come here all simply to explain and make their case very publically because the government will be here why they have

we think he will say a few words before he heads up the staircase to see staffan de mistura.n fact we're seeing some cars, i think, arriving. let's hope this is the right one. and i think we're going to see the syrian delegation. i don't yet see the ambassador -- yes, i do. there he is. the very tall man in the middle. that is syria's ambassador to the negotiations. the actual dead of delegation is the deputy foreign minister, but he has had heart surgery in a few days. he is coming to say a few words to us, i think. ambassador, could you have a few words with us? thank you, ambassador. there we are, the syrian ambassador to the united nations, and this is the start of the talks process, but clearly not much negotiation. clearly he'll make his government's position clear to the special envoy but no one really to negotiate with. there are some opposition politicians, but not that key block in riyadh, which includes the main political figures, and some of the main fighting groups. as you can see the journalists are going to file the picture of him arriving. chaos as is always t

he had a meeting with staffan de mistura. i know well from covering his events in yorke and he gives news conferences that are up to 45 minutes to an hour long. on this occasion he said nothing. i think he has come understand pressure to say nothing because what they really are trying to avoid is a collapse of this process before it has even started. it has been a very shaky start because, as i say, only one side here on day one, friday. now the news on saturday that the opposition are on their way. tricky to get concrete information from the opposition camp. they are based in riyadh. we're told that the plane is on its way. one source telling me 31 people on it and another high-level source 25. so an example of the different information we're getting, but it seems they're coming here to geneva, but it's not clear whether they're going to negotiate >>> what part will the regional powers be playing to move this forward? >> reporter: they have been playing that part in recent days. we know there have been conversations taking p

the syrian government delicatess delicatessen-- delegation meeting with the special envoy staffan de mistura. it was during this meeting that news emerged that the main opposition group said it will now travel to geneva. mr staffan de mistura told reporters he had to wait for official confirmation, but he said he was optimistic >> i have good reasons to believe that they are actually considering this very seriously. they're will be in a position on probably sunday to actually start the discussions with them and in order to be able to proceed with the syrian talks. >> reporter: one opposition member already in geneva later confirmed that her colleagues would be here in a matter of hours. >> we just want to let you know that, yes, they're coming. we're going to start discussing with the u.n. about our two important fights, humanitarians and political detainees. this is what we're for us. we're preparing and the team is coming tomorrow and you will hear all the details later >> reporter: the decision to come here has been a difficult one for the high negotiating commission. they say they've bee

government delegation headed by the country's ambassador to the united nations meeting with staffan de mistura. it was during this meeting that the news emerged that the appear sigs group said it will travel to geneva. staffan de mistura said he had to wait for confirmation but said he was optimistic >> i have good reasons to believe that they are actually considering this very seriously. therefore, to be in a position on probably sunday to actually start the discussions with them and in order to be able to proceed with the syrian talks >> reporter: one opposition member already in geneva later confirmed that her colleagues would be here in a matter of hours >> we just want to let you know that, yes, we are coming and start discussing with the u.n. about our two important issues. this is what is important for us. the team is coming tomorrow. you will hear the details later >> reporter: the decision to come to geneva has been a difficult one for the high negotiating commission. they say they've been given assurances, not just by the u.n., but also by the u.s. and russia, that there will be meas

mr staffan de mistura says it's starting on friday. i have to say with various opposition groups not saying whether they will come that's in some doubt >>> thanks for that. chinese investors panicking again today, selling off their stocks and shares. it fell by more than 6%. that's another multi billion dollar loss for the chinese economy. the latest big sell off has been triggered by the continuing fall in the price of oil and global equity markets. the late eflt from beijing. >> reporter: it has been a particularly volatile time for china's stock markets. the shanghai has dropped 8% this year alone and we're still in the first month of 2016. there's several factors that are causing investors to sell off their shares in china's stock markets. one is the weak economic data coming out from china. last week officials announced that gdp had slowed to its lowest in 25 years and we're expecting growth to slow even further to about 6.5% this year. on tuesday the nation's top economic planners said rail freight activity, and that is the measu

staffan de mistura has said what he believes is top of the agenda and he says that what they do hereshow instant results for the people of syria and that is why among the top issues they are going to be talking about is trying to get cease fires on the ground to stop the fighting in parts of syria, that i think explains why you are seeing the resent military action that has taken place in deraa and they say let's grab some land quickly before the fighting in the area is stopped because once it's stopped the military conflict there we won't be able to make any further gains and explains the increased in fighting. the other thing they will be talking about is humanitarian access trying to get humanitarian aid in and we are going to hear more about that in the next half hour or so when the humanitarian chiefs will give a briefing here in geneva. >> thank you for that, diplomatic editor in geneva. let's now take a closer look at who controls different regions of syria and reporting restrictions make it hard to be precise on this and rebels hold areas near the border with turkey and idlib

