>> in vanuatu, surveying the damage left in cyclone pam's wake. also coming up on the program back to the table. on trial ten years on, two french police officers up in court are. on the road in south sudan the struggle to deliver

thousands of tons of food before the rainy season hits. [music] and we meet the new political alliance in israel hoping to play a pivotal role in tuesday's general elections. >> thank you for joining us. vanuatu's president is urging the world to help his island nation rebuild from a cyclone that has caused massive destruction. cyclone pam hit on friday night with winds up to 320 kilometers an hour. the official death toll stands at eight but that is expected to rise, especially when officials reach outer islands. the president of vanuatu blames

climate change saying that the country has seen rising sea levels and heavier than average rain. >> it's a monster. it's a monster. >> the president speaking there. andrew thomas has the latest now from vanuatu's capitol port villa. >> from the air you get glimpses of the destruction. it's not close to the destruction that cyclone pam has had on port villa. trease are down everywhere. rain and floodwaters make what

the wind did worse. thankfully though, few people died in port villa and injuries, too, were light. the hospital was colin lynch who hurt his foot during the storm. lynch showed us how he got the injury trying to save his garage and car. it was futile. >> so the metal sliceddous foot. >> yeah. >> lynch's part they are pleaded with him not to go out in the storm. >> i was crying. i was--i was crying. i thought i was going to lose him. >> lynch is a builder. there will be plenty of work coming his way. within meters of his house is destruction. houses crushed by trees. boats thrown from the normally idyllic lagoon. >> you can only imagine the horror of being in this house. there were four people in here.

when the roof started peeling off they ran. luckily they did. the house has been totally destroyed. the house has been in the family for generations. >> we just couldn't do anything. >> similar stories are everywhere. help is arriveing. a lot of help will be needed here. and many outlying islands have not been heard from since the storm. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry and his iranian counterpart spent four hours in

discussions with energy experts from both countries. they'll head to prossels to continue negotiations with european foreign ministers. james bays has been following events lausanne. there are still stumbling blocks to go, but there is an air of optimism according to the iranian nuclear chief. he said i'm very optimistic. what do you make of those comments? >> well, you even have similar comments from the iranian foreign minister zarif as he's leaving. he said finally we're getting to something. confident tones coming from the iranian side. very intense diplomacy because the talks here between the iranian foreign minister, u.s. secretary of state john kerry lasted for nearly five hours and they now move to brussels, but that does not mean that it stops here. because we've got the political directors of the international community, the p5+1 meeting the

iranians. the secretary kerry is going nowhere. he's stay hearing in lausanne, and we're expecting the iranian minister back here. they seemed relaxed after what happened during the talks here, to hit the road and go on a bike ride as he rode past me he gave me a thumbs up. not clear if that is in response with regard to the talks. everyone knows this is a crunch moment because the deadline for trying to come up with a deal is coming up very soon. deadline from framework and talks to be concluded in the end of june. >> how much do we know in the way of detail of what the leaders are talking about and what the main stumbleing blocks seem to be. >> there seem to be indications on both sides.

we know among the issues they've been looking very closely in the latest round of talks. if there is a deal, how are they going to check that iran is doing what it says in this deal? the international community wants iran to stick with the deal and i they want to be able to look atel deal in the future. >> in lausanne where the meetings have been taking place. thank you. e.u. ministers wait for them to arrive in brussels they've been talking about their sanctions against russia. sanctions expired in july, and e.u. leaders are divided whether to review them.

some say that it's the only way to make sure that russia up holds it's side of the minsk agreement in ukraine. two french police officers have gone on trial over the death of two teenagers who a decade ago sparked weeks of riots. they were remembered this week in paris. more than 10,000 cars were torched during the riots that followed. the officers could get up to five years in prison. let's go live to jacky rowland where the trial is underway. s it's a terror controversial trial, tell us what you heard in court today?

they're looking at questions that remain now for almost ten years. for the police officers they'll be seeking to vindicate themselves. their lawyers argue that no offense has been committed. that there was no obvious prove to imminent danger. it's been a long and torturous legal process. the part of the hearing that stood out to me was when the courts heard from a third how long man who had been with the boys when they were electrocuted. he also climbed over the fence and suffered severe burns. we heard how they also suffered an--his two friends had died when he advised.

