u.n. official did was closely monitored, and so it was his great breakthrough that he decided to act, and in some instances to speak out publicly against gross violations of human rights. van boven: there is a tendency, at that time at least, that the u.n. should remain low-key. some felt that i was too outspoken. quiet diplomacy is perhaps what they thought. more productive than to speak up. i think this is very questionable, this position. van boven: when, for instance, the coup d'État occurred in chile, a special public procedure was created. josÉ zalaquett: the military felt that they had to give the impression right from day one that they meant business, therefore they bombed the palace of governments. heraldo munoz: september 11, that was a dark day and a bit rainy. after that, i would say that the life of a whole generation of chileans changed. [music plays] zalaquett: the military authorities managed to take control of the whole of the country, putting in prison thousands of people. they even put them in the national soccer stadium because there were not enough places in the priso

u.n. official says the u.n. county has head an emergency meeting on the ongoing blockades there. russia has accused the u.s. of double standards say it's politicizing the situation there to derail peace talks. slated for later this month. 400,000 are under siege in syria. >> regrettably, siege as become a weapon of war and routine in syria with devastating consequences for civilians. the bar bearity of this tactic cannot be -- barbarity of this tactic cannot be understated. vicious war on ordinary men women and children, a siege that denies people access to the basic necessities of life is unlawful unreceptio unacceptabld unconscionable. >>> nicolas maduro is dealing with the worsening economic crisis. revenues drop by 60%. virginia lopez has more from caracas. >> reporter: friday was a day of unusual announcement in venezuela. while president nicholas maduro delivered his state of the union address venezuelans grapple with the implications of an economy they now know to be collapsing. for the first time in 17 years, since his pre predecessor the le hugo chavez rose to power ackn

u.n. official at all. >> james with the latest there at the u.n. thank you. well, let's have a closer look at what is happening in syria. because they have spent a mobile clinic and medical team to the town of madaya after the government gave permission. >> the bombs and guns come and go, but hunger has been constant for many in this town. now for the first time in months people in madaya are getting outside help. truck loads of food, medicine, and doctors are streaming in although for many people it's too late. community workers say hunger has killed more than 30 people in the past month. >> where we ended, we had the children in need. cases of malnutrition. we saw such cases ourselves and hope we can get them out of madaya to be taken care of in our centers. >> that will require permission from the forces that cut off the town in the first place. fighters supporting syria's president bashar al-assad has controlled madaya for months. until now it's been hard to verify activist videos that accuse the government of deliberately starving its population. it's th

u.n. official said to me, you know, master hunt, the warlords won't agree to have women, and i said, well, not? and he said because they're worried the women will compromise. >> interesting. >> and a lightbulb went off in my head, and i discovered after gathering 100 women from ten conflict areas that, in fact, they told one story after another after another of how they were working across lines. >> in fact, it was true. the women would compromise. >> that's right. but the problem is we're so used to negotiations where let's bring together the killers and they'll put the guns under the table and you can have the diamonds, you can have the oil, you can have the timber, and that's called a peace agreement put together by people who have no experience or even interest in having peace. so if you add more chairs, you have to have them around the table, add more chairs, have the women, have others in the community who wouldn't be allowed, and you get a different agreement that lasts. >> ambassador hunt brought to our studios two women who personify what she calls women waging peace. first i want

u.n. officials and from people from other humanitarian organizations that there's a great deal of negotiationvery time the united nations need to get into a particular town or village. now i think it's fair to say that those negotiations are often with the syrian government which has problems and wants paperwork. but it also happens when dealing with opposition forces too. >> thank you, james bays at the u.n. let's go to oklahoma, joshua landis, director of the center for middle east studies at that state's university. the university of oklahoma. imagine that you've if not seen the whole of the news conference by bashar jafari, it was brazen if nothing else. >> absolutely. he's trying to deflect blame, claiming that it's the fault of the rebels who have taken over the town and that they should give up and that's been the whole point of the syrian government from the beginning. this has become a tried and true method of besieging towns. they've done it in homs, zabadani, the huta area, the two big shiite towns north of idlib that have been for several years now been besieged by the rebels, kef

