>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello welcome to another news hour from al jazeera, live from our headquarters in doha, i'm adrian finighan, coming up in the next 60 minutes, dozens of civilians are killed after air strikes in syria. ♪ the global fight against the islamic state of iraq and the levant expands into syria. israel shoots two palestinians dead accusing them

of abducting two teenage settlers in june. life in prison for a scholar who champions for the rights of his people. ♪ for the first time, the u.s. is leading a bombing campaign inside syrisyria. it's aiming at parts of the area held by islamic state. at least 70 fighters of isil have been killed. a key target has been the city of racca, which is a strong hold for the fighters and further to the west. these pictures claim to show the aftermath of that strike. it has destroyed buildings. among those who died are fighters from the opposition musla front. the u.s. navy has launched

missile attacks at air assaults of carriers of warships in the red sea and arabian gulf. >> translator: yesterday our ambassador to the u.n. was informed that the u.s. and some of its allies will carry out strikes against isil. the syrianment ambassador received a letter from the u.s. secretary of state john kerry through the iraqi foreign minister informing him that they will strike against isil inside syria. syria is obviously fighting isil. we are still fighting terrorism and will coordinate with the countries who will fight terrorism, including iraq. >> let's bring in zana from beirut. before we talk about these strikes, let's talk about what hatched in idlib, which is in

the far northwest of syria. it's a long way from the iraqi border. what do we know about what happened there? >> yes, that is strong hold of the al-qaeda branch front. we have been speaking to activists on the ground. people who filmed the attack, actually. and they told us this is the work of the u.s. military. there is anger there. they are saying that civilians were killed. this was a residential building. but what we also understand is that nusra had a building here that area. there was a strike in western aleppo, but according to them they targeted an al-qaeda

affiliate. air power, of course, we know it has limitations, but this is going to cause a lot of anger, especially since a lot of syrians are asking questions. why is the obama administration targeting isil and not targeting the assad government which has been responsible for tens of thousands of deaths over the last few years. but the obama administration keen to point out it wasn't just the u.s. involved. five arab nations were also involved. >> yes, but we still do not really have information on what kind of role that they played. for the u.s. it's very important to show that it is not fighting isil alone, because this might be interpreted that this is a war against muslims and sunnis in particular. it will need the support of sunni arab states in the region.

they will need this kind of political cover. this is -- isil is really a growing threat not just in iraq and syria, other countries as well, lebanon included. so the united states needs this political cover, but more importantly it is going to need partners on the ground, adrian. in iraq it relies on the kurder forces and the iraqi army. but in syria who can it rely on. the moderate forces are almost non-existent. they have been weakened and they don't see the syrian government as a legitimate partner. >> zana thanks indeed. let me show you what isil controls right now. the areas marked in yellow are the parts with isil has a significant presence. and by some estimates the group controls a third of syria and iraq. the territory goes from east of aleppo in syria through rocca,

it stretches across into iraq and into mosul, the second biggest city in iraq. here is our report. >> reporter: the u.s. and five arab countries have hit a number of areas in syria. their target is the islamic state of iraq and the levant. this appears to show the aftermath of some of the attacks. the u.s. central command says a fix of fighter jets, bombers, drones, and missiles were used on the targets. >> translator: isil controls large parts of iraq and syria. the u.s. has been bombing the group to help the iraqi army and kurdish forces. this is part of what president barack obama says is his strategy to defeat isil. >> the first part can be

successful, which is inside iraq, the combination of troops to regain territory is the objective. it becomes more problematic when we're talking about efforts inside of syria. the u.s. aim is at this point to arm and equip the moderate syrian rebel groups so they cannot only destroy dosh, but also the syrian government as well. >> syria had said any operation within its territory should be coordinated with damascus, and it appeared the syrian government new about this attack, and maintained a high level of communication with the iraq government. it is not clear what role the other countries played. jordan which has borders with iraq and syria is nervous about the isil advancement. >> there has been several

attempts to infiltrate across our borders. we are striking the positions of isis because we think that we should do whatever is necessary in order to strengthen, enhance, and solidify the stability and security of our borders and our country. >> reporter: the u.s. says there is a wide regional and western cooperation behind its strikes. it is not clear what the outcome of these strikes will be, and whether they will benefit president assad and the syrian opposition, but many are certain that air campaigns alone can't defeat isil. people in the u.s. woke to find that their forces have been involved in air strikes in syria for the first time overnight. let's go live to washington, d.c. kimberly joins us there. kimberly, u.s. central command hasn't been saying much about