. >> reporter: staffan de mistura the u.n.cial envoy on syria should have been sending out invitations on sunday, that didn't take place and now we are looking at possibly wednesday, some diplomates say but john kerry has stepped in again warning against any provocations by either side, what he called posturing and what has been happening are some elements of the syrian regime is no oppositions will be met and opposition speaking from riyadh and the main body which represents both the armed groups politicians as well said that it wants to see prisoners released, it wants to see the syrians not using russia air power any more against civilians and it also wants to see some more movement from the syrian regime. it feels pressurized according to a number of opposition figures. now kerry has assured the opposition that it has a full support militarily, financially and politically from the u.s. and he knocked out suggestions that some countries are no longer backing the opposition and he said this terminology, he said that you can'

he is here with staffan de mistura, the u.n. special envoy.eporters are gathered waiting for the syrian ambassador and the syrian chief negotiator, that's the capacity he is in here to come to speak to reporters at that microphone, and lay out his position. clearly it is probably a pr opportunity for him and the syrian government, and he is a very media savvy man. i have seen him multiple times giving news conferences in new york and he doesn't miss on a good sound bite, and i'm sure he will make the case that he is here representing the syrian government, while the main grouping of the opposition are not here, and so far have not been talking to anyone or negotiating with anyone. the main opposition grouping is the grouping that is based in saudi arabia in riyadh, that was formed in riyadh. they say they can't come -- or can't take part in the negotiations at this stage, because they say that the u.n. resolution passed at the end of last year had certain conditions in it, and they say those conditions haven't been met, and those include lifti

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 panicked again and sold off more of their shares. the main stock market fell more than 6%. that's another multi million dollar lost. tell us more about what has caused this latest drop. >> reporter: that's right. let's just put the numbers in more context. the shanghai composite index has fallen 6.42%, but if we go back to this year, the stock markets have dropped about 18%. going back further to june last year, we will see that the shanghai composite index has fallen more than 40%. this all indicates investors' concerns over slowing economic growth not only in china but also globally. this latest route in the stock markets moirs the drop in oil prices which rallied over th

staffan de mistura is going to be negotiating with them about humanitarian access, do you have any uneasy about that? >> a lot of uneasy about the fact that siege and denial of access is a tactic of war in syria. i have a lot of uneasy about that as do all of us and this is what we try everyday to try and make a dent on by trying to go to these places and reach the people and try to make even if a small difference as we have been able to do in resent weeks i'm sure you followed that quite closely. the securityouncil has been helpful to some extent, security council resolution 2165 allowed us to reach more people across border because since july 2014 the u.n. was not able to do so and that resolution helped us to reach millions of people across border. have we been able to reach all people in need, no. earlier we said we have no less than 4.5 million today. despite the resolutions that we are not able to reach because of the actions of the parties to this conflict. so with the resolution there needs to be political will to actually affect change on the ground. sadly i don't think that poli

they have separate meetings with staffan de mistura expressing their concerns and where they could perhaps make concessions on either ground, and where he can find, at some time, whether they can come to the table in the same room in this six-month process >>> thank you. meanwhile the fighting goes on. 15 people have been killed, dozens injured near the northern city of aleppo. in the west opposition tighters say they have taken control of several check points around hama. -- fighters. let's look at who controls what in syria's very crowded battle field. government forces have the upper hand in latakia. rebel held territory in the north is under siege by the military. the opposition southern stronghold also under pressure after the army captured a town this month on a crucial spri route. despite losing 10% of its territory last year, i.s.i.l. still controls large part of the country. syria's consider kurds are controlling three times as much territory as they did one year ago. that's the situation on the ground. our senior political analyst is here to talk to us about syria and the geneva

