only on al jazeera america the polls are open. tunisians vote for their first free will he i lexed president in an historic run-off election. also on the program. the revolution will go on. cuba's president says a better relationship with the u.s. won't change the island's communist system. president obama says he unconditionally condemns the murder of two new york city police officers.

and. >> when they get smaller say thank you very much. and you see them. that's all. tough love. we meet the new zealand gang helping hungry kids. ♪ ♪ we begin in true near where polls have just opened in a landmark presidential run-off election. it's the first time they will directly vote for president since they overran a dictatorship three years ago. >> reporter: at 88 years old he's no stranger to politics. he certained under tunisia's first post-colonial president. and in the regime of ousted president. and now he wants the country's top job himself. in 1957, he was appointed at first minister, moving onto

become defense minister and then as the country's foreign minister between 1980 and un'86. the follow year he was appointed head of the parliament. and it is this vast political experience that has been the focus of his election campaign. he and his supporters say he's the only candidate that has the skills needed to take the country forward. >> i am going to vote for him for a very simple reason, bus he has experience. >> translator: honestly i.wishing he was younger, however what's more important is experience, and political experience. he has a vision for the future. >> reporter: but his critics say he is too old in a country where young have been the forefront of change. an 88-year-old president doesn't sit well with many. add to that the fact that under his term as head of security in the 1960s, political

oppression was widespread with hundreds of opposition figures and activists being imprisoned and tortured. it was this time four years ago that true near an tunisians gatd overthrew their president. it was the first popular revolution. and while that revolution has largely remained on track, there is a fear among some that the outcome of sunday's elections could potentially reverse some of those political gains. and that feeling is strong amongst supporters of the currents president. and the second of the two candidates. >> translator: i am worried about our freedoms. that's why i am voting for him. he is the only one who can guarantee us our freedoms and guarantee democracy. >> translator: he is the revolution's candidates. he's the only one that will fulfill the demands of the revolution. >> reporter: he is a remound human rights activists. a liberal politician who also enjoys support among the islamist parties.

he was arrested several times during the rule of the former president forcing him to leave the country in 2001. since his return following the 2011 up rise, he has built himself as a bipartisan unifying figure. his opine, though, say this has made him weak. so far tru tunisia has been they country coming close to being a success story of the arab spring. while he just a minute, syria and libya are embroiled in armed conflicts, wars and a military coup, tanisha remains largely peaceful and stable. many home that regardless of sunday's outcome. these elects will only help further this country's march towards democracy. al jazerra, tunis. and joining us now live from a polling station in the center of tunis, there was very little enthusiasm from voters in the first round of voting. will it be different this time around? what sort of turn out are we expecting today?

>> reporter: well, polls just have opened in the past couple of minutes. it's important to note that this is the third time tunisians are expected to go and vote within two months and that for any type of country is possibly a bit too much in terms of it could make people less willing, lessen throughs as tick. obviously the hope is that the turn out will be greater. however, it wasn't so huge in the first round and it's expected that this might also be a bit less this time. regardless, though, there was a cue of people standing behind us and because the situation is easier here, they only have to two names to pick with. we are not picturing to have huge cues outside but that doesn't mean the turn out is low it means the procedure is smoother and swifter. >> and the front runner, is of course, as you mentioned in your report. the veteran of the previous regimes. what would his expected victory suggest as far as what the tunisian population is looking for in their new leader?

what is it that makes him appealing, if you will, to voters? >> reporter: tunisia to use a cliché is a very polarize the society. there is a lot of divisions and that to some extends is natural. particularly when you think about the fact that there is a lot more freedom now in a country that prior to 2011 political diversity was very limited. in terms of him, if he is to win, he is only expected to win by a small margin because that is a very tight race. what that will mean to his supporters i would return to stability and a strong leader. but to his opponent, it's a very frightening thing which is the return to a one-party state. in the parliamentary elections his party, won't majority of

seats there. that's why a lot of people are hoping that he wins so there is isn't a turn just one party rule here in tunisia. >> okay, thank you very much. that's al jazerra's jamaal reporting live from tunis, of course we'll be monitoring the election throughout the day here on al jazerra. in other news, cuba's president raul castro has stressed his country will not change its communist system despite better ties with the us. anunited states. and says they face a long struggle. gabriel elizondo reports from havana. >> reporter: less les than a week ago they were serving sentences for espionage in a u.s. jail, now the cuban five as thethey are auld are being greed as heros in thunderous applause. they were released as part of the historic agreement announced this week between the united states and cuba.