what happened. what has been the reaction there? >> well, i can tell you as you point out, americans are reacting by simply learning more about these air strikes, and for them they have been taking place overnight as they wake up and head to work. the pentagon spokesperson speaking saying that one of the reasons that the u.s. decided to act now was to avert a plot that was being planned against the united states, saying in fact that it was being planned by the an al-qaeda linked cell, and those responsible have now been killed as a result of those us-lead strikes, but offering very few other details. details we are hoping to get from president obama. he is knew to speak in about one hour's time before he departs for the united nations assembly in new york. the president will likely be continuing the efforts to try to

build international support for these strikes. the president speaking on september 10th again from the white house saying in fact that any group that threatens the united states will find no safe haven. those were his exact words, and that includes inside syria. now we see the u.s. acting. these us-lead air strikes working in conjunction with their partners, qatar, saudi arabia, and others, but still offering very little details. but we do know it was intelligence that seems to have instigated these attacks. it seems that from that intelligence this is what caused the u.s. to strike inside syria in the past few hours. >> let's take you now to the border between turkey and syria, just on the turkish side. stephanie decker is there.

stephanie, thousands of kurdish people have escaped across the border after kurdish fighters were engaged in heavy fighting with isil fighters in that border region. what is the latest? >> reporter: there has been a steady stream of people here today. the numbers are less than we have seen. the figures officially 138,000, there are more now, but it has slowed to a trickle, most people who wanted to leave have now managed to leave. but we're hearing from sources inside that the fighting around the area have been pushed -- the kurdish fighters have pushed isil a little further to the east. they are saying that town is secure now. i want to bring in a guest, the spokesperson for the u.n. agency for refugees here in turkey.

i want to get your assessment about what you have seen here over the last few days. >> well, it is the biggest influx we have seen in turkey in like three days, less than three days we have witnessed some 140,000, and today we are reaching out to 140,000 almost refugees of syrian refugees are sfl fleeing to turkey. this is a crisis that has been going on for the last three and a half years, before the influx, turkey was already hosting 1.5 million syrians. and with that recent influx it is going to be more than 1.6 million. it's a big number of people who are in need of international protection and who have been hosted in this country, and the time is just so long at the moment. we are working with the turkish government who has the leadership on the syrian emergency crisis at the moment.

we are coordinating what we can do since the beginning of the crisis. for influx, we have managed to employ our staff immediately to the border. we have spoke with the refugees, we coordinated and brought our assistance full of trucks of non-food items to the border immediately, but we are considering having air lifts and also taking some donations as well. >> reporter: inside of syria? >> no, here in turkey. because we don't know when the situation will calm down, so we have to be prepared for any kind of influx to come to turkey. >> reporter: is the international community doing enough to help you? >> well, unhcr is leading the response in the region, and to be honest, the plan -- for the region some 44% almost, but for turkey, when you look at the numbers, turkey might

be -- turkey is not all registered but currently hosting the biggest number of syrians in the region. it's over 1.6 at the moment. however, turkey received less funding compared to other countries, so although, yeah, we are receiving assistance from the international donors, but compared to the time of the crisis and the numbers we are hosting in those countries it is always not enough. we are appealing for all countries to step up to support us for us to support the government and the communities. >> thank you very much. that's the message from the u.n. that more must be done to help the over a million syrians who are now here. and people are petrified. they are not comfortable when they get here. they want to go back home, but it doesn't seem like something they can do very soon.

>> stephanie decker thank you very much. live there on the border between turkey and syria. the u.s. central command said it conducted 14 strikes overnight, using a mix of fighter, bomber, remotely controlled weapons. and in iraq they conducted a further four air strikes. sue is on the front line now, and joins us live from the crossing on the iraqi/syrian border. sue what is the latest? >> reporter: well, talking about air strikes adrian, just a couple of seconds ago we could hear more jets in the sky. we have no idea whether they are dropping their payload in this area or not, but they seem to be flying quite low. we are also seeing smoke to my

