>> this is al jazeera america, live from new york city. i'm jonathan betz with today's top stories. >> a step forward in bringing all sides to the table to end the violence in syria. confusion in charles son west virginia, on whether the drinking water is safe. >> deep concern in california, where a lingering drought is taking a toll. >> they may not look like diplomats, but these pandas are members of china's key team in washington. [ ♪ music ] >> syria's peace talks begin in four days. this afternoon rebel leaders

announced they'll attend. it was the big unknown for weeks as the cop flict -- conflict spread along the borders. there was a yes vote to meet with the assad rage eej. >> translation: we are taking this turn for the people. you have reached a defining moment and will support the national council, joining hand in hand we'll continue to march forward long live syria. free and defiant. >> and for more on the struggle that lies ahead, we have this report from istanbul. >> it was supposed to be conducted by a show of hands. in the end they opted for a secret ballot, so divisive and contentious had this begun. but when counted there was an

overwhelming yes vote in support of the delegation going to geneva ii. 58 votes say yes, 14 saying no. one white paper, and two refusals, but this was not an easy process, and the disputes will continue. there was a withdrawal block of 44 members who refused to participate in discussions to the lead-up to the vote who felt the conditions ahead of the geneva negotiations had not been adhered to by the international community, nor the groups offering to participate in it. they felt they were railroaded into discussions that would not achieve the entry into the negotiation process, the establishment of a transitional government. since the bashar al-assad moved into power. the other role was the fighting groups, who had to give tacit event, or offer not to spoil the

process br some would commit to the vote. there has been investigations going on for the last few days, in angaria or elsewhere, where some leaders decided whether to count nans participation in geneva ii. most are comfort with it. the conditions are this - some of their representatives get to go too. the delegation team sitting in geneva ii will be nine people. how many are military teams, five out of nine. there's more arguing to come. >> to discuss this is james, a former foreign policy advisor. your rehabilitation - the syrian national coalition says it will sit to the talks, but you think it will make a difference. >> it will make a difference. you can't have talks unless somebody is on both sides of the table. the question is whether anyone

from the rebel side is committed to come. what it represents is a question mark, as i don't think in the set-up discussions. the armed groups on the ground are not necessarily on board, nor the so-called moderates that the western powers would like to support, and they are the ones with the guns who make the difference on the rebel side. >> what happens next, if there's different opposition groups out there, very few of them are in support of the talks. how does it syrian regime, the world, work its way out of this >> well, the real question is this: it was mentioned earlier that the number one condition that the rebel groups wanted was an agreement on a transition that would remove assad from power. that has been a sticking point for a couple of years, that western powers assisted that assad must go, as a position. how can you hold talks when the

number one precondition is that one side must abolish itself. if outside powers, not only including the united states and russia limit their goals in syria to stopping the fighting and getting some confidence-building measures on the ground, that would be a start. >> do you think it's reasonable for bashar al-assad to step down. do you see that potentially happening, specially since the united states is pushing hard for that to happen? >> in my opinion no. i don't think it's in the interests of the united states either. i think one of the paradoxes in all of this is why the united states has been so insistent, possibly because some of our allies, name saudi arabia have been insistent, that bashar al-assad must go. this is where a shiite sunni conflict with iran and saudi arabia playing a leading role has been problemic, and given

the dominance of jihadist groups, and now it's spilling into iraq, where the united states has an investment, it's nonsense call for us to insist on the outcome, and there's a growing sentiment that having an assad state is not necessarily a worse outcome. >> if they don't go, and rebels won't have peace unless he does go, how will it end? >> i don't know. limited goals, local ceasefires providing humanitarian aid to the people who need it, who are suffering in the conflict has to be the number one priority. if you can build on that, and find a political consensus that allows bashar al-assad to stay, but has different areas of control within the country - the other key goal is to marginalise some of the radical groups with a greater potential to spread

