♪ ♪ from al jazeera's headquarters in doha i am sammy zeidan. the u.s. air strike hits a target outside kunduz. tie that makes landfall after ia after causing taye as in itan. and live to mars could be a possibility.

scientists reveal evidence of flowing watter on the red planet. ♪ ♪ leaders of the u.s. and russia have held face-to-face talks in the u.n. in new york over how best to resolve the conflict in syria. but they can't see eye to eye when it comes to the role of president bashar al-assad of syria. our diplomatic editor james bays reports. >> reporter: russia's president normally avoids this annual gathering of world leaders at the u.n., but he came here on a whistle stop trip planning not even to spend a night in new york. the centerpiece of his speech the idea of a grand coalition against isil. >> translator: we propose discussing, whether it's possible to agree on a resolution aimed at coordinating the actions of all of the forces that confront isil and other terrorist organizations.

once again, this coordination should be based on the principles of the u.n. charter. >> reporter: that reference to the u.n. charter is important. syria's seat at the u.n. is still occupied by assad's ambassador, it would be a coalition including the assad government and on its terms. the u.s. would never accept that. but it and some of its western allies are moderating their position on assad's future floating a compromise idea that perhaps he could stay on for a bit in the phase transition to a new government. >> yes, really. dictates that compromise will be required to end the fighting and ultimately stamp out isil. but really. also requires a managed transition away from assad and to a new leader. and an innin inclusive governmet recognizes there must be an sends to this chaos so the syrian people with begin to rebuild. >> reporter: that idea seemed to

be immediately dismissed by france and by the first gulf country troy speak here qatar. >> translator: is there a tyranny in the world that could acknowledge an alternative? is it possible for a tyranny to allow an alternative to allow and grow you were its shadow. >> translator: i can see diplomatic efforts being made to incorporate bashar al-assad in the process, but you can't work together. you can't put together victims and the people who are killing them. assad is the origin of the problem, he cannot be part of the solution. >> reporter: in damascus there may be some concern about the speech made by their staunchest ally, iran said it wanted the recent nuclear talks to be a model for diplomacy on syria. and president rouhani then added this. >> translator: as we aided the establishment of democracy in iraq and afghanistan, we are prepared to help bring about democracy in syria as well as

yemen. >> reporter: the real business here takes place away from the speeches and the general assembly chamber. this is the formal lunch with the secretary general of the united nations sitting between the russian and the u.s. leader. president putin and president obama later held a further meeting to discuss the situation in syria and in ukraine after 4 1/2 years of what are in sear yakker it's hard to be optimistic, but this is the first serious diplomatic push for 18 months since the collapse of peace talks in geneva. everyone knows a fresh effort to end the conflict will face immense hurdles. james bays, al jazeera, at the united nations. >> let's get the view from moscow now with peter sharp. you have the words there, peter, i am sure james bays the first real diplomatic push. from the russian perspective what happened to the common ground and the talk of a real possible did deal so syria. >> reporter: that's what political analysts are looking

and saying here in moscow today. they have been going through the text of what obama said and what putin. and it's revealed very little common -- very little common ground between the two. obama has effectively fundamentally ruled out a return to the status quo in syria. he's called assad a tyrant who drops barrel bombs on innocent children. and putin stood up and said you are making a grave mistake not to cooperate with the syrian government whose forces are confronting terrorism face-to-face. so no common ground there. mine, we are getting a garage gl movement in diplomacy. the assistant foreign minister in moscow said yesterday that russia and america joined by iran, saudi arabia, turkey, and egypt will be gathering in geneva sometime in october. we don't know what level, it

could be foreign ministers or perhaps not even that. and also while that's going on, the military steps are building up. russia has now sent another two vessels out to syria. and they begin a week of live fire exercises tomorrow. so things are moving in different directions, but we are not getting what they hope would be some sort of common ground between the two leaders. >> indeed that does seem to be the case, thanks so much, peter sharp there. the u.n. secretary general has condemned an air strike that's reportedly killed up to 135 people at a wedding in yemen. local government officials and medics say the strike happened in a village near the red seaport on monday. saudi arabia which is leading a military coalition campaign against houthi fighters in yemen denies knit involvement. our correspondent has reported extensively on yemen and is with here here in doha. some of the strongest words we have heard from the secretary