left. that crossing is held on the other side by the kurds, and on this side by the isil fighters. but this is the closest the peshmerga forces are getting to the crossing on the iraqi side of the border. and we can make out some of the positions just a kilometer away. we just saw isil raising a flag in one of their positions over there. but it has been very quiet here today. there was fighting last night, but since that enormous aerial bombardment just across the border, it has been very quiet, and the fighters are saying they are wondering if this almost stalemate has anything to do with the fact that this enormous strike has happened just across the border. the general in charge here has been speaking to his

counterparts across the border. we were listening in on that conversation a little earlier today. and they are explaining what they understand, the intelligence understands as to how the bombing campaign in this part of syria has worked out. certainly there has been a lot hit in the oil town of darazore, 80 to 100 kilometers outside the area. and one of the main towns has been badly bombed. that town comes across to the border area into iraq. that's also been hit. just a couple of days ago we were talking to the syrian kurds, and they were saying there was quite a lot of fierce fighting on that town. the big fear here is that if they didn't put down the town, then the direct route all the way here to the syrian boarder will be open as a direct crossing. so it seems what the air strikes have been doing at least in this

part of the region is to cut off that direct route so supplies can't get through. >> sue many thanks. life out of bagdad, of course, in iraq, government forces are still fighting isil fighters throughout the country. what is the latest on that fighti fighting? >> reporter: well, they took down an isil target they say, where they killed 13 soldiers. but another town again in the province has seen a reprisal what we're hearing from our local forces is iraqi fighters have been captured and paraded through the town allegedly about 30 have been paraded through the town. this is a two-fold thing for isil.

firstly it shows they are still in control of parts of fallujah in order to mount the parading of the soldiers through the town, and this is a message saying you might be able to attack us in syria and crack down on us in iraq, but we still are able to attack back. ambar province is where some of the toughest fighting continues. >> iraq's prime minister sacked two army commanders who were in charge at the time that isil fighters took over mosul. >> reporter: that's absolutely right, the deputy chief of staff and the commander of the land forces were both removed from their force. they were maliki loyalists. and the way maliki set up security forces here was

everybody answers to him. he even had a bureau of command that he was in direct control of. that has also been dismantled. so it looks like the new prime minister is cleaning house. he is under tremendous amount of pressure from the americans to try to bring in a unity government. and part of the criticism that the sunnis had against the army was it wasn't a national unity army. so this is him cleaning house. >> imran khan thanks very much. israel has shot down a syrian fighter jet over the occupied golan heights. activists report that this was the moment the jet went down. israel says that the aircraft violated its air space and that the pilot ejected safely. last month israel shot down a drone in the same area.

still to come here on the news hour. >> there could be up to 10,000 children in armed groups here in central african republic. i'll be speaking to former soldiers and this extraordinary woman who is helping to keep them safe. and it's depending tuesday for the european team. jo will be hear with all of the details in around 25 minutes. ♪ yemen's president is promising to restore state of authority after houthi rebels took control of several government buildings. houthi rebels have been celebrating the gains they have made. and raided the homes of key political and tribal leaders. the peace deal signed between the government and the houthis

appears to have fallen apart. >> translator: we feel there was a conspiracy from aboard. many powers came together to take their revenge on the country, rather than on individuals. or the opportunistic who took advantage of any disaster to attack the country. >> the latest now from mohammed who is on the line from yemen. the president calling what is happening there conspiracy. the flimsy peace deal has collapsed. what are the dangers now? >> yeah, we sensed that feeling yesterday when we talked to the u.n. envoy, because he said we signed this deal after what happened in sana'a, but the entire peace agreement was written before the houthi takeover. but very strange that the president himself [ inaudible ] described the deal as an historic one.

so to come two days later and mention what happened as a conspiracy, it's not clear to many people here. it was a conspiracy that he was made to sign a deal that he didn't want to sign? or was the conspiracy that he now has a second thought about the houthi takeover, and sees it in its real nature as a conspiracy. he did not explain who was behind the conspiracy, and that left many people here in confusion about what is the real meaning of his word. >> mohammed many things. israel has shot dead two p&l palestinians, and accused them of on ducting two israeli teenagers in june. israel says the two men were linked to hamas. we're joined live from west jerusalem. so what is israel saying about this? why did it shoot these men and

not take them into custody? >> reporter: what we know is around 2:00 local time earlier this morning, israeli forces surrounded a property here, and that resulted in a fire fight. now as the dust settled we understand that the two main suspects in the killing of those three settlers, young men, those two suspects were killed in that fire fight. now israeli forces said that they wanted to app rehenned r -- app rehengd the men, but because of their resistance they were killed. they have had a lot of effort in the search of these two men.