chaos tlut the reg joon. >> james, a former policy advisor, thank you for your time today. >> thank you. >> there's another delay in destroying syria's chemical weapons. the first batch of arms is behind schedule. it's headed to italy but is slowed by protest. the weapons are supposed to stop at a mediterranean port, travelled on to a ship and be destroyed at sea. people in call abb bria worry an accident could risk their lives. >> the water is out for half the customers affected by a chemical spill in west virginia, doctors warn small children and pregnant women should avoid the water. the company responsible has filed for bankruptcy. how are people reacting to the news of the bankruptcy? >> good afternoon. we are on the elk river. you may see, if our cameraman pans over, these are the storage

tanks that had the leak here last weekend. and a lot of the people here in charleston and the surrounding area in west virginia, they are still very, very weary of whether they should drink the water and bathe in the water. mainly because the centers for disease control and prevention came out earlier this week and said, "you know, we are not sure this is safe for women who are pregnant or little kids, because there's not enough data, scientific research that's been done on the actual chemical that was released into the water. so people are quite concerned. i can tell you anecdotally if the camera comes back to me that i was speaking to a couple of people as i ate breakfast. the waitress in the area is afraid of taking a shower in it. they are overwhelmed. there's a sense of, you know,

this has happened. so many times the environment is polluted so many times in west virginia, according to a lot of folks here, and they are tired of it. they wish that the company, freedom industry, that is across the river from me, would have been a little more safe and careful. and as you said, they have filed for bankruptcy, and a lot of lawsuits that have been filed this week for freedom industries are going to be in a lull. as you file for chapter 11, well, that protects you from a lot of things. >> okay. robert ray live in charleston west virginia. thank you. >> that spill in west virginia is the latest incident of pollution by the coal industry. the environmental protection agency say coal plants are responsible for 50-60% of toxic water pollution in the united states. there's loopholes allowing contamination to be unchecked

for decades. >> well, high and dry out west. the wildfire that began nurse in the hills above glen dooric california is still burning, offering 1800 acres north-east of los angeles. firefighters stopped the flames, but there's little they or anyone else can do about the drought that left the state parched. >> calvia's governor declared a state emergency. it eases rules about pumping water from one part of california to another. one place that needs help is napper valley, the heart of the wine country. melissa chan is live from a vineyard. the grapes are more vulnerable to drought than other crops >> usually what you see behind me is fields of green. instead there's all this brown. wine makers are not panicking

yet, but they are watching the drought seriously to see how it will affect their vines. we spoke to david ilsney. he put everything into context. >> if the conditions change, th then, you know, we'll be okay. as a whole, it's worrisome, the conditions, and the lack of rain. we need - we need water. i mean, that's - it's been too many years in a row where we have had marginal rain fall. >> so, you know, the situation is not so serious in terms of what is happening now. it's the future that the wine makers are worried about. they don't need rain right now. the vines are dore mant. and what we are looking at is a situation in july, august and september. we are halfway through a usual rainy season. if the rain picks up everything

will be okay. wine makers will have to adjust and make changes. what people are worried about is if the drought conditions, and the rain fall doesn't go to the reservoirs, they won't be able to use waters. they won't beirrigating. >> wine makers are nervous, i imagine a lot of wine drinkers are nervous. any indication of if the drought will affect prices down the line? . >> this is an excellent question. david said, "look, the vips do better -- vines do better when strained, tested. it's a balance between quality versus quantity. the take away is wine makers want production levels to be high, so they hope the drought will not last. >> a lot of people hoping for rain. melissa chan live in the napper

valley. >> more details are ememorying about the victims of a suicide attack. over half of 21 people killed were foreign citizens, two of them americans. jane ferguson has the latest from kabul. only after sunrise was the level of damage clear. 20 guests were enjoying dipper when it was attacked by the taliban. it's believed that none of them survived. >> unfortunately, the death toll we have indicates 21 deaths, including 13 foreigners. >> when the attackers approached the restaurant, there were cars parked around here as there would be at popular restaurants on a friday night. still, there's blood in the veet street, where they hadn't cleaned up the carnage. the first attacker was a suicide bomber who blew off thick steel

