balance... >> it's make or break... i got past the class... >> hard earned pride... hard earned respect... hard earned future... a real look at the american dream hard earned only on al jazeera america two crew members of a capsized passenger ferry in china are detained while the well could youers search for survivors. welcome, you are watching al jazerra, i am darren jordan in doha. also coming up iraq's military launches more air strikes against isil. the prime minister lays out place to defeat the group in a meeting in paris. ahead ofthe ahead head of a human tear effort is sudan is expelled. >> reporter: north america's oldest city and we'll show how

rising sea levels are threatening its very existence. >> we begin a developing story out of china where a passenger ferry carrying more than 450 people has sunk 79 the eastern star capsized in the river in china's south. at least 20 people have been rescued. the captain and the chief engineer have both been detained for questioning rob mcbride jones us with more. bring us up-to-date with the latest details you have been hearing about the disaster. >> reporter: that's right the rescue operation is continuing in earnest spurned on by reports from rescueers that they believe they have identified three pima live in the hull of the vessel. earlier it was reported from the sea that noises had been heard from inside, evening shouts for help. well, it's now being reported on state run television that

rescuers at the scene have identified three people two mount middle of the vessel and also towards the rear of the vessel. at least one of those is said to be a woman that they have been able to communicate with through the surface of the vessel itself. so it's a very hopeful sign. we are seeing on state-run media pictures of blow torch cutting gear being prepared and being used. so it can be assumed that the rescuers are trying to access the vessel through the hull. if these people are indeed, alive. then there could be other survivors, other air pockets but, being it's now some 12 hours since the vessel cap capsizes. it's not known how long the air could last for and whether the water level inside is rising. most of the passengers are elderly. they were on a sightseeing trip. aged between 50 and 80. it happened very late at night when most of the passengers would have been below decks

most of them, also probably in their cabins asleep. so there was very little time. only two minutes for this vessel to capsize and sink. for any of the passengers to get out. darren. >> rob, is this likely to put marine safety back under the spotlight in china? another boat capsized on the yangtze earlier this year. >> reporter: that's right of the thr-fplgs a tug out undergoing trials, it capsized. 22 people lost their lives then. this comes at a time, of course, when more and more people in china are traveling. and like these senior citizens, taking what, for some of them works have been their first holidays probably. people now take vacations more, the trip along the river is one of the most popular forms of recreation, people go to the three gorges and so on. so we are seeing more of these types of vessels take to the river. it has to be said, though, this vessel was carrying the requisite number of life jackets. we are fold also that it was not

overloaded. so it seemed to be applying to all of the regulations required. and the captain of the vessel, and also the engineer who were rescued from the vessel, and indeed have now been detained, we understand by authorities have said that the cause of the accident was a cyclone. some freak weather. so possibly it says more about freak weather conditions than marine safety at the moment in china, darren. >> all right rob mcbride there in hong kong, rob, thank you. in eye rock, isil has killed 87 people in two separate attacks on the army and police. meanwhile, the iraqi air force has launched air strikes against isil. areasareas targeted include anbar and samarra. the defense ministry says it's inflicted heavy loss on his the armed group. the iraqi prime minister will be at a meeting in pair toys discuss how to deal with isil. he says the international community must do more to protect his country. >> translator: the flow of terrorists coming to to iraq never stopped. and the number never went down.

everybody for a fraction. this is a very dangerous phenomenon, because it clearly shows that all of the efforts by the international community to stop the terrorists from coming to iraq have failed. no to mention that until now isil is still able to sell oil and use its revenues to finance its criminal enterprise and terrorist operations. >> as mentioned earlier the foreign ministers from the u.s.-led coalition carrying out air strikes against isil are due do meet paris in paris on tuesday. we look at what we can picture from the talks. >> reporter: with their fighter jets still taking off france's commitment to combating isil continues. part of the u.s.-led coalition battling the group, they are among the countries whose air raids have promise today pulverize a dangerous enemy in to retreat. but on the ground in iraq, the situation is dire.