i am standing in front of the home of one of the men, you can see it has been partially demolished. the israelis wasting no effort and sparing no expense at trying to find any information to find these men. they of course received that intelligence and that of course resulted in the deaths of those men. the funeral of those men have taken place. thousands of people have taken to the streets to take part in those funerals. so the situation here is very tense indeed. >> what are the implications for the cairo ceasefire talks? >> well, there are potential implications, as soon as word came out that these two men had been killed, hamas put out a statement saying that this could affect those ceasefire talks. but very quickly we understood that israeli delegation has gone to cairo to take part in those talks, so it appears that

neither side is truly interested in those talks breaking down. over those seven weeks, many palestinians were killed, and it doesn't appear that either side has the appetite for fighting to resume. still from the israeli point of view, they are no doubt very pleased that these men have been killed. >> many thanks. live there in west jerusalem. now to pakistan where a car carrying explosives has blown up near a security convoy in a northwestern city. at least three are city, including a police officer. the bomber drove his car into the convoy. flood water in pakistan is starting to recede. the main tide of water now is slowly moving south. the flood itself is in sind

province right now. the flood has affected 2.4 million people many are in a province where farms and factories are under water. so we have this flooding situation, as you saw from the pictures there, it's not actually raining, i suspect it's because the rain is elsewhere in the region. >> that's right. it's the eastern states of india and bangladesh who are receiving a lot of rain at the moment. you can see we have flooding across much of the area at the moment. really quite nasty conditions. and it's because of this area of claude as you can see. it has produced significant rainfall all across bangladesh. the rain for the moment -- you see how the monsoon between the 1st of september and the 1st of october retreats away towards

the south and east, but in the east it is still very active indeed. take the state capitol, september average 187 millimeters, in the last 72 hours they have had 280 millimeters. it's way above what you would expect, and this is what we're seeing at the moment a lot of flooding across the region. 28 people have lost their lives as a combination of flooding and landslides. it does look as though the rain eases off over the next couple of days across this region. so there are signs that we'll see improvement. some heavy rain, but across the north and northwest it looks as though the monsoon rains have finally gone. >> thank you much in this deed. in sport the yankees keep their playoff hopes alive. jo will be here with all of the

details in just over 15 minutes. ♪ oh, i love pet day. you guys are just two big softies. cut it out... look at these guys. oh, you... [laughter] ohhh! they just unlocked our channels for a week! ohhh...and... they just made it free.

ahh...looks like it's xfinity free channel week! we've unlocked a collection of channels on tv and xfinity on demand, like encore, nick jr. and disney xd. totally free for a week! learn more at xfinity.com/freechannelweek. that's why i'm a cat guy. good too have you with us, adrian finighan here in doha. our top stories. for the first time, the united states has carried out air and missile strikes in syria. it is targeting fighters from isil. these pictures claim to show the aftermath of an air strike which has destroyed buildings, leaving people trapped in the rebel.

fighters from the opposition front are said to be among the dead there. yemen's president says there is a conspiracy from abroad against his country, after weeks of violence. a peace deal signed on sunday between the two parties appears to have fallen apart. so more now on our top story, the u.s. offense if against isil in syria. the pentagon says that u.s. fighter jets started to hit the targets on monday night. they hit inside a strong hold for isil fighters since the start of this year. it was the center of their operations, until their captured mosul in june. buildings, check points, and weapons stores have come under fight. the fight against isil is one of the topics in new york at the united nations meeting.

james syrian's envoys says he was informed about the strikes hours before they happened, but from the u.n.'s point of view are these strikes in syria actually legal? what is the reaction there? >> reporter: that's going to be the big question, and the big question facing president obama because he leaves washington in a couple of hour's time, arrives here in new york for the big climate summit. what we know is that samantha power, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations contacted her syrian counterpart and told him these air strikes were going to take place, and not to intervene and shoot down any of the american or arab aircraft involved. in recent days and weeks they have been building that international coalition against isil. now they have maken action inside syria, action which some

say may not be legal. can they hold the coalition together? we're going to have a very important meeting in 24 hour's time, because president obama is going to chair the u.n. security council. and i think we're already seeing the u.s. trying to get the legal position that it wants to take at that meeting. first thing we have seen is this letter adrian that has been sent by the iraqi ambassador to the united nations. he sent this letter saying that iraq fully supports america's action in iraq, and it says that iraq believes there is a safe haven outside of its border that is a direct threat to the security of our people and territory. this alone, though, i don't think will help the americans with the international legal situation. what we're hearing from

