sgrafrnling. together, we continue to work toward a political resolution of the situation in syria. >> the u.s. looking for an end to syria's war. vice president joe biden is in turkey. >> that none of us or any other -- are under any illusions that obstacles don't still exist. >> secretary of state john kerry meets foreign ministers in the gulf region. you are watching al-jazerra live from head quarterbacks. also ahead, the grim fallout of zika, the mosquitos-borne virus

calls for travel warnings. the u.s. braces for a massive storm with record snowfalls predicted. hello, the u.s. is making ing a diplomatic push to end the war in syria. the secretary of state, john kerry is in soughted e arabia t meeting with leaders from the gulf. kerry says he is confident peace talks scheduled for next week will go ahead but did not confirm the exact day it starts. the u.s. vice president joe biden is in istanbul meeting with turkey's prime minister. the war in syria is in its 5th year, forced millions of people from their homes. turkey has taken many of those escaping from the fighting. our number of countries including the u.s., france, russia and turkey have all been

launching airstrikes inside syria. as we just mentioned, the u.s. vice president is in turkey, joe biden saying washington is committed to helping ankara and ensuring that isil does not continue its advance toward turkey's border. >> today, we discussed how we can improve the support of local sunni arab forces working to cut off what remains of isil's access to the turkish border. that's a priority for both of our nations sos that we can prevent the new fight in equipment reaching isil and conducting attacks and so that the control now and after we defeat isil of the border is within turkey's control, that it's secure, that there are no separate state sitting on your southern border. >> there should be no uncertainty about representation of the opposition in syria and

yesterday, with mr. ban ki moon we discussed this as well. we are happy the united states shares this mission. we believe on the opposition side, there should only be legitimate syrian opposition. >> al jazeera's bernard smith is in istanbul. he has more on what joe biden and the turkish prime minister had to say about kurdish fighters. >> joe biden said something that the turkish government wanted to hear and he said that, look, yes, the pkk -- that separatist group fighting here in turkey, the kurdish separatist group is just the same as isil, the same as al nusra, terrorist groups. that's what turkey wanted to hear but what the prime minister spent a lot of time saying in this press briefing after their meeting was that this pkk and turkey is just the same, allied to, inextricbly linked to the syrian kurdish fighters fighting against isil in syria. biden explicitly did not make

that link and that is simply because for the u.s. vice president for the u.s., the ypg fighters, syrian kurdish fighters, are the most important group fighting on the ground against isil. the u.s. sees them as an important part. what worries turkey is that because the ypd is seen as this important part for the u.s., the u.s. will sort of turn a blind eye to any -- or ignore any sort of territorial ambitions the kurds might have on syria, and that worries turkey because it believes the pkk here is being emboldened by what it sees happening in syria. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry reported progress on the talks planned for geneva next week on syria. speaking after the meeting in ryadh with gulf leaders, he said despite ongoing disagreements over who should attend, an understanding had been reached. >> one of the things we did today, which i think is really important is we set up a clarity

for how to proceed forward in the initial steps of the negotiations on syria and we have confident that with good initiative in the next day or so, those talks can get going and that the u.n. representative, special envoy will be convening people in an appropriate manner for the proximity talks that will be the first meeting in geneva to begin to lay down the process to try very hard to implement the geneva communique and have a transition that takes place according to the u.n. security council resolutions as well as the sevienna communiques of the support group. >> tunisia's prime minister has

held tan emergency cabinet meeting regarding the wave of unemployed. he cut short a visit following four days of violence. a nightly curfew has been placed across the country. until tunis with more. >> reporter: this is quite a delicate situation for tunisia because the curfew comes into effect. there is an emergency law that has been implemented a few months ago against the backdrop of the deadly attacks targeting western tourists in tunisia. so people are pretty much concerned about the emergency law saying this is something that undermines democracy in tunisia. for the government, this is quite instrumental. it's the only way to stem the rise of violence that has been threatening to spin out of control. listen to what habib is saying, the prime minister of tunisia had to say. >> people should understand that we can reach a solution, yet

