security coordination is at risk between the palestinian authority and israel as leaders meet to discuss their response to the death of a minister. hello, there. this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up. i'd do it again in a minute. >> no regrets. the former u.s. vice president defends torture techniques at guantanamo bay. shinzo abe returns to power in japan, but willow voter turnout cloud his new mandate? what we got was a half-baked deal. >> the environmental groups slam

the global climate agreement reached in peru. hello. welcome to the program. we start in syria now where there's been intense fighting in the province of aleppo. rebel fighters say they killed several soldiers and destroyed vehicles. but the syrian state news agency quoting a military source says the government remains in control of the village. kurdish fighters say they have made advances again isil in kobani. elsewhere isil is taking on syrian government forces for control of an airport. we explain the strategic importance. >> reporter: the airport is one of the last remaining regime strongholds in the east of syria. the forces of president bashar

al assad held onto the airport and parts of provincial capital while isil consolidates it's hold on the rest of the province. there are oil fields around the airport. winning control of the airport gi gives isil control of the oil. isil has made previous attempts, but the fighters have been beaten by syrian forces and the pr pro-assad channel plays this shows they're in control around the airport. in kobani kurdish fighters say they have pushed isil out of much of the southern part of the town. they also have cut an isil supply line. three months of air strikes, car bombs and fighting have reduced much of kobani to rubble. isil fighters still control the eastern side of kobani, and they have a supply route open there. the group, though, has faced its stiffest resistance from the

town having pushed easily through other parts of syrian and iraq. syrian kurdish fighters defending kobani are backed up by iraqi fighters and u.s.-led coalition air strikes. bernard smith, al jazeera, istanbul. in neighboring iraq the army says it's killed more than 100 isil fighters in anbar province will the last 24 hours. there's been intense fighting in the cities. tribesmen on the ground are supporting coalition air strikes and iraqi security forces. jane araff has more now from baghdad. >> reporter: from suicide vehicle bombs to mortars and snipers, there's been intense fighting. it started with a suicide bomber driving a humvee, one of the u.s.-made humvees used by the iraq army and seized by isil as they took over large parts of the country in june. they confiscated hundreds of vehicles and in the past month

they have blown up more than a dozen of them using suicide bombs. now, this was on the road to the syrian border from the province capital ramadi, and it's nera mau near ramadi where the fighting has taken place. there's been fighting going on as they mortar positions of the provincial council without a compound. in that compound there are iraqi security forces as well as government officials, but isil has also fought hard for areas including fallujah and the subdistricts under siege for months now. that's a key area on the road to baghdad. it's an indication of isil's strategically chooses its battles in anbar as its pushed out of the north. tribes are desperate for help. they don't want boots on the ground. they don't particularly want iraqi security forces.

they certainly don't want shia militias, but what they do want is arms and ammunition and some are even saying american help in the form of soldiers coming to advise them. that's not likely to happen, but what is happening is the arrival of more british advisers and more american advisers. britain has said that it's sending several hundred military experts and advisers here in the new year. they will likely remain on bases in the kurdish region and here around baghdad. they're not likely to go out with the troops, but officials are hoping that they will make a difference in making the forces fighting on the ground much more efficient. security cooperation between the palestinian liberation organization and israel is potentially at stake as the plo's leadership meets in ramallah. they're discussing a possible suspension of that cooperation just over a week after the death of palestinian minister in a confrontation with israeli

soldiers. earlier on sunday there was a show of force by hamas whose fighters were paraded through the streets of the city of gaza. the celebrations mark 27 years since hamas was founded. let's go straight now to jane ferguson in ramallah covering that plo meeting. hi there, jane. lots of issues here topping the agenda. >> reporter: a lot of issues being discussed tonight. just as the meeting was getting started palestinian president abbas went through the issues to be discussed as a potential response to the death. one of the top issues is discussing this u.n. security council resolution. that's already been discussed for several months now, and tonight it's believed they will be discussing whether or not to push forward with submitting this resolution, which basically puts forward an agenda for palestinian states by the 1967 borders that would also incorporate ending israeli -- the israeli occupation within

