only on al jazeera america >> claiming victory in a landmark election. welcome to al jazeera. also ahead, human rights watch says hundreds of muslims are trapped in central african republic. we go underground to a homeless community living in sewers and tunnels. and ten years on from the indian ocean tsunami we're hearing from victories whose changing women's

lives for the better. >> we begin in tunisia where violent protests have erupted following the historic presidential election. these are pictures in the south of the country. violence broke out after essebsi declared victory. what happened after this outbreak of violence? >> reporter: well, jane, as you say, in the southern part of tunisia violence broke out. angry supporters took to the streets, angry that essebsi has announced victory even though the counting of the votes have

not you finished. things subsided after police came but the police did arrest several people. violence has broken out again today. families of those arrested by the police are angered by the arrest of their loved ones. >> why has essebsi declared the winner? and how are tunisians reacting to that possibility? >> well, leading up to the election he was the frontrunner, he did have the major newspapers, tv stations backing him, and the hype around him was

pretty great leading up to the polls. he said based on the observers of his political party that he's confident that he has won. that's why he came out with that confidence to essentially set the record. there is nervousness, definitely not excitement, maybe a bit of fear of the unknown, so to speak. this is an historic election. this is the first time that they will have chosen their president. the hope is that this does not turn into another violent episode. >> jamal, thank you. in iraq kurdish peshmerga forces say that they've entered

the eastern outskirts of sinjar. the battle for sinjar and the surrounding juniors has become the latest focus to take back territory lost to isil. united nations has told al jazeera that it's helping muslims in central african republic to survive. the u.n. was responding to a report from human rights watch that says hundreds of muslims are trapped in enclaves and living in desperate conditions. the report said that u.n. peace keepers are blocking them from fleeing abroad. >> reporter: they risk death if they try to leave. and death if they stay. a human rights report said that 750 muslims in central african republic are dieing in displacement camps. this girl saw her father and

uncle be killed. >> they slit my father's throat. >> reporter: since february 42 people have died from malnutrition and other diseases, according to human rights watch. twice a week u.n. peace keepers escort a convoy of commercial trucks to neighboring cameroon, but they won't offer the same protection to people who have been displaced. the muslim-led transitional government said they want to prevent ethnic cleansing. >> these people are from this country, they have a right to stay. however, they have the basic right to decide what they want to do. >> if they try to leave the country on their own the displaced muslims worry they'll be slaughtered by a christian militia. they acknowledge that the

conditions in the camps are horrible and say that people are free to leave. >> reporter: while the government reassesses its position. this girl says she want to follow the rest of her family to cameroon. >> i'm only thinking about one thing. even if you give me lots of money to stay i wouldn't stay. >> reporter: staying in these displacement camps or making the dangerous trek across the border. either way it's a choice that comes with the risk of dying. natasha, al jazeera. >> senegal had previously closed it's borders to guinea in response to the ebola outbreak now, now it is allowing the

country to be used as a base. it's main airport is used for planes carrying humanitarian relief. >> reporter: going to the front line of the ebola crisis, doctors, nurses, engineers are record to board a special u.n. flight. they go right to where the virus kills the most. they'll send the next month without physical contact constantly checking his health. >> we understand how the decision has to be to protect ourselves and others. >> reporter: more than 7,000 people have died of ebola, and the virus continues to spread. traveling to treat the sick are dangerous. >> we've told senegalese authorities we would not transport passengers with the

sickness or transport the virus. >> reporter: it has been months before they allowed passengers and cargo to fly in and out of this territory. one of the requests was to build a new airport terminal made specifically for the ebola response. this is something that the united nations had never done before until now. it's called terminal h for humanitarian. inside there will an small medical clinic and isolation unit. construction is expected to end in late january. >> thanks to these humanitarian efforts, we're able to respond to the crisis. we now have military cargo support from the french, germans and americans. >> reporter: hundreds of soldiers have set up camp next to the terminal. the response is unprecedented.