>> we're seeing pictures of the impact in the bushes of france, and really, i mean, ten years ago it was a huge impact in the whole of french society. it's taken ten years for this trial to come. what do you think french police and french society has learned since then. >> really, what lies at the heart of this trial is the lack of trust between young people in the suburbs and police. they received a call. the two boys saw a police car ran away, and there is still clearly a lot of tension between police and the local community. they say that the police should be policing the community on the part of the police rather than being hostile force. >> you'll be following that

trial in the next few days. and apologies to our viewers for the problems with sound that we had on the line with jacky. a coalition of iraqi forces, shia militia and sunni tribal fight certificates trying to recapture tikrit from the islamic state in iraq and the levant. iisil took total control of the city in june. it's not known when the offensive will restart. >> we'll be speaking to a man inside one of u.k.'s detention centers. plus how this chinese mona lisa has joined other flamboyant artwork to go on show in hong kong.

>> tomorrow on "the stream". >> the annual south by southwest festival has been a breeding ground for some of the biggest tech innovations in the world. we'll take you there, giving you a glimpse into the future. >> "the stream". tomorrow, 1:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> time now for a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. vanuatu's president is urging the world to help his island nation rebuild after the cyclone caused massive destruction. the official death toll stands at eight but it's expected to rise. the latest talks on the iran nuclear deal in lausanne suggesting that real progress has been made. secretary of state john kerry and his iranian counterpart sent

four hours in discussions. in france two police go on trial over the deaths of two teenagers ten years ago. they were elect throw cuted in in 2005 while hiding from police in a power substation. . >> assad acknowledged kerry's comments but said that he's still waiting for concrete action from washington. . >> the continuing war in syria has forced an increasing number

of palestinian refugees into exile again. many have moved to neighboring lebanon to join tens of thousands already there. we have reports from the country's largest refugee camp on the daily struggle to survive. >> to old to care for her disabled and mentally challenged daughters. but she has no other choice. there are palestinian refugee who is came to lebanon when their neighborhood in damascus became a battleground two years ago. they say they're barely coping with the little help they get but they were alone when the eldest daughter died from lung infection. >> no one was next to me to help her. she died in my arms. nobody came in time to bring her a doctor. >> they live in the largest palestinian refugee camp in lebanon. it is over crowded and people are poor. now they're sharing this space

with thousands of palestinians who escaped the war in syria. >> we have been under pressure since the arrival of syrian palestinians. they are our brothers, but we're finding it hard to survive. >> there is competition for jobs and aid provided by the united nations. this has caused tensions. >> syria's palestinians enjoyed the same rights and benefits of syrian nationals. they had access to schools universities healthcare. this is not the case here. according to the united nations relief and work agency, 75% of the 45,000 palestinians refugees from syria cannot survive without handouts. >> and for many this camp is a prison. the lebanese government, which has had a history of conflict with its own palestinian pollalation has imposed tight restrictions. one of the biggest problems that the refugees have is the fact that their visas have expired. that put them--that makes them

much more vulnerable about restrictions of moment because coming in and out of the camp as often as they want. they could be stopped. their documents can be confiscated. they could be detained about. >> this is just one of the reasons why many of them try to find a way out and at times it has cost them their lives. this palestinian family was hosting the relatives from syria before they were lured by smugglers to take a boat to reach europe. >> my cousins and friends were on the boat when it sank. one is missing. they were highly educated but they have no future here. there was no other way but to go on the journey of death. >> it has been a difficult journey for palestinian refugees. it has ended for a some. and for those left behind it has been a daily struggle just to survive. al jazeera southern lebanon. >> aid agencies in south sudan are racing to get tens of

thousands of tons of food supplies to people in desperate need before the rainy sin season begins next month. from south you dan this is our report. >> a rush to beat south sudan's rainy season. most of the supplies must be delivered to areas that are hard to reach because of bad roads and security. these food rations are being repackaged for air drops in places that cannot be accessed by road and mainly controlled by rebels. >> it's a situation where we face acute hunger. and with the peak hunger season

coming we can only see that growing. >> food is delivered by boats using the river nile. it's faster and less dangerous. now heading to a center hosting 7,000 people. it's difficult to reach by road, but the needs there are many. this food was supposed to be in kodok by february. but it is only getting here now. there is 15 days worth of rations to last them a month. >> the displaced people who came were more than us. >> this woman and her grandchildren walked to kodok last february when their village was overrun by rebels. >> we have to wait because we don't work.