doors, allowing two attackers to enter in and shoot the diners. the restaurant is behind the wall and that's where so many lost their lives much >> once inside they shot diners and staff. footage obtained by al jazeera showed that many tried to hide under tables, before being killed. the victims were of various nationalities, for were unstaff. the u.n. hoped the restaurant was safe. no place in kabul can guarantee security. >> if anything, it speaks to the fact that security is a big issue. no matter how secure, it will always be an issue. >> the restaurant was popular with foreigners and high-ranking officials. a rare space to relax in a time of war. >> lebanese owner cam article was well-known and liked. he was confident his business would not be targeted. >> we do not take part in any

political or military activities. we are essential too. and the productive and economic sectors so that the it revenue from this activity is beneficial not only to us, but to all afghani people as well. >> hammadi died in the attack. >> and more trouble brewing for the chris christie administration. in an interview with the associated press, a town battered by hurricane sandy, millions were withdrawn because she refused to sign off on a political development. chris christie is flying in to woo donors and ensure them he is a viable contender. a spokesperson for the new

jersey governor has not responded to the allegations. >> we'll go inside an indian school for hackers that once called edward snowden a student. and the egypt referendum. we'll bring you the latest, you are watching al jazeera america.

>> more violence erupted in egypt after results of the referendum was announced. >> egypt's draft constitution is sparse and the high election commission says the document got overwhelming support, it's passed. >> translation: the total voters is 20,613,677. the voter turn out is 38.6% of the population. the the yes vote 98.1%. 1.9% said no.

this is a higher voter turn out than the vote for the last constitution >> the military-backed deposit says the vote showed the support for overthrowing mohamed morsi in july. now that the government has the yes vote, the next step is to set a date for elections. the anti-coup alliance, including the muslim brotherhood described the vote as a sham. the group hailed what it called the historic boycott by the egyptian people, including the youth, which indicates that a majority of the people reject the coup and the constitution. different groups are calling on their supporters to increase their protests to end the coup, despite a crackdown on this end. >> egypt is facing tough times, and analysts say it's unlikely to change soon. >> i think we have patrons when

military cues against elected institutions take place, you are faced with four possible outcomes. either a military dictatorship, to the military domination of politics, civil war scenario, or a persistent civil unrest. the plan is to try to legitimate what happened on july 3rd by a new constitution, by elections. these procedures used to happen on hosni mubarak, and they never had strong, solid legitimacy. >> egypt is divided and struggling to restore stability. next week marked an anniversary since mohamed morsi was removed from power. as egyptians mark that, the only thing that is certain is more elections. >> in south sudan, a possible ceasefire, the month-old

conflict forced thousands from their homes, and killed hundreds. the government has been talking with rebel leaders. negotiators say a ceasefire will likely be signed by monday. >> earlier today the u.n. special representative to south sudan spoke to al jazeera from juba. he described the mayhem that happened whilst ceasefires have been negotiated. >> it's disturbing that we have seen numbers of vehicles, both u.n. as well as humanitarian agencies being command eared, dane and used in combat. we have seen looting of premises actually in malay call today and yesterday a rampage happened from the anti-government forces side, where there has been significant losing a hospital looted, warehouse looted, and we have seen also house to house searches. very serious, affecting the

civilians significantly. this is very bad. we have condemned it strongly. i have conveyed my dismay to the opposition forces, and, of course, there needs to be bility eighty on this front and vehicles need to be returned >> they are waiting for thousands of peacekeeping soldiers to arriving. >> anti-government protesters in bangkok returned to the streets of bangkok. for two months they demanded thatmm yingluck shinawatra step down. it has not stopped national armed day forces going forward >> it's a show case, every year on armed forces day the armed forces come out and give a fraction of what they can do.

it's an army of the 90,000 troops strong. it doesn't go to explain the profound influence that the military has on thai society and thai politics. there has been 18 military take overs in the last 81 years of thai history. there is increasing, at this point, speculation that the military is going to have to intervene once again in politics. as we stand here, looking at the armed forces parading in bangkok. there are several demonstrations sites that are blocking the smooth running of the city, and increasing incidences of violence. just on friday night a grenade was throne in one area, several people were injured, and one died on saturday morning. >> veronica pedrosa in thailand. turning to india where a

