>> the former haitian leader has suffered a heart attack. >> this is al jazeera headquarters in doha. also ahead, u.s. jets attack isil fighters advancing on kob kobane giving hope to kurdish fighters in that town. prime minister david cameron calls the beheading of alan

henning as unforgivable and promises to defeat isil. and gangs disrupt peaceful protests. >> hello, the former haitian president has died of a heart attack age 63. he ruled haiti from 1971 until his overthrow in 1986. his leadership was marked by allegations of human rights abuse and massive theft, and he spent 25 years in exile before returning in 2011. he has lived there since. dominick cane reports. >> john claude duvali er returned to haiti after years of exile shortly after the presidential election. when he died he was being accused of corruption and human rights apew abuse.

he was 19 years old when he took over for his father. his father declared himself president and his rule was enforced in large part by his personal militia. it was accused of hilling many thousands of haitians. baby doc made some changes to his father's regime, but most haitians did not benefit. while he benefited many thousands were killed and thousands more left the country to escape. fall elections of 1958 when jean-claude duvalier took the vote there was low living conditions and duvalier left for

france the next year. organize to the organization that prance tartcy international,--transparency international duvalier had stolen from the coffers. he was taken into custody by haitian authorities. he died while awaiting trial. >> for more on this, let's speak to seth walker, joining us from washington on the telephone. he covers duvalier's return from exile and just 19 years old when he became president and ruled for more than ten years. >> yes, i think a lot of people had forgotten about baby doc. many haitians simply could not remember those years of

repression and brutality that made him such an unpopular figure. so when he ran, it was a total shock to the country. i was there on the day he got back, and i remember there were just huge outpourings of emotion on the streets from those who could remember, the horrible crimes that occurred during his regime, and many asking for him to be arrested straight away and returned to justice. he was spirited away through a lengthy enclave in the hills. there he waited until the legal process against him took the next step. he was awaiting trial at the time of his death. and i think his death is really going to be the end of a surprise chapter when he came back from the dead, so to speak, and this is really going to be for a lot of people something

that is going to mark the end of a very sad chapter. >> because leadership was defined by a lot of people by allegations of human rights apewses as well as theft. there are allegations that will make him be forced to pay back a lot of money. he was living in exile in pair race, and people accused him of actually profiting were the fruits of that theft from the haitian bank. i think that those are thing things--it's one of the very poorest countries in the western hemisphere. the fact that he stole such a huge amount of money was one of

the main complaints. people were saying that he should pay back the millions of dollars that went missing when he fled. a lot of questions will be asked about what happens to that money, his estate, which is probably worth a lot of money, and what happens to the money that is left is going to be the main question now. but those who suffered at his hands from the brutality of what took place in those days, i think they're going to be--i mean, this is the end of a very bad chapter for them. it was a complete surprise that he came back, and this will see the end of all of those

complaints that they were asking him to pay justice for. >> sebastian walker, thank you very much. >> now kurdish forces are in battle against isil fighters. they've been helped by overnight airstrikes around that town and on the turkish side of the border there have been angry scenes. bernard smith is on the turkey-syria border. >> more explosions ar from kobane from behind me. news of a more positive mood amongst them. turkey kurdish mps have been allowed in the town, and they say that after a couple of u.s. airstrikes overnight on friday there were a coupl--that hit a

couple of isil positions gave them the security to take the town. but the ebbs and flows it's still keeping up the pressure on kobane. >> now an international coalition of nations has been carrying out airstrikes in iraq and syria. and isil group shows the beheading of alan henning, a british humanitarian volunteer who was delivering aid to syrians in december. paul brennan reports. >> reporter: alan henning last december on route to syria with a humanitarian aid convoy. he even had aid for syria tatt tattooed on his arm. but just hours after crossing the border he was seized by militants. his wife made a desperate plea

for his release. late friday night news emerged of his death. >> anyone in any doubt about this organization can now see how truly repulsive it is and barbaric it is as an organization. we must do everything we can to defeat this organization in the region, but also to defeat it at home. we must do everything we can to hunt down those responsible for this. >> david cameron will be briefed today by intelligence chiefs and by foreign office diplomats to get a handle of how close they are to identify the killers of alan henning and previous hostages. they'll continue with airstrikes on top of their heads. alan henning's story touched the lives of many people.