of gulf news joining us from beirut and you heard secretary of state john kerry referring to staffan de misturathat sound bite we were playing but staffan de mistura himself earlier this week told the security council in a briefing that the parties disagree not only on substance but what concerns me is they also question that the u.n. could or should exercise its discretion in finalizing the opposition list, what does that sound like to you? is he being underminded here and if so what are the chances of success? >> well, one hopes that they will be able to convene this and i have no doubt that, in fact, they will convene in a few days, but it might take a few adjustments. the dispute is over the identities of the participants on the side of the opposition. they are individuals that are considered by russia and by the government of syria as being terrorists and they don't want them to be included among the group of individuals who are presumably representing the opposition and the guy who announced the list of individuals who will participate on the opposition side included very controversial fi

in the coming hours the president will be meeting staffan de mistura.e other figures are here, the main delegation, the list drawn up in saudi arabia, they have written letters to the u.n. secretary ban ki-moei-moon copi the u.n. secretary saying they cannot come and talk around a table with the colleagues are being bombed on the ground in syria. they want sieges lifted. these are among the conditions they put before they will come here. having said all that, they are coming to geneva, a small group of the so-called commission have taken off from riyadh and on the way here. i'm told that they are going to be meeting at some point later in the day, staffan de mistura, but not at this stage taking part in negotiations. i think they will be discussing with him their conditions in taking part in negotiations. it's not clear whether the small delegation actually represents all of the high negotiating commission that is back in saudi arabia because we know there were divisions there when they've had various votes on whether to come or not. so a confused pictu

special advisor for syria, staffan de mistura.reveal those numbers, as you know, talks are going on to bring an end to the event. you have seen enough conferences, two of them already taken place. this one cannot fail. he is right, isn't he? >> i'm afraid he is wrong. i mean if you look at the headlines today in the international press. the only real debate is about whether what is happening in geneva now is a fiasco or a farce. you know, the preparations for this have -- have been extremely wanting. and perhaps more importantly, the first point i would make is that the future of syria is not going to be decided in geneva, it is being decided on the ground in -- in syria, and any negotiations, i think, at the end of the day can only be a reflection of what is happening on the ground. having said that, the preparations for these talks have -- have really be abysmal. just something as simple as a list of invitations of seeking to compos a unified delegation to represent the various strands of the syrian opposition, and then yesterda

the syrian government delegation, headed by bashar al jaffray, greeted by staffan de mistura. news emerged that the main opposition group said it would travel to geneva. mr. dee mistura said he was optimistic. >> i have good reasons to believe that they are actually considering this very seriously. and ther therefore, to be in a position on probably sunday to actually start the discussions with them, in order to be able to proceed with the intra-syrian talks. >> one opposition member already in geneva later confirmed that her colleagues would be here in a matter of hours. >> we just want to let you know that yes, they are coming discussindiscussing about the to important fights, the humanitarian aid, and you'll hear all the details later. >> the decision has been a difficult one for the high negotiating excision. they say they have been given assurances thought just by the u.n. but by the u.s. and russia that there will be measures to alleviate the humanitarian situation and some of the concerns they've raised in the coming days. they say they'll speak to the special envoy and

. >> in just a week's time staffan de mistura is supposed to be mediating.nformation out of that meeting is he hasn't even sent out the formal invitations yet. he told the security council he would send out the formal invitations to those who are supposed to attend when he is on sound ground. there are two problems: opposition are wary from taking part in these talks, want reassurances, by united states u.s. and their allies, in a way when they had talks as a delaying tactic and i think those opposition groups want there to be a plan b from the u.s. and its allies if the syrian government were to collapse these talks as they claimed happened last time. and the other problem. >>> who should actually be in that optio: who isto be in tha. no kurdish representation in the opposition groop groopg groupini arabia helped to arrange. >> how can that not happen again? >> if this takes place, my understanding is that initially the two sides will not be face-to-face. i understand that staffan de mistura wants two delegations, 11 from the government and 11 representing