u.n. officials by the door.y are here to welcome the syrian government delegation in just the next few minutes. the press here, hundreds of journalists from around the world, to watch the arrival of one side in this peace talks process, but clearly not any negotiation yet. what we're expecting in the next few minutes is syria's ambassador to the united nations in new york, who is leading their delegation to come and speak to reporters. we think he'll say a few words. clearly he'll make his government's position clear to the special envoy, but no one really, to negotiate with. there are some other opposition delegations but not that key opposition delegation in riyadh which includes some of the main fighting groups, and we also understand that the special envoy himself is going to come to the same position some time after that meeting also to address the press. >>> america's biggest police union has been hacked. private files belonging to the fraternal order of police were posted online thursday. the fraternal or

u.n. officials by the door.hey are here to welcome the syrian government delegation in just the next fewing minutes. the press are here, hundreds of journalists from all over the world to watch the arrival of one side in this peace talks process. what we're expecting felicity in the next few minutes is syria's ambassador to the united nations in new york who is leading their delegation to come through those doors and come to speak to reporters. we think he will say a few words before he heads up the staircase to see staffan de mistura. in 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

u.n. officials. u.

u.n. officials start getting here you can rest assured we will start asking them for details about that, asas we get more we will of course bring it to you. >> thanks very much indeed and gabrielle with that developing story out of new york. now the german health ministry is saying that there have been five confirmed cases of the zika virus in the country over the last four months as they raise a global alarm on the virus suspected of being linked to birth defects in thousands of infants and w.h.o. says zika is spreading quickly and could affect four million peoples within the americas within a year. the w.h.o. is holding an emergency meeting only monday on how best to respond to this outbreak and brazil so far is the worst hit country with around 4,000 suspected cases of microencephaly in newborn babies and rouseff called for latin american countries have a conference in uraguay to tackle the mosquito-borne disease and we report from the chile capitol santiago where officials are taking special precautions already to deal with the outbreak. >> reporter: chile's health minister arrives at t

u.n. officials describe what they saw as heartbreaking. harrowing scenes of desperation, including 400 people in need of immediate medical evacuation. convoys were also able to reach two other blockaded villages in the country's north after negotiations between rebels and the syrian government. in spite of the delivery international aid officials say there are no reassurances of future deliveries after the supplies run out in a month. secretary of state john kerry is pressing for full access to the city. >>> let's turn now to business where oil's dismal start to the new year continued yesterday as the u.s. benchmark hit fresh 12-year lows. cnbc's jeff cutmore joins us live from london. jeff you cover the oil markets. are we past the panic time here? >> well, for a lot of oil companies, they clearly are still panicking, shiba. and particularly in the shale oil sector, where their cost of production is high. and that is the fear that we might see some bankruptcies in this space going forward. but morgan stanley putting out a new call on the

u.n. officials. >>> in france experiment drugs were given to people in a clinical trial. >>> indonesia police say they have identified four out of five of the jakarta attackers. they're now searching for an indonesian man. residents of jakarta are determined to show they won't be scared by thursday's attacks. we report from the capital 31. >> there was no sign of fear after five men keep here armed with guns and explosives. instead people came to the area outside of the shopping mall in gentleman tar at a for a peace rally. >> we are strong. we are not weak. we're united. enter is a multi cultural place, and because of that it's not easy to shake us. >> it's too easy for those who were caught up in the violence. the names of the injured are listed outside hospitals. security in some areas close to where the attack happened, but this sprawling city has largely returned to normal. there has been a strong rejection of the attack in indonesia with #s like brave jakarta and place of the brave. >> this man says he refuses to be scared away. >> i'm a bit concerned because the attack was close to me.