critics say it's extremely misguided and the meeting in paris will make little different. >> this comes after days, there is a dream that there is still an iraqi army. there is no iraqi army. it has been dispannedded by paul grammar back in 2003. >> reporter: if anyone understands how much of a threat isil constitutes it's this journalist. he was taken hostage by the group in syria for almost a year year. >> so basically we are supporting an army that is not reliable and we are giving them weapons that they will eventually hand over to isil. this is totally stupid. >> reporter: the issues at play are far more than just tactical and logistical. french foreign minister called for the second meeting here in pair toys discuss the fight against isil even before the fall of ramadi, which has been deeply troubling and humiliating for the coalition. in september fabio stressed that no military solution would

be possible without a political solution. a position he still very much is pushing. >> this contract is what justified our military engagement. and i say clearly here, that it must be better respected. >> reporter: and yet despite mounting pressure iraqi prime minister baddie. sectarian divisions in iraq has only deepened. expectations for the talks were already low, they were lowered even further when it was announced that u.s. secretary of state john kerry would no longer be attending in person due to the broken leg he suffered. for now though, far from the ravaged streets of iraq and syria, diplomats will discuss. searching for a solution that seems harder to reach than ever before. mohamed, al jazerra paris. in em vinnie the saudi-led coalition has bombed houthi rebel targets in the mountains

around the capita sanaa. this shows the aftermath of those bombs. it has reportedly killed 20 people. south sudan's government has he can peld a top u.n. official from the country. he was a humanitarian coordinator and deputy envoy, he was appointed in 2012. and was nearing the end of his term. no reason was given for his expulsion. the u.n. condemned his pulse. ban ki-moon said. >> the second general calls on the government of south sudan to reverse its decision immediately and couldn't fully with all u.n. entities present in south sudan. our diplomatic editor james bays has more from the u.n. headquarters in new york.

>> reporter: it's understood that the south sudanese government decided to expel him because it claimed he had made a series of untruthful statements on social media. the u.n. have responded to that saying that he should be reinstated immediately. and i think this is going to create a big difficulty for the relations between the united nations and the government of south sudan which already were not good. remember, the u.n. has 14,000 peacekeepers in south sudan. it has many people actually living in the u.n.'s own camps because they are fearful of the violence that's been going on now for 17 months. you have 130,000 people living in those camps. you've got a situation that the u.n. fears in humanitarian term is his going to get much worse two, .1 million people have been forced to flee from their homes in total. and it's predicted that by the end of july there will be 4.6 million people in south sudan who are severely food

insecure. so a very difficult humanitarian situation. now the government of south sudan has expelled the u.n. official in charge of dealing with the humanitarian crisis. al jazerra has found evidence of a russian troop buildup and military maneuvers near the eastern ukrainian border. but moscow continues to deny it's helping separatist fighters in eastern ukraine. >> reporter: russian military equipment on a train close to the ukrainian border al jazerra has no way of verifying where this equipment is being moved to or two. it includes tanks and medical supply equipment. russian inning tig nia and number plates have been removed or seemingly paymented over. we drove out of town to an area where we heard there was a makeshift military camp. we noticed clouds of dust in an area around what looked like a farm. large military vehicles were

moving in convoy along the mud tracks. around 10-kilometers behind me is the border with eastern ukraine. now, the russian military say that the reason why there are so many troops and military equipment in this area, is because it is conducting military exercises and it categorically denies its troops have been fight ago long side separatist fighters across the border. there have been russian military bases in the area for many years, the government said questioning it about whether they were preparing for a an at completely inappropriate. on photo journalists from routedders shot these photos last week. they have reported deaths as a state secrets. the government says the law has nothing do with the conflict in ukraine. a recently released report details russia operating in eastern ukraine, one of the

authors of that report, opposition leader boris nemtsov was shot dead in russia before it was published. a close associate of nemtsov is in hospital fighting for his life. it's suspected he may have been poisoned. a february ceasefire between the separatists and the ukrainian army is still holding. but with reported violations being committed by both sides. and russia says it has the right to conduct military maneuvers whenever it wants in its territory. despite the sensitivity of the time and place. charles stratford, al jazerra near the russian-ukrainian border. lots more still to come here on al jazerra. find out why china is planning to conduct live fire drills along its border with me myanmar. and a step forward in cancer research offers new hope for the instrument of melanoma. more on that. stay with us.

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>> al jazeera america, weekday mornings. catch up on what happened overnight with a full morning brief. get a first hand look with in-depth reports and investigations. start weekday mornings with al jazeera america. open your eyes to a world in motion. in iraq more than 80 police and soldiers have been killed by isil in tikrit and fallujah. the prime minister will layout plans to tackle isil in paris on tuesday. toby lanner is was the humanitarian coordinator and

deputy envoy, he was no reason given for his expulsion. now, the u.n. and u.s. governments have condemned the increasing barrel bomb attacks in syria. the white house says it's heard reports that isil and the regime are jointly targeting an a rebel-held area in had al jazerra help on. >> reporter: these children are considered lucky for living through at attack. sear general surviving barrel bombs say there is no way to tell you what they have been through. barelied dropped filled with explosives, it's still difficult to breathe through the thick mixture of smoke and dust. >> i don't know what, i don't know why, they are just taking revenge on civilians. >> reporter: neighborhood after neighborhood in aleppo, activists have posted similar videos of destruction and the desperate attempts to find survivors.