spiritual leader's death sparked a deadly stampede. 18 died, 50 hurt in mum buy. tens of thousands there to mourn the lose of a 102-year-old muslim leader. the crowds rushed the gates. many were trapped and crushed. police were outnumbered by huge crowds. >> years before edward snowden hit the headlines he attended a computer course in india, one of thousands of foreigners travelling to india to take the classes. we explain why >> hacking is not confined to those with high-end computers or computer geniuses. hacking, whether done to improve security or steal data can be done with a laptop or being in the right place at the right time. >> with simple hacking people can break into companies and do

damage. with complex hacking it's different. >> and those skills are easy to find in india at any one of thousands of private it colleges. that attracted edward snowden, the former contractor for the u.s. national security agency to this one. >> edward snowden, if he did not come here, he could have learnt the techniques. >> it's the number of foreigners that attends classes that sets this school apart. >>al this is readily available in their country. in india, because we are a global company, we get through from all over the world. we are running the courses. >> what edward snowden learnts here probably helped him to get his job at the n.s.a., and the lure of upgrading it skills pushed the it education industry to grow by five times in the last five years. >> new delhi attracts thousands of foreign students taking crash

courses. most of the students return to their countries with an upgrade to their current possession, or with better job prospects. some worry the training could be misused. and the industry needs better oversight. >> this cyber law specialist says a lack of regulations made it a free for all, and there should be guidelines about who can take courses. >> there has to be a structured approach on how much the institutions can help to become arsenals of further growth and protection of cyber security, rather than be ammunition in the hands of cyber criminals. any education can be misused. >> there may be hundreds of the professionals that learnt skills from us. >> india has no plan to regulate

it schools. foreign students continue to enhance cells before deciding how to use the skills when they return home. >> and still ahead on al jazeera america, paid to play. syria's fears that how we get the internet could be changing. >> i'm ross shimabuku here in denver colorado. is it sunday yet? we have to love it. we have a preview of the asc championship game between the broncos and patriots, including the two hall of famers, brady and manning in just a minute.

>> and welcome back to al jazeera america. here is a look at the top stories. >> calvia's governor declared is drought memory si. the designation qualifies california for federal aid as it heads into the driest year on record. >> freedom industry, the west virginia company that leaked

chemicals into the river is filing for bankruptcy. the department of environmental protection says regardless of the company's status, it needs to clean up the mess. syrian rebel leaders agreed to attend internationally brokered peace talks. after a debate the syria national wellition voted in istanbul. negotiations with the assad regime begins in four days. >> more violence erupts in egypt as the approval of a new military backed constitution in the first vote since a coup toppled the country's president. >> with more on what that means to egyptians, we have someone from the harvard negotiation program. good to see you. let's talk about the turn out with the egyptian elections, 38.6 people turned up to vote. were you struck by the turn out? >> not really.

i think the outcome of the referendum was never in question, it's not a referendum on the constitution which most people didn't read. it's a referendum on the military ruling of the country going forward. and i think the majority of people who have been speaking up are very much in favour of that. they see a strong ruler from the only institution in the nation that is holding itself together, to be the right step now. and so it's not surprising that a lot of people turned out and that they voted overwhelmingly for the passage of the constitution. >> what kind of message does this turn out send to the egyptian government? >> it basically says that people are in agreement with the direction that the current government is going for. they are in agreement that general abdul fatah al-sisi, or

have you been that he handpicks could become the next president. and rule with a focus on security. >> let's talk about general abdul fatah al-sisi, because you mentioned him. the general said earlier that this elizabeth could be a big indication of whether he would run for president. you think it's clear that he get the numbers, and it being announced he'd run for president. >> yes, definitely. to be honest, i can't imagine if he didn't want to run, that he'd withstand this kind of public pressure for him to become the next president. he's seen by a lot of people as the hero, as the saviour of the nation, and there's no one else on the political scene who would be able to defeat him or compete with him in a general election >> explain why he is so popular in egypt. especially since many credit him

for being behind the massive violence there, shooting of protesters. restrictions on many different journalists there. why is the general so popular wh the company is in such turmoil. >> people blame the muslim brotherhood more for the violence and for what happened in egypt. there was a tremendous opportunity for president mohamed morsi and for the brotherhood to create a different future for the nation. but they failed spectacularly. throughout mohamed morsi's presidency there was a lot of criticism, and i think people were more and more frustrated with the milt airian approach to ruling. mohamed morsi saying "i won the election" everyone who participates in my government will be from the brotherhood, and there shouldn't be