>> staffan de mistura, the u.n. envoy has been briefing the u.n. security council, he revealed he has not sent out invitations yet. it looks touch and go whether this is going to happen on time. having said that, both the u.s. and russia say that it should happen on the 25th of january one week from now. and if you've got those two countries pushing it you certainly can't rule it out. i think the problems are these: there's disagreement on who should be in the opposition delegation. it was up to saudi arabia to come up with a list but moscow doesn't like that list, says threr nothere are not enough ser representatives and not enough represents from the kurds. the delegation said should we go to geneva or not? they were unhappy with the results of the talks two years ago, the syrian government didn't properly engage and ended up destroying the talks and there were years in between where thousands of people have died. the opposition delegation would like a plan b from the u.s. and its allies if that happens again. >> so does u.s. or the u.n. have a k

we have staffan de mistura, the u.n. envoy who said saudi arabia still wants to proceed with the process that started in vienna to see if a peaceful resolution could come following the december agreement by the u.n. security council. i think iran has escalated this situation. iran is playing a destabilizing role in the region, there is no doubt about that. but iran, if they had a nuclear weapon, would be even a worse actor in the region. so even though the saudis weren't thrilled with the nuclear agreement, they understood iran with a nuclear weapon woul would not be good. iran has elections coming up in late february both for their parliament and for what is called the council of experts that, in fact, will decide the successor to the current supreme leader. so they've got a lot at stake. there are hard liners of hard liners in iran. we tend to think of iran as a monolithic country, but they have real politics. none of them are particularly reformist in our terminology, but there are more reformists than the hardliners,

special envoy staffan de mistura says the decision in the end is his and he will send out the invitations. he says his agenda will be based on the u.n. security council resolution pafd at the en passef december but he knows what issues will be taken up first. >> the agenda has already been set up, 2244 resolution with new governance new constitution and new elections. the first priority will be the focus of the talks. of what most syrians if not all want to hear. the possibility of a broad ceasefire, and the possibility of tops the threats of cite. therefore, thanks oa broader ceasefire an increase of humanitarian aid. i'll give it now to al jazeera, thank you. >> james bays, al jazeera. it's not going to who you are going to invite and you are going to be shut lin subtle shun the different rooms, how many will there be? >> particularly the proximity talks you will see it yourself. there will be in my opinion a lot of shuttling, there will be different delegations, civil society women and others who deserve to be heard. the issue is they will be meeting me and my colleagues. and those we

. >> staffan de mistura, the u.n. envoy who's supposed to mediate talks between syrian government and opposition in a week's time but it's touch and go whether they will go ahead, according to the french foreign minister laurent fabius. >> there are questions that have to be dealt with. >> in the u.n. in new york, ambassadors heard a briefing from mr. de mistura, from his office in paris. >> what we're going to hear from staffan is what progress has been made. >> the russian ambassador knows his own government has problems with the current plan. president vladimir putin was meeting the emir of qatar in moscow. the russian leader will have made it clear he believes the list for opposition delegation drawn up in saudi arabia should have more secular figures and rechtiorepresentation from kurdh groups. there is another program even those currently on the opposition list are not currently scheduled to attend geneva, they want assurances that the same thing that happened two years ago will not be repeated. if that happens

staffan de mistura says he confirmed that he hasn't issued the formal invitations.here are two main reasons. one is that there's disagreement in the international community who should be in the syrian delegation, it was up to saudi arabia to come up with a delegation for the talks while russia believes that the delegation that saudi arabia has come up with does not have enough secular members, does not have representation from the kurds. that's one problem. even if you put that one problem aside, those that are in the opposition delegation currently drawn by saudi arabia, they aren't even sure they want to go to the talks in geneva. their worries are this, they believe two years ago there are talks that took place in geneva, they believe that the syrian government stall didn't really engage properly in those talks and when the talks ended they went back home to syria and thousands more people died. so they want a guarantee from their supporters, their allies as they see them countries like the u.s., the u.k. and france, that this isn't going to happen again. and if

that there is no more conflict, that is the driver of the humanitarian need and working with staffan de misturacross the u.n. of course we will do everything we can to separate support him on the political track but however much there may be because of the practicalities local ceasefires the demand is we have a universal approach to the cessation of hostilities so we can get the safe, unimpeded access to everybody who is in need and of course wherever we can we must do it but i'm demanding we do it to all. >> is it as bad, worse than anything you have ever seen before in syria? we are talking about an accumulation of five years of war, creating this extraordinary humanitarian crisis. >> everybody knows the numbers and the scale of suffering and it is heartbreaking, it's the human level of course to see it but we really have to be determined to use the tools and the instruments at our disposal which is the political will which we tried to marshal but where we don't get sufficient agreement and we do have security counsel resolutions but to activate those we need to make sure we get these secure