u.n. official found himself in the middle of the terror. jeremy douglas spoke to cnn a short time ago sdplchl. >> i was in the car when it happened. we were pulling into the back of the building. we pulled up and got out of the car. there is a bit of chaos because people weren't sure what was going. a second bomb went off as we were getting out of the car. we rushed into the building. a third bomb went off. we went up to our office on the tenth floor and now we are in lockdown in the office building on the tenth floor. a fourth and fifth and sixth bomb went off. we heard small arms fire in front of the building. you could not get more central in jakarta if you tried. it is smack dab in the middle of the central business area. major international hotel chains, u.n. and japanese embassy which is down the street. there's a big diplomatic community and business community. if you wanted to make an impact and get visibility, this is the place to do it. >> so far, no group has claimed responsibility. a lot of experts and terror analysts say this a

u.n. officials say russia should not be considered safe for refugees. they say large cracks in russia's system put refugees at risk of freezing to death. denmark's parliament is debating a proposal to move refugees into tent camps outside major camps and cities. in recent weeks laws were tightened with proposals to have refugees pay for their stay with anywhere valuables and to postpone family reunification for three years. starting today slovenia will not allow refugees to enter the country unless they are seeking asylum in always tree acor germany. slovenia implemented a similar rule to one already in place in voesh croatia and others. turkey is going to start issuing work permits to syrian refugees. the idea is to discourage them from travelling further into europe, but it is also addressing another big problem for ankara. nearly two million syrians are living in turkey and they are struggling to afford basic essentials. >> reporter: it's a family business in a city where textiles are one of the main exports. five vacancies have been filled. only tur

u.n. official heeding an appeal from ban ki-moon. the foreign ministry declared that he must leave for making what he called unfair statements. the u.n. has been highly critical of the yemeni government and the saudi-led military coalition that is helping it to fight shia houthi rebels. electoral reform and more harm me between different religious and ethnic groups. they're two aims of the reforms proposed by the president. the constitution has been outlined to change. >> reporter: some of the key changes expected will be changes to the electoral system which some analysts say are deeply flawed. again, the abolishment of the presidency, giving power to the government in a more broad-based fashion. a lot of work to be done by this assembly. there is formal process of consultation which seeks to include all parties, all basically opinions with regards to the constitution and what we're seeing is that house will debate and discuss the potential changes at which time it will come up with a cohesive set of proposals for the constitutional

u.n. official said at least one of the explosions took place in front of the office of the capital city of jakarta, we're getting reports of explosions in other cities, the witnesses report one explosion was caused by a suicide bomber. we're going to bring you updates on this story as they develop during this news cast and of course as the evening progresses. >>> well, we have new pictures tonight showing the suspect in a deadly bart shooting over the weekend. police say this is the man that shot a fellow passenger on the bart train as it pulled into the oakland station wednesday night. more on the story. >> this is a pretty brazen random act. >> reporter: bart police say the victim and gunman apparently had no interaction on board that train. the man they're looking for is about six feet tall, with a hood and jacket and tan military boot s. investigators refuse to release more evidence on the train. they question if all cameras were working at the time. >> we have a robust system, cameras on the plains and platforms. >> reporter: the shooting happened at about 7:50 in the eveni evening. t

u.n. officials say the main opposition group is not yet willing to negotiate. it's demanding an immediate end to attacks by russian and civilian sources. anthony: the people of flint michigan are stipping coping with the water crisis and the liberty of praise church is greg barnes has the story. >> so many things we take for granted granted. greg: the need for water in flint, michigan has opened up the flood gates of love here? we gathered 800 bottles of water and 2,000 baby wipes from one family. greg: residents in flint have been warned not to drink water from the taps. they have teamed up with michigan to make sure children and families there have clean water to drink, cook with and wipes to clean. they're collecting donations here until about mid-february and trucking it all to michigan. he hopes it will clench some of the resident's thirst in despair? i really hope they'll be reminded and reassured they're not alone. same family, and it could be us. greg: he says this is a growing community-wide effort with donations promised from several schools and busin