two years. so there's a discussion as to whether or not they should go ahead with that at the u.n. security council. now, the meeting is still going on at the minute, and it's not clear yet what announcements, if any, will be made after that has been discussed. if they were to go ahead and push ahead with that resolution, it's worth pointing out that it would still face a huge amount of diplomatic and bureaucratic hurdles to get over before it even went to a vote. even if it won a vote, the u.s. could veto it if they were not willing to support the resolution. it's really the beginning of discussing really trying to push this forward. there are other things discussed in this meeting this evening as possible responses, one of which is applying for member of the icc, the international criminal court. this, again, has also been discussed in recent months beforeby the palestinians could therefore take the israelis to court for war crimes and vice versa. the israelis could take

palestinian groups to court as well. that's a possibility if they were to go ahead and sign the rome statute to become part of that. as you also mentioned, another issue that has been discussed is this issue of security coordination, a coordination between the palestinian authority in the occupied west bank and the israelis. now, there's been a lot of talk about trying to end that. realistically that's unlikely to happen overnight. that would be an extremely complicated process and very difficult for the palestinian authority to continue operating as a bureaucracy without some degree of cooperation with israel. right now the meeting is continuing. afterwards there may be some announcements to to give clarity on where they stand on the issues. >> jane ferguson live from ramallah. jane, thank you. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu is set to hold talks with the u.s.

secretary john kerry in rome on monday and will sit down with i will italy's prime minister and outline the agenda. >> translator: i will tell the both of them that israel stands to a great extent as a solitary island against the waves of islamic extremism washing over the entire middle east. until now we have successfully withstood and repelled the attacks and now we stand against the possibility of a diplomatic assault, that is to say an attempt to force upon us through u.n. resolutions withdraws to the 1967 borders within a defined time frame of two years. this will bring radical islamic elements to the suburbs of tel aviv and heart of jerusalem. we will not allow this. we will rebuff this forcefully and responsibly. let there be no doubt this will be rejected. >> and we will be live to rome a little later with our reporter. now, libya's internationally

recognized government has compared a coalition of rebel groups known as faja libya to isil. it also says they're trying to take over oil fields to fund terrorist activities. the accusation following the closure of the two biggest oil ports due to intense fighting. libya has seen instability with groups loyal to the 2002 rival governments battling for control. a former u.s. vice president, dick cheney, has again defended interrogation techniques the cia used during his time in office. on a u.s. news show he made no determinations. our correspondent joins us now from new york. hi there, kristen. so he's certainly standing in a defensive position despite what the report says? >> reporter: that's right.

vice president dick cheney and other bush era former officials made the rounds on the talk shows here in the united states. they're having to answer some tough questions, though, after more details from that detailed 500-page report of the senate has come to light. we're hearing more about the techniques used by the cia including waterboarding, hanging people by their wrists, putting them in coffin-sized boxes, and frankly beating them and using techniques such as one that's known as rectal rehydration. these techniques sound pretty torturious perhaps to the averageperson, but dick cheney and others say it stops short of tur tur and the definition outlined by the justice department in the wake of the attacks of september 11, 2001. the report goes into detail

about how they tried to stay within the guidelines including having medical personnel on hand on watch these techniques and make sure they didn't cross that line. so here is how former vice president dick cheney justified and stands up for the actions that were taken by his government. >> torture, to me, chuck, is an american citizen on his cell phone making a last call to his four young daughters shortly before he burns to death in the upper levels of the trade center in new york city on 9/11. there's this notion that somehow there's moral ekwiflance between what they did and we do. that's not trur. we stopped short of torture. we tried to stay short of that definition. we did capture bin laden and an awful lot of the senior guys of al qaeda responsible for that

attack on 9/11. i'd do it again in a minute. >> of course, there are many people within the united states government who don't agree with that assessment. this report is causing a lot of debate and discuss here in the united states. at this stage, however, it does not seem that there's any appetite to go forward and prosecute former cia agents for this behavior, given that there was an order from the justice department and authorization from the justice department to do a lot of these things. there's a lot of criticism coming at the international level as well, and in particular from the united nations on torture who says there should be an investigation to see if the united states or any of its agents did violate the convention on torture, which the united states is a party to. >> kristen there live in new york. thank you. plenty more still to come on the program. after pressure from the people, the prime minister of haiti resigns, but is it enough no quell the anger?