this requires a great amount of patience and positiveness. as i said, many dark ideologies are taking advantage of the peaceful demonstwaingsz and the enthusiasm of many youth. many enemies do not wish that tun easians are successful. they feel undermined. they are doing all they can to disturb the harmony of our democracy and the historic transition period tunisia has seen. the transition is inevitable. the transition is irreversible. >> tunisia's left wing popular front party said more should be done to help the company's i am more issued population? >> we procepose an exceptional this is not an exception. any country can decide any extraordinary conditions to improve the situations of its people. a third point is an austerity

program for the state but not on health and education. isil said it killed 72 iraqi soldiers until gamazi. the iraqi army has been battling isil for control of the area. security forces say the latest clashes took place in a stronghold of isil in december. government troops said they had recaptured the area from the armed group. >> israeli police say a security guard has shot and killed a 13-year-old palestinian girl. the teenager is reported to have tried to stab the guard at the entrance of a settlement. tensions have been high over stabbing attacks notice last four months. 25 israelis and 162 palestindwrans have been killed in various incidents since october, last year. a gunman has killed .4 people in a canadian providence. he gunned down his .2 brothers and opened fire in a high school killing a teacher and an assistant.

the police have arrested the shooter. it's said to be the worst mass shooting in a decade in candidly. the prime minister said the country stands by the community. >> the country's heart is breaking for the people today. obviously, this is every parent's worst nightmare. when i spoke with community leaders, they obviously expressed that the community is reeling, and all of us across this country's hearts are going out to the families and to the whole community. organizers of the oscars say they will double the academy's membership of women and ethnic minorities by 2020. there has been criticism of a lack of dye versety among nominees. for the second year in a row, no black or minority nominations. there are no black or minority nominations in the four acting categories. actors will smith and director spike lee are among the group

boycotting the ceremony. hollywood director said change is well overdue. this is a generational process here hollywood has started largely by caucasian jewish communities and there have been leaders in that for many decades. now, we are having a major shift in demographics of the united states, of europe and of also the audience. so many people in asia are watching hollywood movies and business is going there. what we are feeling now are the pressures of demographic change and the academy facing them. the academy and ausc-arizona are a public relations instrumental of hollywood. the real power structure are the movie studios, that finance the films and that we see. they are the ones that choose the actors and directors. >> that's where the issue is until the hollywood studios start creating more content for a global audience with a more diverse cast, more diverse film makers, we are going to have this problem coming up again. so, it really is the power

structure. if you look at performs this year, it is a tragedy that the academy didn't nominate them. people started feeling this disconnect to what the audience was responding to and what the decision makers were responding to. still to come on al jazeera, praying for power, bolivia's most popular leader has finished 10 years in office and wants to stay longer, plus: >> in south africa, i am going to show you what a milk bank is and how the concept is helping save lives. ♪

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hello again. top stories. vice president joe biden is in turkey pushing for a diplomatic resolution to end the war in syria. tin ease i can't's prime minister has held an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss this week's wave of protests. after the meeting, he said the transition to democracy is inevitable and irreversible. a gunman has killed .4 people in the canadian province of saskechawan. he opened fire in a high school killing two brothers, a teacher and assistant. the police have arrested a shooter. >> six people have been killed in the u.s. after a huge blizzard hits the east coast. it's expected to bring as much as 60 centimeters of snow in some areas. thousands of flights have been cancelled. people have been warned not to

drive and ta indoors until the storm passes. crossing over to tom ackerman joining us from washington, d.c. to give us an update, tom, on that storm. and tell us more about what people are doing to prepare for it. >> reporter: well, pretty much hu hunkering down. there is active activity on clearing the streets here but still another 18 hours to go, there will be a lot more before the storm moves out to sea. right now, the officials according to the weather service here, the snowfall has accumulated 30 to 45 centimeters, but we do expect it to exceed 60 at this rate, and as you can see, the wind is really beginning to drive this snow and we have been told you should expect even heavier snow to be falling in the coming hours.

