that is our show for today. i'm ali velshi.

north america's oldest city and we'll be showing i how rising sea levels are threatening its very existence. ♪ ♪ myanmar's navy is escorting a boat crammed with 272 migrants to neighboring bang los bangladesh. they remember found inside a converted fishing boat drifting four days ago crossing over to floor en looi who is joining us to tell us more about the situation and the migrants, florence. >> reporter: right. we are receiving actually conflicting reports now. the reuters news agency is saying the navy escorting the boat bang to bangladesh waters after giving the people on board food water and medicine. now, but a few minutes ago i just spoke to the presidential spokesman also the minister of information here and he says

they will be brought to a yet undisclosed location, he's not saying whether it's going to be at sea aura lands but said they will be brought to what he called a safe location before they are sent back to bangladesh. now, the common thread is that, however, that. [ inaudible ] they are saying these people are saying that they want to return from bang losbangladesh, they are from bangladesh. the one thing though, is that this entire -- this entire incident has been handle with a lack of transparency. we are not sure if there have been any other parties any third parties who have been able to identify the people on board of boat. the myanmar government is saying they are all from bengal-y. they use that term because -- because it's a term that implies

that they are from bangladesh but so many of these rohingya have been here for generations nobody has been able to gain access to the 727 people found on the board. they were turned back by naval boats. they had to erase their memory cards of the pictures and videos that they have taken the one thing that's consistent is myanmar keep saying that all of these people -- this is the second boat that they found with people, there were an earlier boat they found two weeks ago that had 200 people aboard the board. they keep sang these people are from beige los angeles dish, the myanmar has not accepted that they are part of the problem problem of the my plants, that many people from myanmar are fleeing because they feel persecuted and discriminated guns but the myanmar are saying it's not their problem it's a human trafficking problem.

that the people leaving on the boards are from bangladesh. >> thank you very much for that update florence, we'll cross over to you later on for further updates from myanmar, thank you. a cruise ship with 458 people on board has capsized in china. at least five people are confirmed dead but rescuers have heard some people crying from help -- for help from inside the ship. most people are elderly tourists. chinese state media say the captain and chief engineer got out and have been detained for questioning. it sank in china's south. crossing over to rob mcbride who is joining us. this rob is really likely to put marine safety back under the spotlight in china. not only this incident but incidents in the past and tell us what you are hearing about this maybe and the people on it.

>> reporter: that's right. i mean, we'll raise concerns about general safety on china's rivers. there was another accident earlier this year in january, a tug that was undergoing trials sank with a loss of 22 lives. but it has to be said that the yank see river is china's most powerful waterway, a huge body of water that flows through the heart of china is no stranger to accidents. we have lots of life. what is unusual is the expecting scale of this tragedy and the expected fatalities we are going identity from this particular vessel. that was partly a result of a combination of unfortunate circumstances. we know, for example the passengers are mostly retirees.

it sanction in two minutes from the point it sanction to the point it came to rest was klee three-kilometers, so we had hopeful signs earlier today a 67 woman was rescued from inside the hull, lead to go speculation that there could be more air pockets and more survivors but as time goes on, hopes do tends to fade that we will find many more people inside the vessel. >> so any indication from the government what they plan to do next? >> reporter: well, you know, this particular vessel, the company operating these tours have been in business for a few decades. we are seeing more of these tours and i think that's the concern for the authorities is that we are going to see far more people taking holidays, people just traditionally did not take holidays, we don't know all the stories of the people on board, but i am sure in the coming days we will hear that quite of a few of these people it will be the first vacation they have ever taken so we are

seeing a huge growth in this kind of cruises, these kind of holidays and the authorities i think have to prepare for that. we know that this vessel was operating within the regulations and apparentlily had the right number of life jackets on board but there is some concern about the design of these vessels they are designed for river traffic, but according to the cruise who managed to escape, it faced an unprecedented mini cyclone, which just overwhelmed the vessel and couldn't prepare for. no matter how well you design these vessels, so we have to also look at at the event at eventuality of more freak weather taking the toll on the rivers. >> rob mcbride reporting from hong kong. take a look at these picture. they appear to show the aftermath of one of the air strikes. a weapons depot and the presidential palace are said to have been hit. meanwhile, fighting in the southern region has reportedly