delicatessen dwags is likely, and i have this from a number of diplomatic sources, likely to see staffan de mistura on sunday-- delegation-- meeting. i'm not clear where that will take place. some sources say it will be at the u.n. and others say it will be away from the u.n. then it is a parallel meeting to the one we saw on friday with the syrian government, wants those two meetings have taken place there will be more discussion, but it's just possible we could actually see both sides in the same place. not the same room, because that won't happen for some considerable time, but maybe both in the u.n. and geneva on monday. i think that would be the best hope of the u.n. team who are trying to mediate these talks >>> up to 400,000 people in syria are trapped and needing emergency assistance. many have died trying to escareful to a better life in europe. our correspondent is in gaziantep and has spoken to syrians about their hopes for the talks in geneva. >> reporter: this is the reality in syria. the government backed by russian air power is on the offensive. their focus is on damascus. the strate

here they will have a meeting with the united nations, highly likely with the special envoy staffan de mistura. i'm told that meeting won't take place now until sunday, and there they will expect, i think, to hear that this there have been some measures taken which goes some way towards the demands they made. remember those demands. they say they're not their demands. they say it was what was laid out in a security council resolution in december, that the u.n. security council made before these talks should start >>> what about the syrian government representatives who have been there now for several days. are they involved in some sort of talks today? >> reporter: no. nothing really is going on today. i think this is the sort of shape of this process that you're going to see if it does turn into a process and actual talks. it's going to be very slow because these are not going to be face-to-face talks. they're going to be proximity talks. the u.n. feels that two years ago things failed because both sides got together and it got very heated very early on with arguments over something as simila

special envoy to syria staffan de mistura.which would allow authorities to confiscate the money of refugees and asylum seekers has been debated by danish-mp and the alien act gave them the power to seize assets from refugees to pay for resettlement and nations criticized by the u.n. and amnesty international and due to vote on tuesday on the planned changes. a dangerous mosquito-borne virus is rapidly spreading through latin america and confusing health authorities and government have public health warnings to pregnant women and it's called zika and birth defects causing hundreds of infants being born with unusually small heads and it was known last yearen and telling pregnant women to use spray and do not get pregnant in columbia where there are more than 13,000 confirmed cases bolivia have the first cases of the mosquito virus in santa cruz and this is in the caribbean and latin america to be affected, columbia and 560 pregnant women are infected at the moment but so far there have been no cases of colombian children being b

those talks are due to take place two weeks time and staffan de mistura is expected to meet the oppositionrs. now yemeni government forces announced a curfew in the southern city of aiden and will start at 17grenich monday and last until early tuesday morning and followed an emergency meeting of the city security committee and army captured aiden from houthi rebels. chinese stock markets plunged but 8% automatically triggering suspension in trading, investors reacted to the latest signs of economic slow down in china by selling shares and begun to spread globally and dragged down the european markets. here is a look at the scale of the sell off and the worst ever start to a year for chinese shares forced them to trade $7 trillion of stocks, futures and options and it's the first test for the country's new market circuit breakers designed to shut down trade when it reaches 5%. adrian brown is in beijing for us. >> reporter: it seems that a survey which was carried out by a private group showed that manufacturing out put in china has contracted for the 10th straight month. also the chinese c

representative special envoy staffan de mistura will be convening people in an appropriate manner forximity talks that will be the first meeting in geneva to begin to lay down the process to try very hard to implement the geneva communication and have a transition that takes place according to the u.n. security council resolutions as well as the communication of the syria international support group. >> reporter: the u.s. vice president joe biden says the united states and turkey are prepared for a military solution against i.s.i.l. if a political settlement is not possible and speaking from istanbul where he met the turkey prime minister. >> today we discussed how we can improve the support of local sunni arab forces working to cutoff what remains of i.s.i.l.'s access to the turkish border and that is a priority for both our nations so that we can prevent new fighters and equipment from reaching i.s.i.l. and conducting attacks against syria and so that the control now and after we defeat i.s.i.l. of the border is within turkey's control, that it's secure, that there are no separate s

i was speaking to staffan de mistura the u.n. special envoy and he said he still had not sent invites out, do you have any optimism whatsoever for these talks? >> it is i think one has to be positive and stay optimistic and john kerry all credit to him the u.s. secretary of state has been an absolute dyanamo to make the talks work and we need representatives of the regime in syria even though many of us have you know huge miss givings about what that regime has done we need to get them around the table with the legitimate opposition leaders, the moderate opposition. and that is the aim. i think it could still take place but it's going to mean give and take on both sides. >> and not just the syrian players, the international players with a stake in it as well and referring to russia here for you and does what happened with the report and to the death of alexander litvinenko deal with syria? >> no doubt when it comes to syria we need the players if it's saudi arabia or iran or russia, everyone needs to be involved and obviously we