general of the u.n. so far on this conflict, right? >> exactly. particularly now with this incident and the problem that the international committee faces in yemen they don't see any potential for a political way out of the crisis in yemen. the saudi-led coalition has intensified its navel i campaign over the last 48 hours, tearing thing houthi and forces level to form president saleh in taiz. the air strike that targeted a wet wedding was in an area under houthi control, where there has been some intense fighting over the last few days, it's a very delicate situation because the international committee gathering now the u.n. and also a human rights commission meeting in geneva they are all asking for an end to the fighting in gem en. yemen and exploring a political way out. >> great stuff there. thanks so much. a u.s. air strike has hit

taliban fighters on the outskirts of the steal kuhn does, they are fighting to retake control of kunduz after parts it have were taken by the taliban. government force are said to have retaken the jail. the taliban freed hundreds of prisoners when they attacked in the early hours of monday morning. joining us now live from the afghan capital. kabul. one thing does seem to be clear at this point the taliban have been able to capture at least parts of kuh kunduz, right? that's a significant development. >> reporter: it's a very big development for the taliban since they were out of the ed in 2001 they haven't taken control of such a strategic city. the u.s. military here says they have carried out airstrikes on

kunduz city that was cap pureedy the taliban on monday were a spokesperson for the u.s. and nato here in afghanistan said an air strike was conducted early tuesday morning and conducted to eliminate the threat to the forces. now, the city fell to the taliban's hand on monday morning. they overran government buildings, they tried to free inmates and prisoners from the prprovincial jail in kunduz province. however, police spokespersons, spokesman in kunduz says that the afghan forces have launched their operation to take the control of the city. now, afghan security forces retreated from monday's attack and they outlaid in an area near the airport in kunduz, most of the entrance roads to the city

were blocked by taliban. now this morning we have witnessed some clashing with the afghan forces, afghan government, interior ministry saying that they have made a few achievements and have captured some territory from the taliban in the city. >> we think of this as a very simple battle between on the one side the taliban and the other side the government forces. but there are a lot of powerful figures in kunduz, where do loyalties lie and how much support does the taliban have? >> reporter: well, i was speaking to a member of -- a former member of parliament, basically most of the taliban are local people. they are supported by the islamic movement of uzbekistan, but they have some -- they have gained some support among the local people. it is because of the treatment of the local warlords

irresponsible armed groupings, also corruption was -- plays a major corolla wrong the people to support taliban. and we have also heard from local politician in kunduz that there is a huge lack of coordination among the afghan security forces in kunduz. >> all right, thanks so much. central african republics interim president catherine has left the u.n. general assembly early returning home to deal with a the worst violence this year after 40 people have been killed and over 100 injured in the capital over the last three days. armed muslim and christian groups have attacked each other. hundreds of prisoners also escaped from the main jail. the unrest has led to protests calling for the redeployment of armed forces a u.n.-backed interim government has yet to rearm the military.

typhoon du ins dawn has hit the southern eastern coast of china, it made landfall on tuesday morning. speeds reached up to 119 miles a119 anhour. thousands of homes in no electricity or water now. >> reporter: we are in taipei's biggest train station just a day after typhoon dujuan struck taiwan operations here have gone back to normal. although businesses are still closed as well as schools and offices, most of the roads have been cleared of debris. more than 7,000 people were evacuated in preparation for the typhoon. the mayor said they are as prepared as they can be but it's difficult to assess the damage of this one. however, if you look at the situation now and how quick the government has responded, it is

t has seemed to be the test case for how other asian countries is should also respond in disasters like this one. 7,000 are without power but most of those evacuated are now able to return to their homes. by the end of the day the typhoon has already left taiwan's area of responsibility and it's just a matter of time before every operation here is back to normal as well. still ahead on al jazeera, why some in afghanistan believe the president has failed to clean up politics. and rotten roots. we look at brazil's growing corruption problem. >> you have kids here who've killed someone? >> award winning journalist soledad o'brien takes us inside the violent world of kids behind bars.

will a new experimental program be their last chance? >> i have to do my 100 percent best so i don't end up in a place like this again.

