cautious optimism. >> positive they're willing to come to talk. as we've said, it's hard to imagine the solution to the syrian crisis without their participation. we hope that, that participation can be please at this. >> the united states invites tehran to talk about syria. >> human suffering. >> i really regretted it. i will never go back to south

sudan. if you saw how they killed our loved ones, you could not imagine how we arrived there. >> the human cost of war in south sudan. >> desperate journey. more than the hundred people rescued off the greek island ofleof lesbos after their boat c capsized. >> mayan treasure >> it's to ask for rain and for medicine. >> mexican bee keepers protect their heritage. good evening to you, antonio has the night off. we begin tonight with the conflict in syria. secretary of state john kerry

said today to find political solutions of crisis is like charting a course to hell. and for the first time, iran will now have a seat at the table. tehran today accepted an invitation to attend the -- its bombing campaign in syria. moscow said air strikes hit 118 targets today including some in idlib, homs, and damascus. plus, more american troops in direct combat roles. we have more from the pentagon >> the new u.s. strategy was on display in iraq last week as seen from a kurdish fighters helmet. the first time u.s. command does

were -- >> joshua wheeler. u.s. troops were still advising and assisting and the new at the gentlemen is not a slippery slope to an expanded ground come pat role. something president obama promised wouldn't have. >> we always have to advise against mission creep. let me repeat, american combat troops are not going to be fighting in iraq again. >> but under the new strategy, they are fighting and dieing in combat. just not according to defense secretary ash carter in an overarching combat mission. >> the overall mission of the u.s. forces in iraq is to enable

by equipping, training, advising, assisting capable and motivated local forces. and rather than to substitute for them as a matter of a combat mission. >> we're in combat. i think that's -- i thought i made that pretty clear so i'll clear it up. of course it is. that's why we carry guns. >> a u.s. military spokesman in baghdad also struggled to make the distinction saying they were accompanying forces in in raids in limited situations. mainly in and out operations in which u.s. troops are supporting not leading local fighter's. until now the u.s. conducted raids exclusively with american forces such as last may when u.s. commandos killed an isil leader, captured his wife, and

seized seven terabytes from his compound in syria. >> it's an important intelligence objective as well and other isil leaders have met their end directly as a result of the exploitation coming out of the raid. >> the pentagon says the u.s. will soon be stepping up air strikes and focusing more on the structure that applies steady funds to isil. insisting fewer u.s. strikes in syria this month are just part of the normal ebb and flow of warfa warfare. and iraqi troops training to breach minefields around ramadi. >> pentagon courses confirm

there are various options being developed to put more pleasure on isil from deploying for helicopters or basing u.s. special forces in syria as they are in iraq but nothing has been decided as of now one tactic causing a lot of outrage is the use of barrel bombs. these attacks have killed thousands since the civil war began four years ago. activists say this video right here which appeared on youtube today shows an attack on a town there. milita military helicopters dropped four bombs killing at least one woman area her son. those bombs are the main reason why so many syrians are fleeing to europe. france is proposing a united nations resolution banning the use of those barrel bombs

a top state department official said today russia cannot win in syria. the deputy secretary of state said that moscow could perhaps prevent syrian president from losing the war. but with no end in sight, he says russia may be encouraged to push assad towards a political solution. >> russia cannot become mired in syria or to alienate all of the sunni muslim world including 15% of its own population. it has a need to find a way out of what it's gotten in to. and its actions on the ground in support of the regime are not going particularly well. they've made very little progress in spite of the air power >> it will be the first time all the major players in the syrian conflict are in the same room.

rosalyn jordan reports on the significance of irans involvement from washington and how it could change syrias future. >>reporter: they've been training, fighting, and dying since 2012 along syrian troops according to the obama administration. proof that tehran is trying to keep president bashar al assad in power. but now world leaders are about to meet in vienna to find a solution. >> the challenge we face in syria today is nothing less than to chart a course out of war. >> john kerry has long accused iran of destabilizing syria but in light of the waves of syrian families trying to escape the civil war and isils take overof key northern territory, kerry says now is the time for all