while everyone has been talking about what will change following the agreement, cuban president raul castro was keen to also remind people what will remain the same. >> translator: the economic system that will prevail in our country will continue to be based on socialist ideals in the entire country. >> reporter: castro was quick to praise barack obama and the ground breaking nature of what was accomplished to reach an an accord but also its implementation would be left up to the cuban people themselves. >> translator: the changes will continue to take place at the pace we decide here without risking the unity of the cuban people. without leaving anybody behind. without any shock measures. and without renouncing this revolution's a deals the social justice. >> reporter: here to the streets of havana and elsewhere in the country, there is still real enthusiasm for the deal and what it could mean in the lives of every day people. but what most cubans really want is a complete elimination of the embargo altogether. and the view here that any

opposition to that in the united states is unwarranted. >> i think the down the road, the most important thing, i think, is that the cuban people would be better off. and i say to the people who oppose it, well, if the cuban people are better off, the cuban government is better off, so what. the cuban people are better off. >> reporter: that too was the message from the cuban president, who ended his speech in familiar style. long live cuba. long live fidel castro. economy colluded. harkening back to the past in a country still figuring out a brand-new future that is now upon them. even if it will take time to fully realize. gabriel elizondo, al jazerra, havana. meanwhile, hundreds have rallied in the u.s. city of miami against president obama's decision to normalize relations with the cuban government. many of the protesters are cuban exiles who think this will

empower a government they see as repressive. the u.s. government has transferred four prisoners from the guantanmo bay detention camp back to afghanistan. the men were held for more than a decade at a military -- at the military detention center in cuba. the obama administration has been work to go reduce the number of did he ar detainees w2 remain, 64 have been approved for transfer. president obama has said he unconditionally condemns the murder of two new york city police officers who were ambushed while on patrol in brooklyn. ismael approach officers' ca are and shot them through the window. police say he fled to a subway station where he killed himself. >> today two of new york's finest were shot and killed with no warning. no provocation. they were quite simply assassinated. targeted for the uniform and for

the responsibility they embraced to keep the people of this city safe. in india, three people have been killed and four others seriously injured in a bomb explores in the city in the north eastern state. the blast took place in a roadside key stall think coming a week after a person was killed by a bomb in a market in the same city. some of india's north eastern states have been battling insurgent groups demanding independence. north korea's central news agency has released new photographs of the country's leader. kim jong-u.n. is seen sreulzing a textile mill in the cap dal the same day the north korean government denied it was behind a cyber attack. it's called for a joints investigation with the u.s. to con cover what actually happened. now a report. >> reporter: a north korean

newsroom warned of grave consequences if the u.s. didn't agree with the following. >> we propose to conduct a joint investigation in the u.s. in response to groundless slander being perpetrate booed i the u.s. by mobilizing public opinion. >> reporter: but the fbi has confirmed that they are responsible and confirmed by president obama. >> the fbi announced today and we can confirm that north korea engaged in the attack. >> reporter: however, many cyber security experts say they are unconvinced by what they described as circumstantial evidence. sony was attacked with software that the f bit. says has been used by north korea in the past. the trouble, is that sort of malware is freely traded by hackers around the world. and, in fact, the software used to delete sony's data is commercially available. it was previously used in a cyber attack on the saudi oil company an incidents not blamed on north korea. north korean internet addresses

were used but hacker often use false addresses to cover their attacks. some are asking why those who claimed responsibility did not mention the film about the assassination of kim jong-un until after meal i can't speculation was widespread about a possible north korean link. it's difficult to pinpoint the source of the attack unless the hackers incriminate themselves in their code organize human inning telling jenks. if the fbi has such evidence, it isn't disclosing it however, u.s. authorities are experts in this field. they pioneered these state sponsored cyber attack. according to documents leaked by the whistle blower edward snowden in 2011 alone, u.s. intelligence agencies mounted 231 offensive cyber operations, some of them against north korea. al jazerra, washington. still ahead on the program, tough guys with big hearts. gang members need new zealand's poorest children september to

school without a packed lunch. plus how china's infrastructure problems aim to keep things humming back home.