the human rights campaign who say they're victims of fear and intimidation. police >> a fault lines special investigation >> there's a general distrust of this prosecutor >> courageous and in depth... >> it's a target you can't get rid of... >> the untold story... >> who do you protect? >> ...of what's really going on in ferguson >> they were so angry because it could have been them >> fault lines, ferguson: race and justice in the u.s. one hour special only on al jazeera america

a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. palestinian leaders are meeting in ramallah to discuss their response to the death of a minister last wednesday. security coordination between the palestinian liberation organization and israel is potentially at stake.

there's been intense fighting in the syrian province of aleppo. rebel fighters say they killed several soldiers in the village of amallah and destroyed vehicles, but the syrian ministry claims it's still in control of the village. the former vice president cheney appeared on a news show and defended brutal technique for interrogation during their time in office. shinzo abe has been comfort aably re-elected as the prime minister in snap elections. many voters stayed at home refusing to take part in a poll that offered little choice. harry fossett reports from tokyo. >> reporter: there was no great fist-pumping celebration for japan's prime minister as he marked this landslide victory. he had the err of a man whose

plan worked out perfectly. >> reporter: my poli-- i believ have moved away from the dark days. a lot of people don't feet the benefits of my policies, but it's my do you toy bring about these policies to those very people. i believe this election also voiced that clearly. >> reporter: abe told the electorate this was a referendum on his economic recovery plan. but for many it was more a referendum on an opposition in disarray and one that resulted in a record low turnout for a general election. >> translator: the option party is very weak, so we really have no choice, even if you wish others could challenge. >> translator: it's an election designed to be won, so it's very strategic. as a citizen, it makes me wonder why now? >> reporter: the polls suggest the majority of japanese voters are confused by this need into

the election just two years into the term of office. there's little enthusiasm showing at this polling station, more of a sense of a duty being reluctantly performed. he succeeded in bucking jap ouft of deflation throughout massive stimulus and money printing. the third and most critical stage structural reform is still stuck in low gear. as well as giving him extra time that goal, this enables him to move forward on the rest of his agenda including restarting the nuclear power industry and renewing his push for changes to japan's passivist discussion. delegates at the u.n. climate conference in peru have finally agreed a last-minute deal just two days later than originally scheduled. the final document, though, is brief. it's only five pages long and has been criticized by environmental groups as weak and in effectual. the lima deal lays the

groundwork for more climate change talks to be held in paris next year. there each leader will announce how much their country will reduce carbon emissions by. those pledges must be better than what they're currently doing. the 2015 summit will put more pressure on wealthy nations to provide financial support to developing countries. our environment editor nick clark reports now from lima. >> reporter: at long last after endless through the hours wrangling, a resolution. despite the celebration, many saw this document is watered-down and very weak. >> this is an incredibly weak decision. so we came here thinking we were going to get a pretty ambitious text. we had commitments and pledges to green climate fund and you have the u.s. and china announcements and so on. instead we got of a half-baked

deal >> reporter: the third drought was rejected out of hand by developing countries. >> we feel this text needs a little surgery, and we would like us to put on our gowns, our scalpels and carefully insert a few vital organs that need to be incorporated in this agreement. >> reporter: outside the dismantling began, but it seems the conference would go on and on. lost in damage finance the coronations were taken out of the text. the u.s. wanted it to stay that way. >> we have no time for lengthy new negotiations, and i think we all know that. >> reporter: while the endless back and forth took its toll, developing countries worked on the words. china and the u.s., who have been in disagreement over the state of the text here in lima, in the event it was a small victory for the developing nations and the fourth version of the text on the day. >> we do know that we must address climate change.

we know increasingly that we can address climate change. with this and moving on to paris, we cement the fact that we will address climate change. >> reporter: this conference was hosted by one of country's worst affected by climate change. from melting glasses and widespread deforestation and all the implications. with that backdrop the lima conference was about charging a road map for a global treaty in paris in a year's time. given the optimism there was before the conference, lima has been a disappointment that's been saved from failure by some last-minute hustling. there is still a lot of work to do in paris 2015 for it to be successful. nick clark, al jazeera, lima, peru. now as we reported earlier in the prap, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is meeting u.s. secretary of state john kerry in roam -- rome on monday. hi there, claudia. busy for john kerry there who is