rebel groups in syria say the fighting has intensified on multiple front they face iranian-backed hezbollah and assad forces. they say kurdish force fighters are forces out sunni tribes and taking areas from isil. the syrian government and isil fighters are attacking simultaneously in aleppo n areas like here, the u.s. government says it has heard reports of what appears to be a joints strategy by isil and the assad government. >> the regime is making air strikes in support of isil's advancement aiding their tacked on the syrian population. i don't understand that we have long seed seen a complete that kicks to be fighting isil. >> reporter: opposition fighters say assad fighters are hitting from the south and isil fighters are advancing from the north. one of syria's main opposition groups considered to have limited influence ground has halls spoken out against the spike in attacks in civilian.

>> translator: we are asking all friendly country to his expedite help to areas where the regime and iran and isil are conspiring. what is happening in a legal owe is like a nuclear bomb and the world conscious is silent. you can see what is happening day in and day out. >> reporter: both syrian state tv and isil prop began at that videos tell a disk story. the two sides which rebels say are collaborating continue to show gruesome images of dead isil fighters. and syrian soldiers. but that narrative makes little difference to civilians caught up on the conflict. they see no end to the war that is now in its fifth year. al jazerra. now, china is planning to hold live fire drills along a part of its border with myanmar. the plan was announced because fighting in myanmar sometimes results in shells exploding in china's province. government soldiers soldiers from myanmar have been battling an insurgency

by ethnic chinese rebels. thousands of people have crossed the border in to china to escape the lines let's get more from now ends looi. what's the significance of these live fire drills and why they are being carried out now. >> reporter: the chinese haven't revealed much just saying it involves their air force and soldiers thousands of soldiers, paramilitary soldiers, aircraft and military equipment without going in to details about what it might be. it's quite a big exercise. the chinese foreign ministry says it's just a normal military drill. but he did mention the conflict in. as you mentioned this is a conflict in myanmar but it's already spilled over in to chinese territory several times. the biggest incident was in march. when stray shells fell onto yunnan province and killed five people. it prompted the chinese air

force to scramble jets in response. the chinese people were outrages the premier issued a statement condemning the violence and led to myanmar to publically apologize. but that wasn't the only or the last spill over the vie. last month several shells for onto yunnan province again but no fatalities. china has issued several strongly-worded statements demanding an investigation in to the incidents and urged myanmar to rein in the violence and fighting in its country. so this exercise is clearly intended as a stronger message. it's to tell myanmar that they have to look -- take care of the fighting and it's to show myanmar that china is able to deal with any military emergency in its area including a spill over of violence. and a warning to myanmar to rein in the escalation in fighting. now, the chinese say they don't -- they haven't -- the chinese haven't revealed when this exercise will take place until or when it will go on until. and they say they have informed

the myanmar government that we haven't yet had a response from myanmar. >> florence, thank you. now, the u.n. is allocating $50 million in aid to help people escaping the political unrest in burundi. 10s of thousands are in neighborhoodsing tanzania and burundi. opposing the president's plan to run for a controversial third term. we have a report. >> reporter: isn't sure if it will be safe to go out on tuesday, so he's doing it now. opposition leaders in burundi are planning to protest against the president's decision to run for a third term which violates the contusion. >> translator: there is no frost. civil society and the opposition have called for a break. so we can organize our rights. >> reporter: but after weeks of unrest it's been hard for op six supporter to breakthrough the sometimes heavy security.

on monday, things in the capital seemed to be back to normal. but some people are scared to be out in public. some protest leaders have left the country others are in hiding. the question is how many opposition members will be on the straight streit on tuesday as many of their leaders aren't marching with them. opposition leader says it's not safe for him to join the protests. so he coordinates from home. >> they have been targeting me, but thank god they have not succeeded to kill me. and since i don't know when i will die and in which way, it is preferrable that i just give my little contribution when still alive. >> reporter: officials in the ruling party deny they target opposition members. some people hope the leaders from neighboring countries will tell the president not to run for a third term when they met in tan is knee last week, they

didn't. instead they urged the president to delay the june 26th election. some in the capital will support a delay. seeing chains for relative calm and to go back to work and schools to open. others say they won't give up the fight to try to make sure the president doesn't run for controversial third term. al jazerra. a retired colombian general is on trial for taking part in the assays nation of a presidential can debt. miguel was head of the intelligence agency in 1989 when luis carlos was killed. prosecutors say he took payments from a drug cartel to help plan the attack, mazza has been in jill since 2013 and denies the charges, we have more from bogota. >> reporter: prosecutors are accusing general mazza of conspiring withdrawing cartels to kill then presidential candidate luis ga lan. more specifically he's accused of reducing the candidate's security detail replacing the head of the security detail with