u.n. official quota of four players, critics say there's not enough nonwhite players. cricket australia says it doesn't have a transformation start. they aim to have domestic teams for the next two seasons. cricket fans battle it out against england. many in the township stee it as an inspirational figure and a hero. >> the youngsters hope they can be the next generation, and they practice at the cricket club where they play. >> the significance in cape town meant a lot. professionally we grew up. because of that, ahave seen the growth in the betting det. >> there was a lack of resources in townships where most of the population lives. >> most gained access to representatives and elite coaches. >> cricket sa admits it is yet to successfully tap that south africa's talent. >> it's a fact we have limited resources. what we managed to do is tied up an agreement with the sports and recreation ministry. they have come on board to help us, to provide resourcing, facilities. >> until those initiatives properly trickle down, the dreams could remain just that >>> yet to bat. so

u.n. official saint. theresa vo reports from northern argentina. >> reporter: in the province in north eastern argentina. they worship a saint. he came all the way from buenos aires to ask for his help. >> he gives us what we ask for. i come every year to pray for him, to ask what i need. health and work. faith is what brings people here, and what turned this place into a pilgrimage site. >> i cut my hair because i made a promise. my son had surgery, he's okay. >> the legend says na antonio started the army during the argentine civil war in the 1800s, he was executed by authorities, and his body hung on a tree. >> people believe antonio stole from the rich to give to the poor. that's why there's thousands coming every year not only to request what they say are miracles, but to leave offers to him. people leave knives, wedding dresses and bicycles. >> this person has been working here for 30 years says people bring other things. >> these are coffins with ashes. those that had devotion want to be buried clo

u.n. officials and then they're going to take stock and see whether they have got what they've been told they're going to get when they come here and then they will decide whether to take part in actual negotiations here in gen ooech a >>> - shall geneva >>> still happy, we will take a look at the growing refugee crisis in europe, a struggle for more than a million asylum seekers to assimilate and the bark lash many are suffering because of crime linked to some of the new comers. then later, have you had any run-ins with the law? some universities are asking prospective students that question and some say it's way out of line. a serious virus is spreading at an alarming rate. new cases of the zika virus which may cause severe birth defects are turning up every detail. details coming up. >>> europe is currently home to more than 1 million refugees who travelled there in the past year and more continue to arrive every day. tonight we take a deeper look at that crisis, one that dominated headlines last summer but has received less attention in recent months. now amid growing anti refugee sentiment

u.n. officials. >>> u.k.ants to ban donald trump from entering the country. >> hello, i'm here with your sport, novak djokovic admits he was once offered a bribe to throw a game, officials are ignoring the issue. >> a rocket fired from syria has hit a school over the border in turkey, killing a female cleaner, three rockets hit the town of killes, one of which fell into a schoolyard, radar showed they were fired from the islamic state of iraq and the levant from inside syria. all schools in the town were evacuated. al jazeera's andrew simmons sent this update from killes. >> this is the schoolyard. imagine the panic when the first blast happened. emergency workers were on the scene when this happened. they desperately tried to save the life of a staff worker but she died. there was also a female student, critically injured and taken to hospital where she's in a serious condition. there was another injury also taken to hospital and it's unclear if their condition at the moment, not believed to be life threaten

u.n. officials and then they're going to take stock and see whether they have got what they've been told they're going to get when they come here and then they will decide whether to take part in actual negotiations here in geneva >>> james bays reporting from geneva there. at least 39 refugees fleeing the region drowned trying to cross the sea from turkey to greece. the turkish government says a boat carrying more than 100 people sank today after hitting rocks. we want to warn you some of the images in this next report are graphic. >> reporter: they are casualties of war and poverty. among them a small child, other children and adults too. washed up on a beach in turkey. their boat had sunk not far from the rocks. in all, about a third of the 120 people on board didn't make it, drowning as they tried to reach greece, a gateway to europe used so many before them. some victims are thought to have been from syria. all this as politicians in geneva gather for talks to try to end the nearly five-year long war. >> we will save you. don't worry >> reporter: over night another group of refugees tried t