>> what do you want american's to understand? >> there's so much injustice. >> workers are being injured constantly.

welcome back. let's recap the headlines here on al jazeera now. syria has been high on the agenda of the first day of the united general assembly. u.s. press barack obama and russian suppress vladimir putin discussed the comment. they remained divided on the future real of bashar al-assad in syria. the u.n. secretary general is condemning an air strike which has reportedly killed up to 135 people at a wedding in yemen. the saudi coalition which is fighting houthi rebels deny any involvement. the u.s. air strike has hit taliban targets outside kuhn ku, african fighters are fight to go retake the city. it's been a year since

president rouhan row took contrf afghanistan. unemployment is increasing and security is weakening. and as jennifer glasse reports many afghans are not happy with the government's performance in its first 12 months. >> reporter: his brooms sell for about 80 cents a piece, but business is tear and i believe many of his customers can't pay their bills. last year he had great expectations for the government but now he says it's the worst of times. >> translator: there is no work. no business. i have to take my children out of school to work. i want my children to be educated but i need them to help support the family. >> reporter: the president vowed to fight corruption and to help afghanistan stand on its own two feet. the country is still heavily

dependant on foreign aid. he promised women rights. his wife has taken a prominent role rare for an afghan lady. afghans say they don't see the progress. >> translator: we haven't seen any support of women's rights. there is actually more violence. women without education sit at home. there is no work for them. the youth of this country have already fled. nothing is left for the people. >> reporter: afghans are leaving in record numbers. because they can't find work or are worried about security. there have been deadly suicide attacks in the heavily fortified afghan capital and the taliban are fighting in many areas arm the country. nato says 15,000 afghan security forces died or were injured in the first eight months of 2015. a 30% increase over last year. >> on the security side, the afghan security forces are struggling, a high number of casualty whicies which is not sustainable in the long-term and

the government is not fictioning. >> reporter: it took the government nearly six months to agree on cabinet members a midst rumors of political in fighting between the president and his chief executive. can in one of the most important positions defense minister remains unfilled. with an acting minister making security decisions. the afghan press has repeatly asked of afghan people to be patient. change takes time that things will get worse before they get better. this time last year, he had two things he lacks now, momentum and the people's support. jennifer glasse, al jazeera, kabul. >> following afghanistan politics now closely, joins me now from kabul. good to have you with us, it's one year since the president took over, do you think most afghans are satisfied with the performance of his government? >> unfortunately, no. the afghan people in general are dissatisfied with the performance of the national

unity government and one reason for is it because the president himself, i fully remember in his speech last year that he raised people's expectation, he made promises to people. but unfortunately, he has not been able to deliver these promises. >> has the office of the president and the c on. o. this unique sort of formula which was worked out. has it actually functioned as envisioned and it's taken i while hasn't it to appoint governors, even some posts still need to be filled with ministers, the attorney general and so on. >> one of the problems and a major problem has been this difference of opinion between the two leaders. they have not been able to come together on a unique strategy or policy for the afghan government. and there was -- there has been some serious arguments particularly on the appointments

of senior government officials that hurt the government performance. we still don't have a legitimate difference, acting defense minister. this is the reason because the two leaders took a long time in order to reach an agreement on the key appointments within the afghan government. and that in itself was a problem and that hurt the performance of the afghan government. and that has reduced the expectations and the hope of the afghan people about this government. >> the asian development bank says the afghan economy is moving very slow in the first half of 2015 in terms of growth. we are seeing afghans trying to my great to europe. what has happened to the government's economic revival plan? >> well, actually, it's not anymore. [ inaudible ] it's a crash. the afghan economy has collapsed in the past one year because the economy is not funking.

there is no revenue. the government is also lacking the capacity to generate enough revenue for itself because it will be even more dependent on the international assistance, financial assistance for its operation budget. so the government has no plan for it. and unfortunately, there are other serious issues now that it's taking priority, particularly security as you are aware of the fall of kunduz an important city in the north. it's a priority for the government and that would security, that worsening of the security condition in the entire country will not allow the government to look and focus on economic and financial issues. >> and talk on the ground that last point. in the first eight months of 2015, the united nations assistance mission in afghanistan documented the highest numbers of civilian casualties since they started keeping records. what is happing to the security situation? it sounds like it's dee on tear your eighting.

>> we witnessed an a surge from the taliban side attack the afghan security forces in more than 16 provinces since the beginning of this summer. we still have a couple of months before the winter will slow down the fighting between the afghan government and the taliban. the high number of casualties in the civilians and within the afghan security forces it's something that's not sustainable. the government has to do something. up fortunately the fortunate us of the president was the peace process to the pakistan and improvement of relations between pakistan and afghanistan. the government has failed. we haven't seen any tangible results, either from the peace processor from the pakistanis. and that -- and that was a big failure in my opinion because

the government concentrated all of its -- in the first few months on the peace process and also on improvement of relations with pakistan. >> all right, thanks so much your analysis. european union ministers are due to discuss the refugees crisis in a few hours. jean claude juncker the european commission president and friend of prime minister will meet in paris. thousands of refugees have been queuing up at the border. more than 100 buses have arrived at the serbian croatian border the contrary asian government says over 70,000 people entered the country in the last few days. fifa president sepp blatter says he has no plans to step down early despite being investigated by swiss authorities. he told staff the football's governing body he's done i don't go wrong he's expected to stay until february of next year.