as eid was celebrated at one of london's biggest mosques on saturday, they expressed their anger. >> there is no justification for killing any human. >> the u.k. has been carrying air attacks on isil claiming to show alan henning's death, saying that his blood is on the hands of the british parliament. >> our hearts go out to the british aid worker, who we believe is in that video, and to remaining hostages, and to their families. this is just another very clear example of the brutality of this group, and why the president has articulated and is moving out in

a comprehensive way to degrade and destroy isil. >> reporter: alan henning was taken while driving an ambulance packed with food and water. in the eyes of isil it seems even humanitarian workers are now fair game. paul brennan, al jazeera, london. >> to hong kong now where it's just 1:00 a.m. local time there, and thousands of people are still on the streets demanding democratic elections. but the atmosphere is tense with protesters accusing police of failing to protect them from violence in as much areas. some areas. we spoke a little while ago, you described the atmosphere as peaceful and festive. is the mood still that way now? >> yes, indeed. it is still festive. people are chitchatting, but you get a sense of people settling

in for the evening, a lot of people have left following the talks by the student leaders, and pop stars and actor, as it seems, but for most of the protesters who have been left here i would say that it's still a few thousand over here sitting down, setting up mats, reminisce september of what it was like before these student protesters turned ugly. we just got word from the students federation of students who have said that they're willing to open talks to the governments under two to investigate what happened in mong kok. that's where the situation turned ugly when there were clashes between the students and those against the protest, and

the students accused the police of standing back and not doing anything about it. they won't talk to the chief executives, but they will talk to the chief secreta secretary. >> thank you, from hong kong. much more to come, including we're on the front line in somalia as africa union forces step up in their campaign against al-shabab. and a medical wonder. we'll tell you the story of the swedish baby who's birth brings hope to childless couples.

>> i don't really know what's going to happen to me... >> of oscar winner alex gibney's hard hitting series... edge of eighteen >> i'm never going to appoligize for the type of person that i am >> facing tough challenges... >> we do feel cheeted, by the american university process >> taking a stand... >> it's gonna be on my terms, on how i want it to be >> boldly pursuing their dreams >> what did i do? >> the lives of american teenagers... on the edge of eighteen only on al jazeera america

>> the top stories on al jazeera. jean-claude duvalier has died age 63. known as baby doc he ruled haiti for 15 years, and his leadership was marked by human rights abuse and massive theft. kurdish forces are fighting to fight the syrian border against advancing eyesel forces. they've been held by overnight airstrikes by u.s.-led coalition. there have been more riots in hong kong. the government has ordered them to vacate the streets by monday. north and south korea have agreed to resume high-level talks. the announcement was made as three top north koreaen

officials visit for the asian games. >> north korea decided to send three of its top officials south of the border informing seoul just hours before their arrival. >> reporter: i made this trip with the hope that the occasion would be a turning point for north and south korean relations. i'm glad to sit and share this warm meal with you. >> a few weeks ago north carolina was calling south carolina a military gangster and traitor part of the extreme hostile language. on saturday it was all smiles. >> today those in special positions have come here at the delegation from the north. we must work together so north and south korea's relations

improve. >> this visit was an opportunity to attend the closing ceremonies where athletes have done unexpectedly well. wildly regarded as the second most senior member of nort nortnorth korea's leadership. north korea's president kim jong-un has been out of the public for a month. new england, human rights, the u.s. military presence on the peninsula, they appear to have done little in these talks other than to promise to talk again soon. but here that in itself is progress. harry p fawcett, seoul. >> the world's longest reigning monarch has been admitted to the hospital with aify feve a high

fever on monday. in somalia government forces supported by africa union troops set up their fight against al-shabab. in recent months they've made significant advances in september its leader was killed in an airstrike as he was traveling to the port cit city of barawe. now they're making a final push for the last bit of lands controlled by al-shabab. >> soldiers advance to the port town of barawe. this is a village that belong to african union mission of somal

somalia. the village had been controlled by al-shabab fighters, but the national army captured it without a fight. >> we'll continue. this is a dutiful operation. >> the soldiers are also in striking distance of the port city of barawe. he said its hold is imminent. >> after this offensive, we learn that al-shabab will continue the guerrilla warfare. we'lto be able to stop this

kind of warfare. >> advancing to three strategic towns. >> al-shabab controls much of the countryside and major roads in south and central somalia. the aim is to cut off the supply routes that the group uses to bring in fighters, weapons, and export char coal. the money made by selling charcoal pays for weapons. >> the big question is whether al-shabab needs major supply routes because it ceased to exist a as a conventional group some time ago. now it rely on warfare. >> it does not have the numbers or strength to fight the advancing joint forces. it's leader was recently killed,