meeting his russian counterpart. >> reporter: well, indeed, the meeting must have been over about half an hour ago now. we don't know exactly the details of that meeting because that was closed to the press. kerry and lavrov met briefly with the press before the meeting, and it was quite interesting to see them sitting around in the residence in the u.s. embassy behind me. sitting around the fireplace and looking very cozy. that was in stark contrast with the u.s./russia relations, which are very frosty these days, especially following the passing by the u.s. senate last thursday of a bill that proposes to impose new sanctions against moscow and to offer a help of $350 million worth of hardware to the ukrainian state and army. so to help them fight in the

southern region of crimea. before and during that very short briefing with the media, lavrov sdz he was looking forward also to talk about the middle east to make sure that russia and the united states work together to make sure -- in order to make sure that the situation doesn't fall into disarray even further. >> claudio, what's on the agenda, then, for john kerry and benjamin netanyahu? >> reporter: well, kerry and netanyahu are expected to meet on monday, tomorrow. now, we do expect netanyahu to talk about -- and kerry to talk about the growing sentiment, especially in europe, in favor of the -- of a state of palestine to be recognized by a series of countries in europe as well as the united states. of course, netanyahu will make

sure that the united states will continue to use the veto against the proposal and against the pendency of the united nations, which seems to be going forwards in direction. netanyahu said clearly he's going to talk to kerry about that and talk about the prime minister about that to make sure that he still has this support by the united nations in italy and the european countries for israel so that many more do not pass resolutions in favor of the recognition of a palestinian state as, for instance, france did a couple of weeks ago. >> claudio live in rome. thank you. now, at least 129 people have drowned after a ship capsized in the democratic republic of congo. that's almost 100 more deaths than officially previously thought. the boat sank on the lake on thursday night. rescue workers say many women

and children were amongst the dead. more than 200 people, though, did survive. officials blamed strong winds and overloading for the tragedy. al jazeera continues to demand the release of its three journalists who have been detained in egypt for 351 days. they were jailed over false allegations that they helped the outlawed muslim brotherhood. they're appealing against their convictions and sentences. two got seven years and baha received an extra three because he had a spent bullet in his possession he picked up at the protest. rescuers have pulled more bodies from the mud after heavy rain in central indiana ne indonesia that caused a landslide. the president visited the area on sunday as heavy machinery was brought in to help.

more than 100 homes were buried in central java. bridges were also destroyed there. the president pledged to relocate the hundreds of people left homeless. the prime minister of haiti has resigned. his decision was announced after months of violent protests in the capital port-au-prince. demonstrators are calling for elections and for resident march michael marteli to step down. human rights workers in chechn chechnya accuse authorities of carrying out collective punishment against the families of suspected separatists. we have the report from chechnyan capital. >> reporter: they're scared. armed men have tailed their car through the dark roads of the

chesh kneeian countryside. the human rights workers call the police, and there's many friends and colleagues as they can think of. this is cctv footage taken earlier on saturday from outside of the apartment. this man here, sergei, says, he thinks is holding a gun. they knock on the door and then they speak to the neighbors. luckily they weren't there at the time. sergei, why do you think this is happening? >> translator: i think with these methods the leadership of the republic is using pain and loss for the killed policeman to try to get rid of the organizations than undesirable for local parties and creates problems. >> reporter: they arrive at the hotel to talk. he said one of the men that came to the apartment is head of the city's administration and there's nothing to worry about. while this conversation is going

on, the human rights worker's office is torched. there have been many fires in chesh nia in recent days. these houses belong to the families of 11 fighters who launched an assault on december 4th that killed 14 policemen, one civilian and the attackers themselves. it's been five years since chechnya's long decades of war were declared over and this intense violence has angered the president. relatives of killers should be banished from chechnya and their homes destroyed he urged. criticizing this has led to the targeting of rights workers not just there but in moscow, too. at an official rally on saturday the ngos were accused of being in league with terrorists. >> translator: we don't want human rights activists to criticize our president. he's right and does everything

correctly. >> translator: i came to help the people and president against terror. >> reporter: so they're working out whether to leave chechnya. they feel intimidated and they're not safe anymore. >> for 300 years, the most powerful nations on earth grew richer and stronger on the profits of the slave trade. over twelve million men, women and children were forcibly transported from africa on slave ships like this, to the colonies and plantations in north and south america. today slavery is illegal on every country on the planet. but the truth is, slavery did not die in the 19tnt