>> they have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to assist valuable people here. but money to quickly move all the aid to where it's supposed to be is needed now. al jazeera south sudan. >> it's really prime minister benjamin netanyahu said that there will be no palestinian state as long as he remains leader. for the first time an aeye alonancan alliance is pulling together. >> a better israel for its palestinian. citizens. that's the message in this advertisement it's the first

times that he's limb mists and socialists have run together in israel's general election. the ticket is expected to win 13 or more seats in israel's parliament potentially making history by becoming the third largest faction after the march march 17th vote. one of the best known politicians, and also one of the most hated. she's an outspoken critic of the government and speaks of the widespread and systemic discrimination against palestinian citizens of israel. >> this is an indication of power.

>> palestinians make up 20% of israel's nation of 8 million. the joint list has the potential to dramatically change israel's political map. and improve the lives of israeli palestinians. but the parties have little in common, and those divisions are already starting to show. but the internal disputes which include parties are what led to the unions in the first place. when they helped to pass the so-called governability law which sets the vote threshold for varieties to enter parliament it was it was seen as an attempt to disinfranchise political parties. and since then his rhetoric has become more heated including the

beheading of those quote disloyal to israel. >> we should thank lieberman. we've reached unity. a dream which people have been waiting for for a long time. we hope that this unity continues. >> a hope shared by palestinian voters as they prepare to make history at the polls. al jazeera. nazareth israel. >> campaigners seeking to improve continues at detention centers recommend a 28-day limit on holding individuals. the u.k. has 13 immigration detention centers, most of which are located in england. together the centers can hold nearly 3,300 people. the largest is in west london from where lawrence lee has this report. >> for a country that describes

itself as a more compassionate. pressure groups have taken to filming inside places like this where the documents with a variety of issues ranging from racial abuse by staff to basic lack of care. this man is said to sufferer an enepileptic fit and then fell down the stairs. what sorts of medical conditions do they have that they want to be treated? >> some have torture from the home they came from. some have the bullets. they have the fire in their bodies, and they still have the it's a pain. painkillers, that's it.

one issue of concern to inmates is ever indefinite detention. it remains unclear whether the next government will make it a priority. >> you can never say that legislation is straightforward. but i want to say there is political will from this group of mps and what we want to do now is see party leaders take this up and take it seriously. >> it's a sense detainees have having committed no crime but are being locked up indefinitely which breaks people's will. >> someone said to me, you got two years you'll be out. i would have been happy with that because i knew i would working towards a target. one of my favorite phrases from another freed voices is that in prison it continues.

>> the government says that detention is only used as a last result. detainees say no one is interested in their welfare and they're treated like criminals. in the coming months in parliament it will be clear if anything has changed. >> russian president vladimir putin has made his first appearance in public in ten days. he didn't explain the absence but said that life would be boring without gossip. don't we know. now asia's leading contemporary art fair has opened in hong kong. it comes three months after the city had quashed the city's pro-democracy protest. but artists are keeping the

movement alive turning the hub into a playground. >> this bronze pumpkin can be yours. the art here more than $3 billion is expected to change hands at this year's art fare. it has put hong kong firmly on the art investor circuit but some say that the glitzy event has done little for local artist artists. >> hong kong people are not outgoing. they really don't love to go to events or meet new clients or meet people. they're a bit shy. for us, a lot of these artists we approach them. >> that's hong kong's newest art fair has set out to do under big white tents by the harbor. 20% of the artists are local. you don't need a pile of money to buy a piece of art here. it's billed as an affordable

edgy art fair with galleries with lesser known talents. >> i talk to my friend. do you think my work is good enough. i'm really worried. >> her creations stand along side program bouyant pieces. viviansvivian's creations proved to be popular. >> i think today with all the technology and all the busyness, i'm very drawn to more minimalist colorful work which brings a feeling of joy and happiness. >> but the last day of the art fair almost all of vivian's pieces have sold, showing that the international art scene has

room for it and there is demand for it. >> you can find out much more on everything that we've been covering on our website. the al jazeera, 1-855-730-9674. you can see our top story there. u.s. and iran's nuclear talks. china's one child policy has quoted controversy, from accusations of the state confiscating children, to forced abortions. today it is being blamed for a declining fertility rate and a major gender imbalance with more than 30 million men, to women by 2020. i'm steve chow