u.n. officials cited the wars in syria, afghanistan, iraq, yemen , and south sudan as one of the major reasons there are nearly 60 million people forcibly displaced worldwide. the largest single displaced community are syrians, with 4 million refugees forced outside syria's borders by the ongoing conflict. in democracy now! traveled to december, the calais refugee camp, the largest refugee camp in france. it is about two hours north of paris. 6000 to 7000 people are living there, camped out in makeshift tents. their goal is to reach britain. night people set out along the highway to the channel tunnel, where they attempt to cross into britain by jumping on top of or inside trucks or lorries. a few days earlier before we arrived, a sudanese man named joseph was killed when he was run over by a car on the highway. while we were at the calais refugee camp, residents were protesting in the freezing cold, protesting the police had not stopped the driver. people held signs reading, "we are humans, not dogs" and "do survivors of war not have the right to live in peace?" right next to the refugee camp

u.n. official on the desperate situation in yemen plus. >> i'm in south africa and going to show you whatlooks like and how the context is helping save lives. >>> in sport liverpool and norwich are playing in the english premier league and find out who prevailed. ♪ now six people have been killed in the united states as a huge blizzard hits the east coast and expected to bring inasmuch as 60 centimeters of snow in some areas, thousands of frights flights cancelled and people told not to drive and stay in doors until the storm passes and let's find out what the situation is in washington d.c. where tom ackerman is joining us from, tom? >> well, the storm has hit washington now for the past 20 hours and the forecasters say we can expect 16 hours of this kind of weather and as the day progresses we expect the winds to kick up even further. you can see now there is a driving snow right now. it's expected to be a bit fiercer as the storm begins to lend its way further east and towards the atlantic ocean. you mentioned people being told not to venture outdoors, you see very few people out here

u.n. rights officials. they made the decision on thursday saying that the unhcr made public comments about the human rights in their country. >>> well, the our nighted states report has hit back saying that the u.s. is un' with the pace of prison transfers. now the closure of the detention center was one of barack obama's key election promises and rehousing prisoners has taken far longer than originally anticipated, and general kelly is strongly denying accusations that they're deliberately slowing the movement of prisoners. >> the fact that there was reporting about this people in uniform, people in detention ops in anyway, shape, or form, slowing down or trying to i a get an complete list is obsolete. to be accused whether we agree or disagree with any of the policies that we would in any way impede the progress. >> still ahead here on al jazeera. scared to return to sinjar, we meet with iraqi yazidi who are now too fearful to go home. and why a japanese aquarium is under fire for keeping a great white sh

u.n. official while still insisting it would not negotiate.rs of the syrian opposition talked with a special member of the envoy. >>> a woman was found guilty initain for joining the terror group. here is allen pizzey with more. family she was taking her 1-year-old son for a holiday ined up in a so-called islamic state in syria. the 26-year-old claimed it was all accidental. but according to a police ille self-radicalized by viewing extremist material on the internet, she was not naive and she had absolutely clear intentions before leaving.rom her phone shows shaquille posing holding a gun and several have showed her 1-year-old son doingent out a what is that message to our her saying the following. >> it was never my intention to enter syria but she police the love affair was short-lived. >> i didn't want to be in syria but all of the men were like. this place is hell. this place is eporter: this place was was kept in a house with other men.uille told counterterrorism officers when she was picked up on her return to britain after three months in raqqa she managed to get amile from the turki