killed at least 20 people. the iraqi prime minister says the u.s.-led international coalition is not providing enough intelligence to top stop isil's advance they say the group's guys gains are a failure for the whole world, he was speaking ahead of a meeting in paris where diplomats from around the world are all gathering discussing ways to combat isil, mohamed reports on whether the international coalition is really doing enough. >> reporter: with their fighter jets still taking off france's commitment to combating combating isil continues. part of the u.s.-led coalition battling the group, they are among the country's 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 the coalition's strategy is extremely misguided. that the minute steal year meeting in paris will make little difference. >> this comes on a dream that there is still an iraqi army. no, there is nothing like an iraqi army. the iraqi army has been disbanded by paul grammar back in 2003. >> reporter: if anyone understanding how many of a threat isil constitutes, it's him. he was taken hostage by the group in syria for almost a year. >> 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 societily stupid. >> reporter: the issues at play are far more than just tactical and logistical. french foreign minister called for this 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. >> translator: this contract is what justified our military engage think. and i say clearly here that it must be better respected. >> reporter: and yet despite mounting fresh on iraqi prime minister al badi to reach out to sunni's resentful of his shia of the government sectarian divisions in iraq have 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. >> we'll cross over to mohamed now who is joining us from paris, we'll talk about what

they are going to discuss in just a moment. but if you look for al badi's lacest comments and he says the row defense is not providing sufficient erin tell jenks to stem isil. sounds like he's frustrated with the coalition but has frustration been building by the coalition members towards the prime spinster himself? and will they be putting more pressure on him today? >> reporter: yeah, doreen, that's a very good question. that's a good point that you raise, it's safe to say that frustration is other the rise which when if comes to all the participants here. on the one side, you have the americans and you are other countries, especially france, members of the coalition who are frustrated with prime minister al badi. the foreign minister made no secret of that last week when he said, yet again, there is not going to be any military solution in iraq without a political solution. and this is a line that the u.s. has taken as well in recent days. because they are saying that the prime minister is not reaching out enough, is not being inclusive enough to the sunni

population of iraq and that's one of the things that is to blame for the rise of isil, for the fact that they are still very much on the march and that cities like ramadi such a strategic city fell in the past cup weeks we heard today prime minister al badi telling reporters that iraq is frustrated as well. there is a blame game going on. anotherthe iraqis are saying it's a failure, they are not getting enough intelligence from the coalition members, there has to be ground support as well. where this will all end is the big question and what they are here to discuss. >> that's what i wanted to to ask you. how will the day pan out over there in paris and what is the expected outcome of the meeting? >> reporter: yeah, there is a big question mark about exactly what will happen today we have seen in the last few days that the fanfare around this meeting has really shrunk. people have been a lot more quiet than we expected that they would would be. in account fa, we still saint gottenfact we still don't have acomplete list of who saul is

here. it's ex-ed that the foreign minister of saudi arabia, uae qatar will be here, but we have not had confirmation if they are the in fact inning nba attendance, that's calling in to question just how substantial the discussions will be, what they will be able to do in order to really try to take the fight to ice immaterial and try to stop this group from advancing as much as it has doreen. >> all right, we'll course cross over to you later on. thank you. well, nine people, including five aid workers have been killed in the northern province, their n.g.o.s compound was a talked by gun then of a woman is among the victims nicole johnston has more from kabul. this attack involved a province in the north of afghanistan targeted a check nongovernmental organization called people in need. it works on rural projects, reconstruction in villages, building bridges and roads.