opposition until the next presidential it election. i think that frustrated a lot of people. they felt disenfranchised and decided that they can't wait until the next election. so when they - you know, when they went out by the millions on june 30th, it was unclear in the beginning what exactly the military would do, and, again, it's the largest institution, most powerful institution in the nation. when general abdul fatah al-sisi came out and basically took the people's side and essentially removed mohamed morsi. he became the hero for all the people. those that support mohamed morsi considers him an enemy and potentially a traitor. >> we'll see what develops there if he runs for president. thank you for your time today. >> documents about egypt's

revolution gets a nod. it's called "the square", focussing on tahrir square, and its role in egyptian life, from the overthrow of mohamed morsi, up to the present day, we talk to the director as to how it came about. >> i have a big stake in what is happening in egypt. my family is living in egypt. i grew up in egypt. i am the director of "the square." when i got to "the square", i found a magical atmosphere of people, for the first time, feeling like they had a hand in changing their future, and i met everybody who worked on the film in the square. it was it truly a collaboration that was born in the square.

i met a street poet, and a wise kid who i fell in love with and knew that i wanted him to lead us through the story. every single person on the film was shot at, tear-gassed, gaoled. that was part of paying the mim. >> i'm not voting while my friends are being killed in the streets. i have friends who lost their eyes. friends in hospital in serious condition. i know people who have died. >> there was unification at the beginning, and then people started to splinter. i think that a major problem was

the order of things. there should never have been elections of a parliament and a president before the constitution was written. >> it will take a long time for things to change and develop, but there are people who are on the ground fighting. they revolt when their rights are trampled upon. i believe that will continue. what is needed it the support, international support, local support of people that are continuing to push the system. >> there's a changing consciousness that happened in egypt. what does that mean? what can people unify behind. that tangibly means a constitution that represents all

people. >> again, the director of "the square", it is the first time primarily distributed by netflix to earn an oscar nomination. >> three al jazeera journalists are detained in egypt. mohamed fadel fahmy, baher mohamed, and peter greste have been held since 29 december. al jazeera denies allegations and continues to demand their immediate release. two other adjournists journalists have been in prison for five months, abdullah al-shami, a reporter and mohammed badr a cameraman. >> the "new york times" reports that a group of hacker were behind the cyber attack on target. experts say they bhoved through target's systems, affecting

110 million customers. >> the targets in neiman marcus were an example of a new threat to consumers. hackers continued to find new ways to infiltrate networks. they are striking at the source. >> it's looking like target and nooemans are not the only companies hackers are going after. law enforcement and visa have been advised of other breaches. six u.s. march ants that have not been named. it's the same software used to steel information from target. >> atm, cash, that's it. i can't do it no other way. >> you have a check card, but you wouldn't swipe it at a store. >> no, i don't trust it. i don't carry it, because people can walk by, scan it and get your information >> a cyber security firm out of dallas said it noticed malicious

software codes on the black market. the company explains malware affects point of sale terminals, sends out dismrn information and deleets the files. the malicious software has been been revealed to have affected target, neiman marcus or others. >> authorities are looking to: >> they put out a report to retailers on how to defend themselves. >> meantime the ceo of the cyber security firm expects more attacks to be launched on retailers, suggesting copy cats will use similar and easy to find software to steal from customers. >> so let's look at the other major cyber attacks from last year. the federal reserve's internal website was hacked, affecting 4,000 bank executives. hackers got a hold of 160,000

social security numbers and 100 million driver's licence numbers. a million viewsers were compromised. but the two biggest attacks, 50 million users breached at ever note. and hackers stole information from 150 million people on living social. >> a recent court ruling is sparking big concerns about how we get the internet. judges struck down net neutrality. it's raising fears that we may pay for the internet like cable. meaning you pay to go to your favourite websites or charge more to download movies. matt wood joins us from washington with more on this. when you first heart the court ruling, dismissing the net neutrality rules, what was your reaction to that? >> we were not terribly surprised. the fcc is charged with