right now, we are not seeing any diary mergencies although the authorities did have plenty of time to get people to warn them, actually, of these kinds of consequences life-threatening according to the authorities here the most serious incidents so far, about 130,000 people in north carolina and kentucky wouldn't power. once the storm dies down and ice begins to set in and power lines will be burdened by that kind of extra weight and that actually will be the much more serious results of this storm. the metro system here in washington is shut down for the first time -- maybe the third time in its 4 five-year history. again, the authorities being warned just the seriousness of

this event, and in new york, at the same time, we are hearing that the subway system there is still running. buses, however, are pretty much off of the streets in new york. new york, they hope, will be spared the worst of this, but again, we still don't know exactly what the path of the storm will be. and how soon it will head out to sea. and so, basically, people here are setting in for a long weekend here. >> all right. ? >> thank you. >> thank you. and as you speak to us, we were showing some live pictures from new york as well as washington. you can see new york right there where the snow trucks are trying to shovel as much snow as possible. while it still continues to snow. tom, thank you for that update from washington on that storm in the eastern area of the united states. the top u.s. agency for disease prevention has issued a directive for women to avoid

travel to some countries with a mosquitos-borne virus. it's a dangerous disease, very self-limiting with mild symptoms but what we see in brazil right now is that in lots of the areas where we have zika infections, women also have more

babies with micro cephaly. >> it is a condition in which the baby's brain and head don't fully develop. the virus arrived in brazil, and there were 150 known cases in the country. since october, that has jumped to 4,000. the linked to the zika virus hasn't been confirmed but it's enough to property senior u.s. health officials to react as if there is one. >> we are quite concerned about the potential complications to the fetus of a zika virus infection of pregnant women. we are advising pregnant women seriously consider postponing travel to these areas if possible. >> those areas cover 20 different current tries throughout laltin america and the caribbean and there have already been a defendant handful of cases in the united states. health officials are still not clear why it's spread into an epidemic so quickly. they are worried the olympic games next august could provide the conditions for it to spread

even further. >> it's the olympic games and a lot of tourists from all over the world will arrive in ri rio de janiero. they will be exposed to the risk of getting the virus. it has consequences not just for the brazilian health but worldwi worldwide. >> reporter: there is no vaccine or treatment for the zika virus. officials have taken the unprecedented step of advising women not to get pregnant at all for now. it is pred by the same mosquitos that carry dinghy fever and other diseases. they thrive and breed in small amounts of still water. health officials say avoiding all limit -- or limiting exposure to the mosquitos is the only answer, making eradication programs like these all the more important. al jazeera. the south african government is trying to encourage more mothers to breast feed as the

country has one of the lowest levels of breast feeding in the world. part of the effort to persuade new moms away from manufactured milk include setting up human milk banks. a report from johanne sp urg. >> every day, shantel donates some of her milk to a child in south africa. she doesn't always know who gets the excess milk but she is happy it's for a good cause. she has more than enough to feed her 6 month old daughter. >> it's a feeling, every time you fill up a bottle, you should think a baby can use it more than what we would need it, and it's going to help them grow and nurture them. yeah. i think it's very important. >> reporter: the donated milk is dropped off at human milk banks across the country. >> this is a milk bank where the donated milk is tested for hiv and other diseases. it is then past yourized and fed to or fans and children who don't live with their biological mother. >> the south african breast milk

reserve has more than 40 milk banks nationwide. more than 2,800 babies received donated milk last year. government experts are encouraging breast feeding stephanie formula milk? >> it's where we have dangerously low breast feeding rates. 7.4 of other mothers exclusively breast feed their children at six months. >> this lad's baby girl was born premature and is too sick and weak. she needs donations from the milk bank because she can't produce enough milk. >> immigrateful. they say the militaryy from the shops is not right for the babies. >> 34 newbornbabies out of every

1,000 die before their first birthday in south africa. more human milk banks could help save more lives. hara matasa. the world's economic forum is drawing to a close. low oil prices and the chinese slump have dominated the meeting of world business leaders. one leading delegate remains optimistic. >> most countries would envy 6.9% growth. china has a challenge of shifting the economy into some new directions. there is a lot of great talent in china, building up the educational system and, you know, i think, you know, china's got a very bright future. i have a lot of confidence in china. partly because they take long-term view. they look at what other countries are doing. china is going to be contributing more and more to the world's innovation.