this has blatter leaves fifa headquarters in zurich early on monday. the 79-year-old is accused of making so-called disloyal payment to the head of the european football. blatter says the payment was valid compensation and had nothing more. the mayor of a small brazilian town has turned herself in after being on the run for a month. the 25-year-old was accused of stealing more than $4 million from public funds. a second mayor in the same state is also being accused of miss appropriating funds set aside for school buses. virginia lopez reports. >> reporter: in brazil's northeastern state, is a sort of quiet agriculture town of which not much is ever heard. it also has the type of government that can lead to a

catastrophic misuse of public resources. a year ago eight students were killed in a car accident on their way back from school. the deaths might have been prevented if they were riding in a school which for which funds were available but the bus was never bought. instead they rode home in the back of this pickup trudge the expense of local corruption became painfully evident. >> she was my little girl, i wish i had been there to yank her out of the truck. i want justice but nothing here changes, the mayor should be condemned. he should have about bought the school buses. >> reporter: instead of justice these bereaved parents have received death threats on their phone. >> translator: they can sends all the threats they want. i will not giver up. >> reporter: but this is not an isolated case. almost half of the mayers in the areas around here have been accused of corruption. >> translator: in communities with great her needs the amount

of money coming in is higher and oftentimes funds get did he have 80ed and our judicial system is plagued with loopholes that even if if found guilty authorities have return to power. >> reporter: 17 students survived the crash. but the memories that have night's event changed them forever. >> translator: my life will never be the same. i always dreamt of being a fire woman and now i am always sad. always remembering my friends and thinking of how sad their parents are. >> reporter: although school buses are finally purchased, other public works like these have stopped. while the local majors investigating for miss on owe indicating funds. this alter was built to honor the victims that died here. it's a symbol to the family of how endemic corruption is in this area. virginia lopez. brazil. scientists at nasa say they have found strong evidence of liquid water on mars and that means life could exist on the red planet as john hendon

explains. >> reporter: nasa scientists say the red plan set not the desolate dry place they long thought it was. >> today we are revolutionizing our understanding of this planet. our rovers are finding that there is a lot more humidity in the air than we ever imagined. as we ingest the soils, they are moist. they are hydrated. full of water. mars is not the dry arid planet that we thought of in the past. today we are going to announce that under certain circumstances liquid water has been found on mars. >> reporter: researchers say a few billion years ago mars was covered are rivers, lakes, and possibly an ocean where they believed only a small amount of frozen water remained. now nasa says a camera captured streaks of flowing briny water on the surface of the red planet a basic building block of life. and they say there is a water cycle that changes over the course of the year. much like the water cycle on

earth. >> these are dark streaks. that form in late spring, grow through the summer, and then disappear by fall. >> reporter: that raises the possibility of life, possibly microbial life and makes it easier for explorers to sustain themselves while exploring the planet as nasa hopes to do by 2030. >> today's announcement of a really fascinating result about currents water on mars, is one of the reasons why i feel it's even more imperative that we send astro biologists and planetary scientist to his mars to explore the question of is there currents life on mars. >> reporter: the possibility of life on mars has been envisioned in science fiction, but had largely been dismissed. >> it's weird, there is nothing here. >> it's mars. >> reporter: the finding also raises the possibility that despite wildly varying temperatures that range from 56 to 21 celsius, it might be posse i believe to grow food in greenhouses on the surface. nasa managers say their latest

discovery leaves many mysteries unresolve. they still don't know where the water comes from or what, besides salt, is it in. john hendon, al jazeera. more about what's going on on the red planet as well as the blue one if you head over to our website, aljazeera.com. >> this week on talk to al jazeera - the once high powered capitalist in russia turned human rights activist - bill browder. >> i had more than $1 billion, which was a huge amount of money-- in any circumstance, but certainly back then, and in russia. >> the financier had a spectacular rise with his investments quadrupling - but then browder began calling attention to corruption and crossed the wrong people. >> i was locked up overnight. and then i was deported the next day and declared a threat to national security, never to be