protecting communication net works and they tried to adopt neutrality rules. they used a legal ferry to do that. they started down a wrong path saying nab broadband is not a communication network, maybe it's a website. they put everything into the bucket. the court said, "you can't do that, treat broadband access like a website or other information service, and have these kinds of no blocking and discrimination rules. >> how concerned were you about the implications of the ruling. >> we were very concertained. it's the fact that they lost in court. they lost a couple of times. this was basically the final step along the path, we hope they'll take the right path and try with a better legal approach. >> what does this mean for users in the long term. if it's dismissed, if the ruling holds, what could we see happen. >> as you said, it could give the broadband provider more control over what you do when

you get there. verizon could say, "we don't want you using skype or face time", because it takes away from telephone revenues, or a cable company like comcast can say we don't like it because that takes away from the tv business, and they can charge you more or block the site or speed it up or slow it down based on money they wrangle out of the content provider. this is a radical shift in how we get the internet now. >> that's what we are afraid of. people say there hasn't been a lot of problems up until now. >> when we used to access it on the dial-up modem, you'd dial in and aol or someone like that would have control over where you wept. the line that got you online, the phone line, that was not subject to a blocking or discrimination by the phone company in the middle. we had the protections in place.

now the fcc bunkled it a few times. we hope they'll take the wright path to get it right and restore the protections. >> have we seen internet providers sake advantage of the ruling to make changes to their service plans. >> no. i am keeping my ear to the ground. they have been careful. the rules have been in place. for verizon, a large provider, sued to knock them down. until the court case is over they have been on their best behaviour. they do like to push the envelope and try out experiments. we saw them as abuses and ways to take money out of their customer's pockets. people like facebook, and google and the innovators that can't afford to pay the tolls will be the hardest hit if and when a big change comes from a company that has access to millions of customers. >> if and when this happens. thank you for your time.

>> well, the n.f.l. is down to its final four. super bowl berths are on the line. mark morgan is here to talk about it all. >> it's manning versus brady in denver. as the broncos host the patriots. the seahawks 49ers rivalry is renewed in seattle. >> ross shimabuku is denver. and jessica taff standing by in seattle. ross, what is the mood in den fer. >> you have to love it. you have two living legends. you might want to enjoy it. these two could be the last time they meet in the play-offs much this will be the 50th needed. brady has the edge with 10, manning threw for more yards and touch downs. brady has three super bowl rinks, manning just one. the winner of sunday's game gets

another shot at super bowl 48. >> he's a great leader for the team. this is about the broncos and the patriots. i know they have a great quarterback. we'll have to score points, and they scored all year. i think they set a record for scoring points this season, more than any in the history of the league. it will be challenged, because they have a good defense, they play well at home. we have to understand what it will take from the offense to go out there and win a tough game on the road against a good team, one of the great quarter backs. >> we like playing at home because our fans have been outstanding all season, and i think anybody, you know, prefers to play at home with their home fan, but this has been an excellent team at home, and on the road that we are playing.

we need to do our job on the football field from an execution stand point and count on that. >> now, this will be the fourth meeting in the play-offs between brady and manning. the good news for manning. the home team won every game. the afc championship game temperatures will be gorgeous. sunny skies, temperatures reaching near 60. the scoreboard may light it up. >> thank you so much. live in denver. let's turn to seattle where jessica is standing by. no rain. how great is that? >> i know you are right. this is a little bit of a calm before the storm in seattle. we have had fans milling around the stadium trying to get a peak while it's nice and quiet. san francisco fans and seattle fans looking around. we know the desibel levels will be outrageous.