special envoy staffan de mistura is in geneva, does not address the issue of syrian president bashar al-assad. 5 year war has killed 250,000 people and displaced millions. >>> in the last 48 hours images of starving children in madaya syria have been seen around the world. but the u.n.'s world food program said even in the best case scenario trucks with desperately needed aid would not arrive in the city until monday. 250 people there have asevere acute malnutrition, ten need immediate hospitalization and dozens have died. al jazeera's rob mathison has the story. >> a starving victim of siege. he says he has been forced to eat grass. >> translator: i was brought here because i got poisoned. i was eating herbs from the ground. >> reporter: in the grip of winter, plad yah i madaya is owy has is cut off, towps in the north heltowns in thenorth thate government and their allies. >> are we not arabs as well? i swear to god, we are arabs! these children, what wrong have they done? this child? what wrong did he commit? >> reporter: the united nations says hundreds of thousands of people are

the syrian delegate headed by bashar al jaffray, meeting with staffan de mistura. ftc it was during this meeting that news emerged that the main opposition group said it would now travel to geneva. mr. de mistura said he had to wait for official confirmation but said he was optimistic. >> i have good reason to believe that they are actually considering this very seriously. and actually to start the discussions with them in order to proceed with the inter-syrian talks. >> reporter: one opposition member already in geneva later confirmed that her colleagues would be there in a matter of hours. >> we want to let you know that yes, they are coming, we are going to start discussing with the u.n. about our important concerns humanitarian and the political detainees. that is what is important for us so we're preparing the fight, the team is coming tomorrow, and you're going to hear all the details later. >> reporter: the decision to come to geneva has been a difficult one for the high negotiating commission. they say they've been given assurances not just by the u.n. but

. >> staffan de mistura, the u.n. envoy who is supposed to mediate talks between the syrian government and opposition in a week's time but it's touch and go whether they'll now go ahead according to the french foreign minister, laurent fabius. >> obviously we hope the negotiation will take place. but there are some questions that have to be dealt with. >> in the united nations headquarters in new york, all still expressing a determination the talks must start on time. >> it's important the talk do go ahead this month. what we are going to hear from staffan is what progress he's may on this. >> are the talks on the 25th going to take place? >> i hope so, i hope so, they must after all the work that has been done. >> but the russian ambassador says his own government has problems with the policeman. president vladimir putin is meeting the emir of qatar. the list of the opposition delegation drawn newspaper saudi arabia should have more secular figures and representatives from the kurdish groups. they want reassurances t

special envoy for syria, staffan de mistura is in iran for talks. calls for calm, at the same time is distancing itself from the dispute. al jazeera's andrew simmons has the story. >> saudi diplomats on their way home with their families, transiting here at the dubai airport. allied neighboring bahrain , after two days of protests from shia muslim majority. accused iran of blatant and dangerous interference and support for terrorism. the actions followed the arson attack at the saudi arabia embassy in tehran. a war of words is escalating. >> we decided to cut off all diplomatic relations with iran, we will be cutting off all air traffic to and from iran we will cut off all commercial relations with iran and have a travel ban against people traveling to iran. >> unfortunately, the government of saudi arabia sees interest in creating clashes and escalating tensions in the region. in recent times it has enforced policies to that. >> after the execution of nimr al-nimr he and 46 others including preacher al zarani were charged with preaching and targeti

staffan de mistura will send out the invitations, he says the agenda will be based on the u.n. security council resolution passed at the end of december but he says he knows which issues should be discussed first. >> the agenda will be already set up. is the governance 2254 resolution about the new governance new constitution and new elections. the first priority will be the focus of the talks of what most syrians if not all, want to hear. the possibility of a broad ceasefire acknowledge and the possibility of stopping the threat of i.s.i.l. and therefore, intents to a broader ceasefire and increase of humanitarian aid. i'll give it now to al jazeera, thank you. >> james bays from al jazeera. you won't list a solicitor who you're going to invite but you are going to invite. how many rooms will you be shut ling between, how many demonstrations will there be. >> the issue about rooms and delegations will be part exactly of the creativity of the proximity talks. and you will see it yourself because there will be in my opinion a lot of shuttling because there is not only different