>> bolivia's president has delivered a state of the union address marking his unprecedented 10 years in office, ahead of referendum next month that could lead to him running for a fourth term. mariana sanchez reports from bolivia. >> honoring the mother earth. it's the religious center of the ancient culture. he received the symbols of hour here he is back to celebrate and thank the people. >> i don't know how long 10 years have gone by working for our revolution. 10 years of changes. brothers, leaders reflect. you have given us the stability that brought prosperity to bolivia. >> historians and supporters say he has been one of the presidbe presidents this country has had. >> we need him.

he is fulfilling a process for change and doing a lot for bolivia. he should stay. >> that's exactly what morales wants. he changed the constitution once to allow for his re-election. now, he's called a referendum in february to ask bolivians if they want him to run for another term: his fourth. >> they say in the past 10 years, he has political and social inclusion and stability like no other before. his critics say he has gained so much power that it is very dangerous for this democracy. >> around the country, opponents are gathering to protest against his plan and asking bolivians to vote no to prevent him from running in 2019 for another five years. >> the objective is to say. if a yes, vote wins, we would be authorizing anyone of any ideology to have 10 years in. in my opinion, it's too.

>> critics say they don't believe in morales's promises. >> morales said twice he wouldn't seek re-election and hasn't kept his word. maybe after a fourth term, he will ask for another reform or or a fiflth term and so on. >> on this anniversary in a six-hour address, morales recounted his achievements from b bolivia's economic growth to investments in education and poverty reduction. he said bolivia needs it. mineers, indigenous groups, women groups voice their approval. back as drawn broke, morales and his cabinet members vebeen with supporters for a special ceremony, raise their palms to receive the first rays of "the sun." morales said it's the energy to go on. al jazeera, bolivia. protests have been held around the world against an international trade deal that demonstrators say will only

benefit big companies. hundreds of people marched against the trans pacific partnership agreement in lima on friday night. peru, together with eleven other conducts trees is set to sign that agreement on february the 4th. . a strike, a violation of state law. >> i am not above walking out of

here if it's what's right for kids. >> so, there could be a strike eventually? >> there could be eventually. i am not going to lie about it. there could be eventually. right now, i just don't feel this is the time. >> even though there is a michigan law against it? >> an unjust law is no law at all. >> detroit teachers have launched a series of sick-outs, calling in ill and shutting down schools. when school managers asked for a restraining order to stop the sick-outs, the judge on thursday said, no. teachers say they will go on. >> we are teachers, period, who teach in detroit and love our kids and because of that, we are disrespected and we are tired. >> reporter: it's a confrontation rich with politics. the public education system in this majority black, reliably democratic city is run by emergency manager darnell early, appointed by michigan's republican governor, nick snyder? >> i hope snyder gets on it.

i really do. mr. early, i can guarantee you their offices don't look like these kids do. >> the emergency manager says schools here are broke. they could be. >> there isn't a whole lot you can offer in a financial situation like we are. i get their concerns. work stoppages are not the answer. >> most families who can have fled. some to experimental charter schools. some to the suburbs. in traditional schools, employment has plunged to 47,000. this is a middle school. on the outside, it doesn't look that bad t missing tiles, rust on the roof. it's on the inside that the problems really lie. >> it was a site detroit mayor mike duggans saw for the first time this week. >> very disturbing things we saw here today. >> disturbing conditions.

>> it is a place where the exotic is normal. >> it's really disturbing actually. >> but deep inside this market begins a trail of tears. endangered animals, bought and sold for big bucks. >> get it, get it lockett, get it! >> what can be done to stop this illegal trade? >> he'd actually built a secret compartment within his prosthetic leg and that is where he concealed the baby iguanas. >> in the prosthetic leg?