♪ ♪ ♪ welcome back. the top stories on al jazerra. polls have opened in tunisia's presidential election run off. it's the first time people will be able to vote directly for a president since the revolution three years ago. hundreds of rallies in the u.s. city of miami against president obama's decision to normalize relations with the cuban government. many of the protesters were

cuban exiles who think it em bowers a government who they see as repressive. and u.s. president barack obama says economy dealt the murder of two police officers who were am bucks on patrol? brooklyn the shooter fled to a subway station where he then killed himself. now china expanding its influence by you understand taking a number of large infrastructure projects around the world, part of a strategy to gain access to the natural resources the country needs to help sustain its rapid growth. adrian brown takes a closer look at china's international portfolio starting with a major waterway rog in nicaragua. >> reporter: the businessman behind this high-profile deal tends to keep a lee public profile. he made his fortunate in mining and telecommunications but has no experience with such large infrastructure projects. he insists he doesn't have a political background, yet the company's website boasts of his

links to government leaders. whatever the true nature of the relationship, the deal is very strategic for china. >> this project is not just a canal, it's about roads, airports, and also tourist resorts. and it will create a lot of jobs for the local people. the local people will definitely benefit from it. >> reporter: this week china signed another contract that it says will create jobs and help one more small economy. this time in europe, the project to funds and build the new highway in montenegro. the cost just over a billion dollars. small change compared to china's investments elsewhere in the world. only last month a state-owned company signed off on a $12 billion contract to expand nigeria's rail network with a high speed train certain i can. >> the problem for china is not money but cooperation with the local people says one analyst.

>> it has to be the capacity to interact with the local community and interest groups and that is a challenge for beijing. >> reporter: many of china's other projects are also very strategic. it's working with pakistan to develop a port on the indian ocean that will be link today china by road and rail. the president is encouraging this expansion to gain access to the natural resource china needs to fuel its economic growth. and infrastructure projects are offense thrown in as parts of the deal. the most important of these investments is perhaps the plan to reconstruction the ancient silk road trade route linking china with europe, via new highways and rail ways in central asia. how does the chinese government pay for all of this? well, it's currently sitting on savings of more than $4 trillion. adrian brown, al jazerra, beijing. joseph change a political

science professors at city university of hong kong, he says china wants to invest in projects that will consolidate its growing influence. >> china has now roughly 4 trillion u.s. dollars of foreign exchange reserves. it is quite eager to find ways of spending this money in a constructive manner so that such investment will enhance its influence, enhance its economic power and so on. rather than putting the bulk of this money in u.s. treasury bills. so china certainly wants to invest in infrastructure projects like this nicaragua grand canal, this is very much in line wits a grand strait i didn't have expanding its trade, economic influence and international status. it is definitely looking for opportunities of this kind. egypt's president has dismissed his security chief

general mohamed faried, it's uncleared if his removal signals a change in policy. but he was regarded as a hard liner loyal to president sisi. meanwhile, the president has had talks with qatar's deputy foreign minister, it's the first such meeting since sisi took offers last year. the talks have been described as an attempt to start a new chapter in relations between egypt and qatar. egypt says it will reopen the rafah border crossing with gaza on sunday for the second time in two months. it will allow around three and a half thousand palestinians stranded in egypt to cross in to the strip. the rafah crossing is the only access point to the gaza strip not controlled by israel. it was shut by egypt in late october following a deadly suicide bombing in the sinai peninsula. in northern iraq, kurdish forces are battling to capture the city of sinjar from the islamic state of iraq and levant. earlier in the week the perking mesh a managed to break the

siege of sinjar mountains, thousands of ethnic yazidi have his been trapped there for months surrounded by isil fighters. a series of bombings have ripped through iraq's capital and surrounding areas, killing at least 12 people. of the four separate attacks the worst was in the town just south of baghdad where an explosion killed four people. two other attacks in baghdad suburbs killed six people including three soldiers and a fourth attack in the capital killed two civilians near bakery. in syria, there has been intense fighting near the northern city of aleppo as rebels try to and government forces from strategic positions. for the last 10 days it's been fought over by both government and rebel forces. dominique kane reports. >> reporter: rebel forces opened fire on government positions in the village. using a variety of heavy and

light artillery. they are targeting army strong holds. for the last 10 days, they have been fighting president bashar al-assad's forces here. they say they have killed 15 soldiers, and forced others from their positions. >> translator: we have managed to capture one building held by regime forces, we will continue our operations here until we can open a supply route. >> reporter: and that is why the fighting here is intense. it lies on the main road to aleppo. so control this and you control a main route to bring reinforcements in and the wounded out. the government has three armored battalions in the town. despite this considerable presence, the rebels claim they are making progress. >> translator: we have managed to cause massive damage to regime forces, both in terms of men and material. today we destroyed one heavy machine gun, and a government outpost.