the attack happened overnight. nine people killed, all afghans two, drivers, two guards and five aid workers including a social worker. there has been no claim of responsibility so far. it's certainly not the first time these kind of softer targets have been hit. in may in kabul, there was a hotel attacked, four attorney people killed including nine foreigners, also a guest house has been attacked. but there has been a great deal of instability in the north of the country. it seems that the taliban has open up a new front for fighting in areas areas. the government has had to sends reinforcements from the after garage security forces up to the north to try to secure the area. but still, there is isolated fighting going on and nba & that instability and insecurity is indeed being felt in the north of afghanistan. south sudan's government has

expelled a top u.n. official from the country, he toby lanzer was the human terrien yarder and deputy envoy. he was appointed in 2012 and nearing the end of his term, no reason has been given for his expulsion. the u.n. has con determined lanzer's ex-purposes in a statement the u.n. second general ban ki-moon's office said: >> our diplomatic editor james bays has more from the u.n. headquarters in new york. >> reporter: it's understood that the south sudanese government decide to ex-pet mr. lanzer because it claimed that he had made a series of truthful statements on social media. the u.n. have responded to that saying 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 living in the u.n.'s own camps because they are fear. violence that's been going on now for 17 months of you have 130,000 people living in those camps. you have a situation that the u.n. fears in humanitarian terms is going to get much work. 2.1 million beam have been forced to flee from their homes in total. it's predicted by the end of july 4.6 million people in south sudan who are severely food insecure. so a very difficult situation and now the government of south sudan have 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. moscow continues to deny it's helping separatist fighters in eastern ukraine charles stratford reports. >> reporter: russian military equipment on a train close to the ukrainian border. al jazerra has no way of verifying where these vehicles are being moved to or from. equipment includes armored personnel carriers, medical supply vehicles and tanks. the rub an military insignia and number plates have been removed or seemingly paymented over. we drove out of town to an area where we had heard there was a makeshift military camp. across the fields 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, the russian military say the reason why there are so many troops and military equipment in the area is because it is conducting military exercises and it categorically

denies that its troops have been fighting alongside separatist fighters across the border. there have been russian military bases in the area for many years, the government described a question on whether it was preparing for an attack as completely inappropriate. a photo journalist with the news agency reuters shot these pictures inned same area last week russia recently included the death on military personnel on what it described as special operations in that's people as a state secret. the law has nothing to do with the conflict in ukraine and a recently released report details what it says is proof the russian military is operating in eastern ukraine, one of the authors of that report opposition leader boris nemtsov was shot dead in moscow did have it was published a close associate of nemtsov is in hospital fighting for its life. it's suspected he may have been poise inninged.

a ceasefire between the separatist and ukrainian army is still hold being but with reported violations being committed by both sides. and russia says it has the rights too conduct military maneuvers whenever it wants in its territory despite the sensitivity to the time and place. charles stratford, al jazerra near the russian ukrainian border. a retired colombian general is on trial for his alleged role in the assassination of a presidential candidate in 1989. miguel mazza marquez was head of the intelligence agency when luis carlos was gunned down while campaigning he's accused of taking payments from a drug cartel to help plan the attack. >> reporter: alessandro has more from bogota. >> reporter: prosecutors are accusing general mazza of conspiring withdrawing cartel to his kill then presidential candidates luis carlos a galan. more specifically he's accused

of reducing the candidates security detail replacing the head of the security detail with somebody with less experience and co lab rating directly with the medellin drug cartel and it's a notorious leader pablo escobar in inning till trading the security detail. now, the general rejects all of the accusations he's been in prison since 2009, but this trial is only starting now here in co local bee a saying the accusations are ridiculous because among other things, he was also the target of different attacks from drug cartels at the time. luis carlos and his assassination rocked the country here, he was a front runner of the 1990 elect, one of three candidates that were killed in the run up to those elections he was running an anti corruption platform and 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 the truth will cop to the surface. south korea saying two people have died of middle east respiratory syndrome also known as me eers. the government has held an emergency meeting to discuss how to prevents the disease from spreading, south korea has 25 confirmed cases of percent. mers. scientists in the u.k. are trying a combination of drugs as charlie angela reports. >> reporter: when pam smith was diagnosed with skin cancer she was tear described she wouldn't live to here is grandchildren

grow up. she chose a new combination of drugs being trial and hasn't looked back. >> the drugs have that return the tumor from nine millimeters down to four millimeters. and then afterwards they found some light lesion on his my lungs, but even they have shurnk now to like tinier than a pin trickprick. >> reporter: the trial used a combination of drugs that allowed the bodies immune system were blind tested internationally on 945 patients with advanced melanoma. and what doctor discovered was that 58% of those patients saw their tumors shrink or stabilize for almost a year. like any cancer treatment the drugs don't work equally on earn and side effects include rashes, fatigue, and diarrhea. the doctor has been treating his cancer patients with the individual drugs and is looking forward to using them any combination. >> this is game-changing set of