still the u.n. say they suffer from shortage of staff. more than 19 the thousand people have been effected by the virus. confrontings ebolconfronting ebola is a dangerous job. >> memorials have been held for two policemen shot and killed in brooklyn new york. there have been calls of reconciliation after months of protest against police tactics but some police officers blame new york's mayor. >> people from across brooklyn took part in a memorial for two police officers. >> not everyone is bad. they're human beings. they have families, children. >> it's wrong all around. this has got to stop. >> a man shot the officers in their patrol car saturday. he seemed to be motivated by the recent killing of police of two

unarmed black men. michael brown in ferguson, missouri, and eric garner in new york. but those most profounding affected by the death said that the shooter did not speak for their cause. >> we're standing here in sorrow about losing those two police officers. that was definitely not our agenda. we're going in peace. >> reporter: police are on the defensive facing allegations of excessive force, now reeling from the death of two of their own. they say the force is in a state of war. they say the man who murdered the police officers had a criminal record and was mentally unstable. he had shot his girlfriend in baltimore before heading to brooklyn and then later killed himself. >> what we're seeing from this is anger against the government. there is one where he burned the flag and made some statements. there are other talks of anger at the police.

he specifically mentions michael brown and eric garner. >> reporter: there have been many protests against police brutality since their deaths. applications were washington to new york city hall has come out in support of the movement. some say that means that the mayor of new york is partly responsible for the killings of the officers. >> this cannot go on. this cannot be tolerated. this starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor. >> reporter: but those who came to mourn the new york policeman's death made it clear that they stand for peace. >> i hope and pray that we can reflect on this tragic loss of life that has occurred so that we can move forward and find an amicable path to peaceful coassist tense. >> reporter: many community leaders say the blame game is not helping, and its time for

the vie thrones stop. >> much more to come here on al jazeera. the accused serbian war criminal is back home. >> we meet the king of the sewers and the homeless people who live underground.

>> the top stories on al jazeera beji caid essebsi has won to y

t tunisia's presidential election. these are the pictures. the pictures of the violence are coming from the south of the country. the results of th results so far, essebsi over marzouki. we believe that beji caid essebsi will address the media. when that starts we shall go to it. the u.n. has told al jazeera that it's helping people in african republic to survive. some accuse the u.n. of blocking

people of fleeing. the u.n. said that 7,000 people have been killed by the ebola virus, and the number of people infected has increased to more than 90,000. the former spokesman of the pakistani taliban is threatening to attack leaders. it wants protesters to stop demonstrating against a hard line cleric in islamabad. let's go to kamal hyder. what's going on there, kamal? >> reporter: well, the momentum has been gaining here in islamabad against that cleric, also the brother of leader of the regime who was killed in the government action. the elder brother has been issuing statements, which have

not di announced, basically, the action taken by the taliban. he has also been--he has been issuing statements in favor isil. and has been responsible for encouraging the terrorists. it has been a tense situation because one political party, the mqm in karachi has been protesting because they want nothing short of the arrest of th. >> they said if you execute any more of our members we'll attack. and the country is preparing for

another attack. >> reporter: absolutely. right now there is a lot of confusion because they have come forward to the media saying they were already working on a response, which was to the hangings. five of the militants arrested by the military and tried by the military were hanged. so the taliban is warning of punitive action against government officials, applications, and also threatening the civil society, which is protesting against the townshi them. they say that he has become a political figure, who is in league with the people who are attacking pakistan and attacking the military forces as well. >> michael: thank you for that, kamal hyder.

serbian war crime suspect says he won't return to the haig to hear the verdict on his case. he is using the chance to stage a return to politics. >> this is a gift which i received from my friend saddam hussein. >> reporter: now after being temporarily released by the hague to receive cancer treatment, he's back at work. >> in the last 12 years the hague tribunal failed to prove any link between me and any atrocities. >> this is seselj. at the place where there were hundreds of war crimes.

the religion of seselj comes at a tentative time for serbia. there those here who are concerned that membership to the european union will lease to a loss for the country and it will be damaging for serbia's close ties to russia. seselj has made no secret of uniting russia and serbia. interrupting the interview se seslj's mobile phone--the russian national anthem, his ringtone of choice. >> all of our traditional members are members. e.u. countries bombed us. they grabbed kosovo from us. russia throughout history has never attacked us. >> from the start obstacles and

delays have led to seselj's trial. in-fighting between officials forced the replacement of one of the presiding judges, setting the trial back by months. the. >> after all the proceedings were finished, the entire process was returned to square one. this is unacceptable. >> reporter: a new verdict is expected sometime next year, but seselj said that he won't return. >> no, if they arrest me, what could i do. >> reporter: while he remains in serbia his influence continues to grow. this is seselj at a national rally. as balkans come to terms with its violent history, the return of one of the most unrepent tent nationalists threatens old