>> reporter: the but for all of that, assad's forces appear to be largely intact and operational across the country. this is the district on the outskirts of damascus, it has long been a strong hold for the rebels. but in he are cent weeks it's face a very heavy bomb board. as government troops try to take control. reducing an area that once housed thousands in to a crumbling urban battle ground. dominick kane, al jazerra. in yemen, hundreds of people have been protesting in the capital against rebels. the demonstrators are demanding the houthis leave. they also opposed to the houthis being absolved in to the military and police. now, peru has threatened legal action against green peace activists. it's accused of cause

irreparable damage to a world heritage site. archeologists say footprints left by the activists could remain in the desert ground for decades. david mercer has more. >> reporter: they are one of peru's most famous monuments. giant images scratched in to the desert more than a thousand years ago. but when activists for the environmental group green peace used the lines for publicit puby stunt an action known draw attention to climate change, it backfired. on friday, an angry crowd hurled insults at green peace's executive director that's received at a peruvian courthouse to testify about the incidents. >> the people are angry. as you can see here, you can see here the people want justice. >> reporter: ca pedroia rue has accused green peace for causing damage to the world heritage site after activ activists wento the desert to place their signs 20 are accused of leaving footprints and overturning stones in the ecologically

sensitive area. the stunt coincided with a major climate change conference that took place in peru's capital lima, earlier this month. >> translator: i am saddened that this happened in the middle of the conference. as a country we have felt so proud to have the host country of the c.o.p. and this is an events that fills us with shame because it should never have happened. >> reporter: back at the courthouse, green peace's director apologized for the group's actions. >> there was no justification to have put our foot on that sacred place at all. i have indicated that i am willing to provide whatever assistance that the authorities need and i will be willing to come back and they have responded positively to this which i am grateful. >> reporter: but the assurances among them that greenpeace's leadership had no knowledge of the plan, experts a someone in the group must have had inter natural knowledge of the site.

>> translator: there was preplanned in someone's office they said lets go in there and get attention. but why the hummingbird? because it's known worl worldwid main icon of our culture. they haven't gone to damage it, they have gone to attracts attention, but they didn't take the proper precautions. >> reporter: greenpeace now says it will assist in an independent investigation, and work to protect the lines. but for many pa rule vinnies the damage both to the archeological site and to greenpeace's reputation has already been done, david her, al jazerra. now to new zealand where 40,000 children are depending on charities for food. wayne reports from the region where kids are getting help from tough gang members with big hearts. >> reporter: it's first thing in the morning and these gang members are business eight work, but there is nothing elicit going on here, just a military

like operation for feed hungry children. >> very nice. >> reporter: every morning members of the tribal gang meet at this suburban home to make 500 sandwiches to deliver to schools arm the province. the idea came from the leader, who remembers what it was like to go without. >> if the kids grow up hungry they haven't got a good start this life. you start wanting what someone else has got and straightaway animosity is born. >> reporter: the program has been well received judging bite thank you letters on the walls by 9:00 in the morning jamie pink hits the road saluted by his members who have now become known as the sandwich gang. on his tour he stops at 25 schools and hand delivers the lunches that will ultimately be given to children who go to school with nothing. new zealand's economy is doing better than most right now, but at the same time, there is a growing feeling that the gap between rich and poor is getting wider. and there is also a greater discussion around the issue you of hungry children and poverty

in general. the government in partnership with the private sector has introduced a program that provides breakfast to school children. but they won't support a proposal before parliament to also provide lunches. >> it should be the parents' responsibility, and we shouldn't get away from that the parents have the responsibility to make sure their children go for school having had breakfast and something for lunch. >> reporter: in the meantime, jamie's operation is growing all the time. despite the fact they are made by a gang. the sandwiches are always welcomed. >> we look at it as a group of people who are committed to insuring that children are given every opportunity to be able to learn. >> reporter: most of the food comes from donations. but the gang also runs several small farms supplying meat and generating money to pay for ingredients. >> they are looking good. you are doing a good job. >> reporter: jamie say critics saying it is used to recruit kids is wrong. >> you see them with a full

tummy, that's all we get out of this and that's enough for us. >> reporter: he says they have just want to do good and give children something he and many of his members never had. wayne hi, a hay. al jazerra. more news on aljazerra.com. >> hi, i'm lisa fletcher and you're in "the stream." 9 million americans are taking prescription drugs that may have dangerous interaction. are you one of them? find out in the next 30 minutes. if you're like nearly 70% of americans, you're taking at least one prescription