results for advanced skin cancer without a doubt. i think where the excitement is really coming, though, is in the broader perspective because these are drugs that are not just specific for skin cancer, because you are enhancing the body's own inning mean system there is no reason why this approach shouldn't be effective against other cancers. >> reporter: this animation shows how the drugs work on cancer cells while one boosts the immune system the other reveals the cells allowing them to be attacked. 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% patients who don't have significant tumor shrink i think and what we need to do is to understand why? & to develop new approaches so that hopefully we can get the number of people that benefit 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, where cancers have

previously been treated with chemotherapy radio therapy or surgery this is a new weapon in the fight of the disease charlie angela, al jazerra london. the executive director of the melanoma research foundation that's based on washington and he says the health industry needs to move quickly to make the drugs available to as many people as possible. >> we know that at ass new drugs are developed we begin to see a disparity between the people who have access to those drugs and the people who don't part what have we all need to focus on is make sure that these things are available to as many people have possible. and we see those changes within the united states. where we are but also globally. there are some countries where neither of these drugs were available at all to patients. we need to move as quickly as possible to bring this medicine so that more patients can have hope and good treatments. we saw over 50% over half of the people have side effects that were fairly serious but

what i am hearing from doctors treating these patients is that they have ways of addressing those side effects and sometimes the side effects become so serious that the patients have to stop taking the drugs but in 2/3 of the case after they stoppingping taking the drugs they still have benefit even when the drugs were stopped. the fact is in melanoma because we have had so few treatment options unfortunate fortunately many people have died of this deadly skin cancer. and so i think patients are willing to go through the side effects for hope of having a longer and better life. it's been a year since hamas and fatah formed a palestinian unity government. hamas controls gaza and its lit political rival governors the occupied west bank so one year on have the two reconciled to take a ube unified stance with israel. imtiaz tyab takes a look. >> reporter: ibrahim is proud of his job, he directs traffic at this business junks in gaza city and rarely ever misses a

day off work. for the past several months he's received only a fraction of his way, around 40,000 other workers of hamas have not been paid their full salaries, despite the. [ inaudible ] which is the unified government. >> translator: president abbas keeps making promises to us, but we are faced three wars with israel and now aren't even paid for the work we do. abbas should show us mercy. >> reporter: it's been a year since hamas which controls the gaza strip. and fatah which runs the palestinian administration in the occupied west bank form a national unity government. since then the two sides have failed to put aside their differences or solve the many problems facing palestinians. in gaza alone, more than 100 palestinians are still homeless

after last year's war between hamas and israel, the israeli government continues to blockade the coast the territory and has allowed only a small amount of reconstruction materials in. peen while hamas' relationship with neighboring egypt continues to did he did he tear deteriorate because of its linked to the outlawed muslim brotherhood. >> translator: unfortunately hamas isn't cooperating with us, we feel frustrated because it sells back the palestinian cause and the only one who benefits from this division is the israeli occupation. >> reporter: recently various representatives from qatar turkey the united nations and the european union have traveled to gaza as part of attempts to reconcile hamas and fatah but none appear to have enough influence to do so. >> i believe what needed right now is the invention of a third party. the intervention of saudi arabia or the intervention of another

party who can mediate either a new agreement between hamas and fatah, and basically bring both sides and convince them to implement the last agreement which was signed in the beach camp in gaza. >> reporter: but with every attempt having failed so far there are few signs that lives of those caught in the middle of the political rivalry between hamas and fa as it will fatah will improvement. there is much more coming up on al jazerra including high flyers are gamble on the ground this new casino in the philippines but for many this resort sought of reach. and legal limbo the children who have migrated in the united states and are now battling for their rights to stay.

passengers are elderly tourists. the iraqi frame ministering a the u.s. led international row coe lungs is not providing enough intelligence to stop isil's advance. foreign ministe