tensions. al jazeera. belgrade. >> oil-producing countries in the gulf rental sai region said they won't cut prices. >> reporter: saudi arain is the world's biggest exporter of oil, and accounts for 13% of the world supply. six months of falling prices have dented the profit margins. at a meeting of arab oil ministers in abu dhabi, they blame non-opec members for the fall. they say oil producers outside of the bloc with lack of corporation and greed. >> we don't know what will happen in the future. but what we know for sure those who have the most and best production will control the market. >> reporter: gulf ministers said that they're confident that the market will stabilize again and

soon. but it's dropping of oil production to 30 million-barrels a day could hurt some countries. venezuela, who relies heavily on oil revenues, struggles to balance the books. >> this is not the first disaster. this has happened before. we're just at a short-term of oversupply. this over supply will be fixed because the market is strong. >> reporter: some analysts say another factor in the volatility of the prices is a rise of shale gas. >> what is clear is the increasing concern in the gulf about the rising level of u.s. output from shale gas and concerns that they will increasingly lose market share, and the united states will become oil-independent. >> shale gas represents a quarter of u.s. gas production,

but such is the demand that that figure is expected to double in the next 20 years. leading opec members from the gulf said they will ride out this current storm in oil prices but that could cost them around $350 billion a year. erica woods, al jazeera, abu dhabi. >> in romania's tunnels in bucharest there are people who live in an underground society. we meet their charismatic leader and some may find this report disturbing. >> reporter: this looks like another manhole cover but this is a door to the world beyond the reach of the authorities, and it is right beneath the feet of commuters in the european capitol. the first sense of a claustrophobic heat and pungent, nauseating smell. then you see syringes and

needles everywhere. presiding over all of this is bruce lee the so-called king of the sewers. >> i want to stay here. i don't like it outside. i feel asphyxiated between four walls. here it's different. here it's my life. here all is lost. i don't have dreams or hurts but they do. but they do. i work for them to create a better life. >> reporter: bruce lee creates light stolen from the main supply. he uses other items scavenged from above ground. many here are hiv positive. this there is tb and hepatitis. there is lice and flees. >> there is pungent smells but you don't get used to the needles. there are neededdels on the floor and what is surprising of

all is that these people choose to stay here. in. orlando has been living in the sewers for two or three years. he stint sure. he shows me his leg and the raw open sore the size of a hand. he said he would like to go home but he can't turn away from the drugs. service services said there are barely 40 people in bruce lee's tunnel and they're supported by outreach workers, needle exchange workers, and they're not abandoned by the state. >> as a member of the european union who values the human rights perspective. we cannot force person to come in to social services if that person does not want to. >> reporter: there are decent homeless shelters like this one,

and they do beds available. but they also have rules. no alcohol, no drugs, no violence. >> they're in the tunnels. they don't have rules. they're allowed to do everything they want. that's why they don't want to come here. our teams have asked them to come here. but they refuse because they won't have the same degree of freedom. >> in bruce lee's drug addiction holds them all together. he said he wants to see some make new lives above ground but for many the surface world will never be more attractive than the oblivion of the drugs. >> in 2014 the indian ocean tsunami ravaged the indian region. but in one community the tragedy inspired women to raise their voices and fight for theirs rights. sitting where her home once stood she remembers the moment the sea swallowed her beach-side

village. as the scale of the destruction caused by the indian ocean tsunami became clear help began to arrive, but not everyone was taken care of. >> men were given preferential treatment from aid agencies. women suffered with everything from government support and counseling. back them no one helped them. >> she decided to take control helping many of these women to get the support they needed to rebuild their lives. and what started was a call for unity during a disaster turned into a national coastal women's unit with 10,000 members. >> reporter: in 2004 she would help women in her village to deal with the trauma the tsunami caused.

she began to address problems that she said were long been a source of shame. once they recovered from the tsunami them emboldened to face problems like alcoholism and domestic violence. this 32-year-old mother of three turned to her for support. she said i told her i couldn't handle my husband's violence any more. i now live with my children free from violence. >> they have worked with thousands of women, and while many in this male-dominated society admit, while they say domestic violence is a problem, they say it's not surprising. >> many are poor and uneducated. men drink a lot that's why there are so many family problems. if these children don't get education, these problems will continue.

>> for many the tsunami was a blessing an and a curse. she said it has taken bea so much, but gave her a chance to make a lasting difference. >> just remember you can keep up-to-date with all the newsily logging on our website, www.aljazeera.com. >> turning their backs on a half century of u.s.-cuba relations, presidents barack obama and raul castro announce that their two countries are on their way to normal relations. that's inside story. >> hello, i'm ray suarez. one of the final chapters of the cold war, two tr