diplomats at the security council is it's likely that america itself, the u.s. will send a letter to the security council in time for the meeting that is going to take place in 24 hour's time to explain why they have carried out this action. and from what i'm hearing, it's likely they will mention article 51 of the undercharter. and that says you can take action if you feel your country is threatened. we have had americans executed, and i think that will likely be the legal argument. >> james bayes, thanks much in this deed. we have the director of the policy analysis at the doha institute of research and development. welcome again. the five arab nations involved in these strikes overnight, majority sunni states, big

states, jordan, saudi arabia, the smaller gulf nations, involved in military action against a sunni extremist group. what are we to make of this? >> i think this is what the [ inaudible ] has been trying to do over the past few weeks, president obama sent him in to the region in order to have these sunni countries on board. because the united nations, and the obama administration doesn't want to look like fighting a sunni group and siding with iran and shiite dominated government. they wanted very much to have this major sunni countries fighting alongside the united states. that's very important from a political point of view that they are not fighting this war against sunnis. >> so the governments have taken the decision to join this coalition, but how do people in

these countries feel? does their involvement put them at risk of reprisal action? >> that might be the case particularly in saudi arabia in my opinion. because in saudi arabia, i think there is much support and sympathy with -- with isil, not because it's an extremist group, but mainly because it has been actually the most active and strong -- like opposition group in syria that is fighting against the regime of president bashar al-assad, and now most of the saudis at least what we have been hearing on twitters, and facebook, are saying that why the americans have been so reluctant to intervene in syria, where more than 100,000 people have been killed over the last three years, and it's only when two americans were slaughtered did they decide to get involved.

>> this coalition can't defeat isil as we were hearing earlier -- can't defeat them through air strikes alone. as the fight continues on the ground, how crucial will the involvement of these regional powers be? >> i think the more civilians are getting killed by american strikes in syria, i think the lists -- less support we're going to have from these countries. because they are so keen not to be seen as also killing syrians. because this is what they are saying the syrian regime has been doing over the last three years. so i think their position will be very difficult to hold. >> thanks very much indeed for being with us. >> thank you. the u.s. justice department is looking at ways to prevent young muslims from joining isil. it says that at least 100 have

joined so far. one of the priority states is minnesota where around a dozen people have been recruited. >> reporter: growing up in this minnesota community, is 100,000 somali americans has not been easy. cultural barriers and lack of jobs have made young people a target of recruiters of isil. >> you with hear sometimes oh, an individual is gone, went back, and unfortunately has joined such organizations. and every time i hear it, i'm just hoping it is not someone i'm close to. >> reporter: u.s. officials estimate more than 100 americans, including roughly a dozen from this northern state have left to join isil. >> we have been privy to some videos which have directly targeted youth here in

minneapolis. >> reporter: in recent weeks, two men have died after leaving minnesota to fight in syria. many say this man was shot while fighting alongside another american douglas mccain. the u.s. state department says he was killed in syria while fighting with isil. it's not the first time young people here have been recruited. the problem started back in 2007 when nationalists ties were used to push vulnerable young people to fight for al-shabab, a somali affiliate of al-qaeda. they worry that recruitment campaigns, promising status and opportunity are no match for their limited resources. >> we have lost a lot of kids to both al-shabab and isis, and their propaganda machine seems to be very effective. thousands of young kids are at risk. >> reporter: a major mosque in

minneapolis is under investigation for allegedly recruiting as many as 40 people to join isil. the mosque denies the accusation. he says more law enforcement isn't the answer. community backing is. >> the lack of support of this community that itself [ inaudible ] the ground, because these organizations can see that. they are target. if we don't get support in this neighborhood, there could be more potential risk of kids being recruited. france says that it won't be deterred from fighting isil after one of its citizens was taken hostage in algeria. he was filmed calling on france to stop fighting the group.