u.n. officials, talking to our government officials, talking to officials from these various countries and particularly those entry points from northern africa that comes through italy and from greece which comes from syria and iraq, the conclusion i came to was that this flow which is now well over a million people temporarily slowed here because of the weather will start up again in the spring when it warms up, this flow is overwhelming europe. you don't have to watch too much of cable news or read too much of the newspaper to see what's happening in europe with the massive inflow of refugees, asylum seekers and the incorporation of people who are not abiding by the laws and overwhelming the system. and so as open arms welcome germany was under its chancellor's proclamation that bring them here, we'll take care of them, even that now is under question of germany's capability of doing that. in other countries, denmark, hungary, a number of other countries are basically saying we can't handle all this. it's just overwhelming us. and the social consequences and the financial consequences of

and there are between 200 and 300 cases of fainting daily. >> officials at the u.n.security council confirmed the severe malnourishment in the town. >> around 400 people have been identified who must be evacuated immediately. we must seek to do this and put the arrangements in place as soon as at all possible for medical treatment. >> syria's ambassador to the u.n. told reporters his government was committed to cooperating fully on aid delivery. but warned some of the supplies have been looted by armed terrorist groups. >>> fans from around the world are mourning the death of rock legend david bowie. he passed away on sunday. nhk world looks at his legacy. ♪h#%e1l[Ñlv david bowie died of cancer two ds after turning 69. he was known for inventing his sound and image through his long career. some laid flowers in memory of the singer and grieved his death. >> i just wanted to say thank you for all the years of music. >> he was an icon, the best. we all loved him. it's heartbreaking. ♪ >> reporter: london in 1947. he changed his name to bowie and developed a unique image

u.n. relief officials said it's vitally needed to help a surge of refugees.e than 300,000 afghans fled their homes last year, as fighting rose sharply. qjw the united states and china dug in today over how to punish north korea for its latest nuclear test. in beijing, secretary of state john kerry and his chinese counterpart agreed on the need for a u.n. resolution, but not on a u.s. call for significant new sanctions. >> it's good to agree on the goal, but it's not enough to agree on the goal. we believe we need to agree on the meaningful steps necessary to get to the achievement of the goal, to the negotiations that result in de-nuclearisation. >> ( translated ): in order to maintain peace and stability on the korean peninsula, we have to first achieve de-nuclearization there. and only through negotiations will we eventually achieve de- nuclearization on the peninsula. sanctions are not the goal. the key is to resolve problems. >> woodruff: china is north korea's lone major ally, but the u.s. has complained that beijing is not using all the leverage it has

u.n.'s top humanitarian official when he briefed the security council. the numbers are staggering and troubling in syria, but really the number that jumps out the most is the increase in the number of syrians currently living in besieged areas, areas cut off from any sort of regulated. that number is now up to 486,700 syrians that live in those conditions. of those 274,000 of them live in areas besieged by the syrian government according to the u.n. another 200,000 live in areas besieged by i.s.i.l. and about 12,000 in areas besieged by non-state armed groupss, such as the al-nusra front. o'brien says that the use of steej and starvation-- siege an starvation were reprehensible. he says needs more to be done. >> authorised cross border humanitarian assistance and you have launched a political process. for the millions of people trapped under siege, mall your ishdz and lacking supplies, this council has simply not done enough. we have left those people with no hope >> reporter: he was also very critical of the syrian government. he said the government las

u.n.'s top eight official in syria saw how bad it is for himself. >> it was at times difficult to determineated or exaggerated. it is not. it is not. i am sad to say it is not. these are true stories coming out of madaya. >> this has become the face of suffering in syria. today's aid will help, but there is only permission for a month of supplies and no guarantee more will be able to get in. for some, this was a chance to escape. they fled, complaining of skyhigh prices. rebels are accused of hoarding whatever food there has been. >> one kilo costs us $230. if you have money, you can buy it, but if you don't, your children will die. my son has had a problem with his liver for five days. >> today's aid operation means more syrians won't go hungry, at least for a while, but what is needed now in syria is an end to all the sieges across the country. even war has laws, and targeting civilians is a war crime. bbc news, beirut. katty: the residence in madaya have waited too long for that aid. you are watching "bbc world news america." still to come, we have the latest on the capture of el chap o