and his replacement amid abu badi is still new to his role. many people hearsay that al-shabab cannot be written off just yet. >> gunmen killed nine u.n. peace keepers from niger on friday. al jazeera continues to demand the release of three of its journalists detained in president. they have now been detained for 280 days, and they're faultsly accused of aiding the muslim brotherhood. they have been sentenced to seven years in prison. bader mohammed received an extra three years for possession of a spent bullet he picked up at a

protest. in ukraine, fighting continues in the eastern city of donetsk. the government insists that they're still in control, but the pro russian separatists say it's close to being over. >> reporter: this is what is left of donetsk's airport coming under heavy fire. for days it's been the focus of intense fighting. these pictures were taken on friday. they show the pro russian attacking government forces equipped with heavy weapons that can take out armored vehicles. >> they're almost gone. in fact, they held a small, very small part of the airport. their time is almost over. soon we'll smoke them out of there. >> the airport is the main target for the separatists which is why they're throwing tanks and other artillery into the battle. for its part ukrainian

government said it has the upper hand in the fighting. >> the rebels made several other unfortunate attempts to take the airport. we fired back and killed 12 terrorists. >> a glance at the map demonstrates the back and forth nature of the fight in ukraine over the past months. this is the area held by the pro russian separatists when they declared an unilateral crisis fear, which did not hold. then pro russian separatists have regained back and control much of the southeastern border with russia. the president of ukraine visited his armed forces ac mandarin on friday. he promised the new recruits that the army they join would learn from its losses. >> we will use the experience of

our armed forces and modern conflicts. we have learned in the mistakes we made, unfortunately. >> but the separatists appear equally determined to learn from their mistakes, and now they hold much mortar tore. al jazeera. >> doctors in sweden have successfully delivered the world's first baby from a transplanted roo womb. the 36-year-old mother received a womb transplant last year. she delivered a healthy baby boy last month. they're hoping to help couples worldwide who can't have children. >> it was a fantastic happiness between me and the whole team, but at the same time it was a little unreal sensation because we really couldn't believe that

we reached this moment. >> let's just take a closer look at how that transplant is done. an incision is made in the donor's lower abdomen where the uterus is removed. it's placed on ice and the vessels are flushed. the uterus is transplanted into the identity russ and it takes 40 minutes for the vessels to start functioning. sheena lewis is the director of infertility. she said that womb transplant technology could benefit as many as 15,000 people in the u.k. >> i think this is a revolutionary step a year ago we knew it was possible to transplant the uteri, but now we know a healthy baby has been born as a result of the technique. this is based on a decade of careful research work in sweden, and similar research is being done in the u.k.

i think this is a wonderful day when we've made a great leap forward in science. >> there have been two prior attempts to this particular one, which didn't succeed. what are the risks? what are the down sides here? >> the worry has always been that the uterus would not have a sufficiently good blood supply to nourish the fetus through the time it was born. in this case the baby was born quite early, but we don't know if that was because of the treatment or because the woman who was the mothers will had some health difficulties herself. for example, she had just one kidney. this is a great success story because a baby has been born. >> is this a realistic option for women who are unable to have children. >> there is an enormous cost involved in this, and that is something that will be reduced as research is improved, and the technique is optimized. these are women who have had

either congenital anominees, and they've been born without a womb of their own, or perhaps they had cancer in the past and had their womb removed. this is the tire first time that these women have been offered an opportunity to have a family of their own. the surrogacy that goes on around the world in which another woman will carry the child for their family. here we don't have any other people involved. the ethical issues are much less than before and of course the birth mother is the genetic mother, and she's able to give birth. >> when you say the research needs to be improved, how far are we from that improvement that it does become an of course, as yo--it does become an option, from it becoming routine? >> we're far from being routine

because of the cost involve. the donor of the women in this case was a person who was altruistic and was prepared to give her womb to the woman who gave birth to the child. in the u.k. we're hoping that couples--women who have died, if they have offered their organs perhaps due to a car accidents, those wombs will be able to be used. the fact that a baby has been born is a first step and a major significant step for infertility treatment. >> obviously the parents are delighted with this. is it possible to say how many families benefit from this type of treatment? or transplant? >> well, the researchers in sweden are saying they're about 15,000 women in the u.k. alone.

i don't know what the global figures are, but that's quite a lot of people. i think there are certainly many people who will be able to benefit from this. >> just a reminder you can keep up-to-date with all the news from our website at www.aljazeera.com. as the president credited with stoping the slaughter and putting the country back together, paul kagame is also accused of brutally suppressing dissent. so is kagame a savior or a dictator? we sent journalist sorious samura to find out. >> for centuries the tribes of