captors say french citizens will be targeted. france says it is taking the threats very seriously. >> translator: the foreign ministry has just issues a statement confirming sadly the authenticity of the video that carries picture of the man being taken hostage. the threats from this terrorist group are extremely serious, and testimony of the extreme cruelty of this movement. the u.n.'s childrens fund is warning that as many as 10,000 children have been recruited as soldiers in the central african republic. here is our report. >> reporter: this woman is muslim. when christian-armed fighters attacked her neighborhood. her husband and six children

escapes to cameroon. she was heavily pregnant, so she stayed to have her baby. she was hidden by her christian neighbors. it was that generosity that persuaded her to accept these child soldiers into her home. >> translator: i saw the state the kids were in. they had lost their parents. i wanted to give them a chance as well. >> reporter: these children didn't just lose their families, they also lost their innocence. >> translator: i saw my father's throat being cut. my mother and i ran for refuge. i was stronger than her, and she told me to keep going. i kept running until i was lost. then thank god i met with boy and this group. i had to team up with them. i also fought alongside them in

the bush. >> reporter: in the past year, the u.n. has managed to release around 1500 young people. but there are thousands more still living with the rebels, including the mainly christian an anti-bala anti-balaka. some are forced into the groups. others join only because they can survive. the u.n. says they need to be in school, because it gives them security, a routine, and a chance of a normal life. the u.n. wants to get 600,000 people back into school by november. >> they need all of the actives that help them to live in their community and then have a new life as a child, rather than being in armed group. >> reporter: she says her family can't return until it is safe again for muslims. so she focuses on bringing up these children. this story gives some a sense of

hope. four people from different religions and ethnicities have become one family, finding comfort and peace in each other. a court in china has handed down a life sentence for an outspoken scholar who fought for the rights of the uyghur minority. >> reporter: although a critic of government pollties, this man is considered a moderate. the prom nate uyghur academic lived and worked in beijing where he was arrested nine months ago, yet his trial took place almost 2.5 thousand kilometers away. the detention and the severity of the charges against him alarmed some foreign observers. >> we have already expressed our

concern over his [ inaudible ]. especially since he worked peacefully within chinese laws for years, especially to promote a good relationship between minorities in china and for equal rights. >> reporter: during his two-day trial there was a heavy police presence outside of the court. a measure of the official sensitivity over the case. police prevented foreigners from entering. but his wife is worried most about his health. he was convicted of inciting hatred and advocating the overthrow of chinese rule in the far west. his lawyer says his client issing innocent. in the past, though, he has been outspoken, accusing the authorities of a systematic campaign of discrimination against ethnic muslim uyghurs. and in an interview he seemed to

accept the fate that awaited him. >> translator: my people are here. the people i'm fighting for are here. i'm willing to sacrifice myself for them. >> reporter: the united nations and european union have both demanded his release. human rights groups say that this shows even moderate voices are no longer immune from the government. a new prime minister has been sworn in for fiji. he is expected to travel to new york for the u.n. general assembly this week. he took over power eight years ago in a coup, but last week his party won an outright majority in elections. just ahead here on the news hour, china dances its way to more success at the asian games.

we'll have the latest from south korea with jo in just a few minutes. ♪

♪ hello again, a day after what organizers said was the largest environmental march in history, organizers are back on the streets. the summit on climate change has now begun, many world leaders are attending, including president obama. but the leaders of two of the largest polluters, china and india aren't there. nick clark reports on the

urgency of the situation. >> reporter: every day that dawns, the driving force of climate change gathering pace, and we are responsible. those are the facts, such as the near unanimous environment of climate science. and the effects, they say, can be -- ♪ welcome welcome welcome back. a chinese court has imposed sentence on a weeing you are school or. adrian brown is here to talk about the trial. how outspoken was he? >> well, he was pretty outspoken, but he was considered by many to be a moderate sort of sunday's climate march demanded action, but hope is there for progress, especially when the leaders of developing giants, china and india, among

others are said not to be going. >> the commits they are going to put on the table won't be enough to stop the temperature from progressing beyond 2 degrees. governments should not take a backseat. they have a role. >> reporter: scientists say the greenhouse gases are at higher levels than at anytime in the last 800,000 years. and that has tipped the delicate balance of the atmosphere. oceans and surface temperatures have increased, there's more extreme level, and sea level rise, which is a direct threat to coastal communities and industries everywhere. sea level rise is already taking its toll. for island nations in the south pacific, it's become a matter of plain survival. >> we are threatened with the very existence of our culture, our tradition, our language, our