somebody with less experience and co lab rating directly with the drug cartel in it's notorious leader pablo escobar and infiltrating the security detail and facilitating it the assassination. now, the general rejects all of the accusations, he's been in prison since two 2009 but the trial is only starting now here saying the accusations are ridiculous because, a wrong other things, he was also the target of different attacks from dug cartels at the time. the assassination rocked the country, he was a front runner of the election, one of three candidates that were killed in the run up to the election, he was running on an anti corruption plat platform and he made very dangerous enemies essentially supporting the

extradition of colombian nationals to the u.s. which is what drug traffickers at the time feared the most. for many colombians here, this is a story of the past. but many hope that finally truth will come to the surface. a nuskin cancer treatment is being described as a once in a generation advance. scientists in the u.k. are trying a new combination of drugs that have been found to shrink tumors in some cancer patients. charlie angela has more. >> reporter: when pam smith was diagnosed with skin cancer, she was terrified she wouldn't live to see her grandchildren grow up. given a choice of treatments, she chose a new combination of drugs being trial and hasn't looked back. >> the drugs have shurnk the tumor. they have shurnk it from nine millimeters down to four millimeters afterwards they found some lesion on his my lugs but everybody they have shurnk now to like tinier than a pin prick the. >> reporter: the trial use aids combination of drugs that allow

the body's immune system to attack the cancerous cells. the drugs were blinds tested internationally on 945 patients with advanced melanoma. and what doctors discovered was that 58% of those patients saw their tumors shrink or stagize for almost a year. but like any cancer treatment the drugs don't work equally on everyone, side affects include rashes fatigue and diary a the doctor has been treating his cancer patients with the individual drugs and is looking forwards to using them in combination. >> this is a game changing set of results for advances skin cancer without a doubt. i think where the excitement is really coming, though, is in the broader perspective because these are drugs not just specific for skin cancer because you are enhancing the body's own immune system no reason why this approach shouldn't be effective against other cancers. >> reporter: this animation

shows how drugs work on cancer cells one boosts the body's immune sister the other reveals cancer cells allowing them to be attacks. but for the doctor who led the trial there is more work to do. >> there will be probably for the combination of drugs something like 40% of the patients that don't significant tumor shrinkage and we need to understand why and develop new approach sews that hopefully we can get the number of people benefiting from this treatment and these treatments to be higher still so we can help more of our patients. >> reporter: so while the new treatment is not a universal cure cancers have previously been treated with chemotherapy, radio therapy or surgery being this is a new weapon in the fight against the disease charlie angela, al jazerra london. delegates at a u.n. climate change conference in germany are working towards a global deal to be signs in paris at the. >> year, rising sea levels are threatening coastal communities including one of the oldest cities in the united states.

andy gallagher reports now. >> reporter: for the past three decades this he has been diligently tending his ocean garden it's a past time that has allowed him to observe the environmental changes here, and like many along florida's east coast he has witnessed the affects of storms and rising waters. >> the argument was i think way back when was it's not really global warming it's just a natural chain of vents but i have been here a long time and been around a long time, and you know my wife and i are convinced it's global warming. >> reporter: just down the road in historical st. augustine they have also seen their fair share of change. the streets here fill with saltwater as much as 10 times a year. something that evening a new seawall can't hold back. civil edge near rubin franklin says the city gets little help from the state and without it, the future could be bleak. >> i know i wouldn't feel very good nothing that my property

one day is not going to be worth much. and the place i call home is going to be a memory instead of -- instead of a place to live. and work. >> reporter: the problem is one of skepticism oversea level projections and chime at change science, florida's governor like many in the republican party doesn't believe climate change is caused by human activity. but the republicans say it's time to move past that. >> i think it's a bad policy, because it makes government look foolish. denying what is object with obvious and failing to use the leadership that they have to address what is going to be a major issue in our state. >> reporter: whether you think this kind of severe beach erosion or even physical damage is down to man-made climate change or not it's pretty irrelevant to people living in the community. florida remains on the frontlines of rising sea levels. and many just want to see some kind of plan of action.

andy gallagher, al jazerra st. augustine, florida. and a quick reminder, you can keep up-to-date with all of the news on our website there it is on your screens the address aljazerra.com. that's aljazerra.com. ali velshi. "on target" tonight. many americans are force to choose. troubled waters, tension builds as china builds new islands in the pacific. is 12 weeks of leave, without pay. that's what working mothers with newborns are entitled to under the family medical leave act.