this is one of the loudest n.f.l. stadiums in the league. it's unbelievable. it's seattle's 12th man. the san francisco 49ers think they have a bit of an okay time coming in here. they've had a great run in the play-offs in the wildcard scenario that they have created for themselves, winning eight straight games and have confidence winning at another stuff place, which is last weekend in green bay. >> i feel like the team is ready. excited to go play the game, prepared to play the game. unless i have drastically misread the team, we are ready to play. >> i think the biggest thing is we have not played well when we went up there. they have a good defense. we have to go out and execute at a high level. >> it's the most important 60 minutes of our lives. it's what we have in front of

us. that's what we have done all year, focussing on the opportunity we have. yesterday is gone, today is all we have. tomorrow is not here. our big thing is focussing on the moment that we have, and the game, and winning the championship would mean a lot to the organization. i want to win, i hate losing. >> you know, we hear that players say it's special to get to this point, let alone a super bowl. don't tell anton that, the chance that he has a chance, if the niners upset seattle in their own house, where they lost just once in 29 games. they'll make a second-straight trip to the super bowl. winning last year with the baltimore ravens. >> thank you. that wraps up sport. more from seattle and denver in the 6 o'clock hour. >> i can't believe super bowl is two weeks away. >> we are hoping the weather is

okay. >> still ahead. we'll meet washington's newest star, also china's smallest diplomat. you are watching al jazeera america.

>> welcome back. in washington a giant panda club is making a debut, and like others belongs to china. she's a tourist attraction and a symbol of diplomacy. china has been leasing pandas for decades as a way of connecting with other counties, this is bao bao, or precious treasure in chinese. this panda club at the

washington zoo is precious. for her owner the chinese government is a crucial tool of diplomatic engagement. >> the soft-power hope is that the love for pandas will translate to positive attitudes towards china. >> modern panda diplomacy started in the mid 1960, as china gifted bears to the soviet union and north korea. the u.s. president richard nixon was the first president to visit the government. mao tse tung gave them bears. the u.s. spend millions a year leasing pandas from china. because of international treaties on species beijing must use the money to develop panda conservation and breeding programs. the chinese are sending pandas

to countries giving it natural resources to grow it economy. >> france, australia and canada reached key energy deals with china, and are putting pandas on display in zoos. on the flipside, a territorial spat held up plans to send pandas to a japanese zoo. and taiwanees officials resisted sending the bears because of a dispute over their country's status. >> there's suggestions that china uses panda diplomacy as a reward for good before. and withholds to punish bad behaviour. i don't see it as militias, it's the way the countries act. >> critics attack the policy because of too much money is being spend on one endangered species. >> getting the chinese

interested in thinking about celebration is of huge import. they are a big country in the world. we need them as part of this country. >> with so many factors at play, china's panda dip loam as si is like will to continue. >> you cannot deny they are cute. finally this thought about bao bao from the economist magazine writing: ouch. tough. >> next we have the weather. and truth, chern ob ill, people living inside the radiation

zone. obyl, people living inside the radiation zone.

>> temperatures are plummeting

across the north central plains and the midwest. the latest alberta clipper tracking in. it will rain snow across portions of the north-east. as of now snow across portions of illinois, and ohio, where it's getting chilly. minneapolis 23 degrees, chicago 19. on the back side of the systems the winds are howling, up to 25 miles per hour in rapid city. 32 in omaha. it feels chillier than it is. snow pushing across the north-east. right around albany, sarah cues and the snow making its way across the white and greenmount ans and vermont. we could use snow across the west. in addition to the sunshine we are looking at a warm up across portions of the south-west, temperatures around 83 degrees in los angeles today.

66 in san francisco, looking cool and comfortable. low relative humidity culminating in the sun shine. the firethreat across portions of australia. we are looking at at inferno burning. high pressure in control so it's dry and sunny. low relative community. 50,000 acres burnt to the ground. one person has died. it's a major threat to wildlife across much of the continent. you can see the massive inferno blazing across the terrain, looking at exceptional levels of drought in western portions of sudan, where the united nations mission for darfur indicated that farmers would be without water throughout the dry season. stay with us, more news and headlines coming up after the break.

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york. i'm jonathan betz with today's headlines. syrian rebel leaders agreed to attend internationally brokered peace talks. after a long debate the syrian coalition voted yes in istanbul. >> violence in egypt after officials announce the approval of a military backed constitution in a first vote since the coup toppled the president. >> new information about a suicide attack on a restaurant in afghanistan. three of the 21 victims were american. national security advisor susan rice called the attack