future. the fact that we lie just two meters above sea level, and a failure to achieve a 2 degree limit is spelling the end of this country. >> reporter: it is of course at the front lines of global warming where the need for action is most keenly felt. it is hoped the summit will give impetus leading to an agreement on how to reduce emissions in paris in just a year from now. given past performance, that's a tall order. >> let's hear now from bany moon speaking as the climate change summit got underway in the last hour. >> it is fast becoming unbearable. we have never faced such challenge. nor have we encountered such a

great opportunity. our low-carbon climate future will be a better future, cleaner, healthier, fairer, more stable, not for some, but for all. the very people who brought us into the age of fossil fuels are now saying they are moving their money into renewable energy. the rockefeller family have promised to divest $50 billion from fossil fuel investments. >> we embrace this irony that our wealth was made through oil, but we think that puts us maybe even under greater moral obligation to be -- rather than using that wealth through our philanthropic means, personal and professional means. >> i just want to make you aware of a development, some news we're getting out of syria, where president assad has

received an envoy from iraq's prime minister, the envoy briefing assad on the next step in efforts to combat terrorism. no more details on that at the present, but just wanted to make you aware of what was happening. further details when we have them here on al jazeera. right now, though, it's time for sport. >> thank you very much the countdown to the ryder cup continues. the european team have lined up their official photo on tuesday. behind the smiles, they will be anxious to know who they are being paired with for the first round. rory mcelroy has played six out of the last seven with mcdowell. >> i think myself and rory, there's no doubt our personal issues have been well documented the last couple of years. you know, and i believe that we

have both come out of the other end of that, probably better friends than we were going into it. so, you know, our personal issues are not a problem this weekend. so -- so that's a fact. the ryder cap captain for the usa has made it clear for his team that it's an opportunity for players to redeem themselves after their stunning loss two years ago. >> they are all in for this ryder cup. i have been around them -- been around them for -- for the last year, every time i see them, they are talking about ryder cup. they know -- they know of our position. they know we have been defeated, and -- and they -- they want to get that cup back. the baltimore ravens have denied trying to persuade the nfl to be lenient on ray rice. he was originally banned for two games when he attacked his wife,

but it wasn't until months later when a second video was leaked showing the ferocity of the attack, resulting in rice receiving an indefinite suspension. >> there is no excuse for me to have not demanded that video, except i wasn't concerned or interested enough to demand it. it never crossed my mind. i'm deeply sorry for that. if it would have crossed my mind, i would have demanded it. if i would have demanded it, i would have gotten it. and if i would have gotten it, i would have turned it over to the nfl, and then nobody would have seen ray in a football uniform for seven months at the very earliest, and then i think people might have been a little bit more forgiving of him, and more capable of welcoming him back. major league baseball now.

the new york yankees beat the orioles to keep their dimming playoff hopes alive. derek jeter also did his part driving in three runs as new york won 5-0. they are chasing the last wild-card spot in the american league, but are four games behind the kansas royals. the royals look set to make the post season for the first time in nearly 30 years. they beat the indians 2-0. the win moves them within their hopes of winning the division. the chinese currently top the medal table at the chinese games with 40 gold. there was more success with the synchronized swimming. the victory completes a clean sweep of all three synchro

titles on offer at the games. south korea are second in medals table. this rider delighted the home crowd by winning the individual dressage. and the philippines have kicked off their campaign for a goal for the gold. on thursday they have a much tougher test. they will be facing the asian champions, iran. rafael [ inaudible ] has criticized the appointment of a woman as the coach. there are more details on that at aljazeera.com/sport. and that's all of the sport for now. >> thanks indeed. stay with us here on al jazeera. i'll be back with another full bulletin of news in just a few moments. ♪

behind me, many people have lost their homes, hundreds of villages, but not on a scale we see further north. i can see tents goodnight you and wondering what people have got, what they are supplied with. >> what we see here is an improvement from punjab province. seems the authorities had more time to plan, perhaps they were better prepared. >> protestors are gathering... >> there's an air of tension right now... >> the crowd chanting for democracy... >> this is another significant development... >> we have an exclusive story tonight, and we go live...

good morning, everybody. david shuster here at al jazeera headquarters in new york. you are looking at a live picture of the south lawn of the white house. the president is expected to travel to the united nations here in new york and talk about climate change, but first he is going to be stopping at that podium and speaking about the us-lead air strikes overnight on isil targets in syria. if you missed the news, the united states along with five arab coalition partners bombed at least a couple of dozen targets last night. the arab