concerned to meet. >> at the end of the day, nothing would do more to bolster the fight against daish than a political transition that sidelines assad so that we can unite more of the country against extremism. >> official's an is u.s.'s decision to get involved should not be a surprise. >> he's looking at this very clearly and it's our expectation that people will come to this meeting with serious intentions about solving serious problems. >> but some observers believe irans troop losses in syria could be forcing it finally to support talks >> i think accepting the dialect now to see that the same table to find a dialogue and a way out of the syrian crisis by dialect and politics, i think that is because it doesn't want to lose

anymore commanders. >> the russian russian foreign minister will also be there because of his support for assad. they're looking for serious intentions as well. >> they're probably going to find in the near future since they're not going to be able to resolve this militarily, that they want to start to think about a political resolution. >> but there won't be any leaders of the syrian opposition attending the meeting. mainly because u.s. initial fe officials don't think they're unified. a sign the obama administration is prepared to go only so far right now for peace in syria. joining us now is a former senior foreign policy advisor for general petreus. good to see you tonight. >> thank you. good to be here. >> so obviously tonight iran and the united states have been very critical of each other

particularly when it comes to syria. why do you think iran is being invited to the table now? >> iran was invited in 2013 to the geneva two. at the time though there was a lot of opposition to their involvement because it had been unhelpful. the nuclear deal i think has widened the circle of possibilities in the region and i also think that conditions on the ground have changed quite a bit. there's the russian and iranian presence on the ground. there's a lot of effort that has been expended by the united states and its allies to try to affect conditions in syria and you have all -- 250,000 people dead. 11 million displaced. 700,000 refugees in europe. the time has come to try something different. and i think that including iran is part of that. >> so the pressure is clearly growing and iran is feeling some of that.

what kind of role doing they're going to have in these talks? >> i think the iranians back in geneva two were asked to support a revision including the removal of assad. they support the syrian government and a stable syria, they're not wedded to assad staying in power forever. if they're willing to consider a political solution, the russians, i think everyone has concluded there's no military way to prevail in this campaign and the iranians have concluded the same thing. >> we've heard the same comment from the russian president. does that make you think perhaps his time might be numbered? >> i think the idea that syria is assad and assad is syria for

anyone is coming to an end. i think that all of the parties that are involved in this coming up discussion in vienna want to see syria stabilized because of all the instability its radiating throughout europe and iran among them. so while they will remain an ally of syria, i don't think that's indeferent for al assad. >> do you think assad recognizes that given russia and iran have been rumbling about dilemmatic transition? >> i'm pretty sure assad doesn't want to wind up like some of the others in the region who have gone through a similar process. a political transition has compared to some of the other ends that were met by some neighboring countries seems like an attractive option for them at this point >> real quickly, my last

question for you, how hopeful are you about these talks they might actually lead to a resolution here >> i don't think anyone is predicting the talks are going to lead to an outcome immediately. but if you look at it, the fact that all the parties other than some of the opposition are included means that there's no longer this role that iran plays as spoiler an outsider. and i think without that, there's a possibility to really make some kind of a break through to at least start a path towards an eventual political solution to this conflict. >> a lot of hope with that. thank you for your time tonight. now to the fight against boko haram. the rebel group executed 13 villagers last night in southern niger. they also burned cars and set fires to buildings. today the army said troops rescued more than 300 people

being held captaive. 30 rebel fighters were killed in the two raids on tuesday. in afghanistan, taliban fighters captured police headquarters and government buildings during intense fighting today in the northern province of taqar. officials say the taliban have joined forces with other rebel groups and are spreading out across the north. >> meanwhile, crews continue to search for survivors after mondays quake. they're spending their third night outside in dropping temperatures and are desperate for food, snow, and blankets. the fear is conditions could become deadly especially for children. we have a story from pakistan. >>reporter: help is beginning to arrive but the most difficult thing about that help is the

fact that it should be arriving in time. now, we have been able to see families still waiting for someone to come out and get them out of this difficult situation. this old lady has been waiting for two days. she says no one has come to her house to try and give her the reassurance that she will be able to rebuild this mud home. she is traumatized. >> our house has collapsed. what will we do now. we have very poor and now we've lost everything. we won't be able to rebuild. no one is helping us. and there's been no way for the government. we're sitting at the mercy of god. >>reporter: there are many other people like this who are still waiting. now, the problem has become very complex because the destruction is over a large area and it's in small approximate pockets.

more tensions in israel and palestine. a palestinian was shot after pulling a knife and trying to stab a soldier. it happened in hebron. palestinian president said it's no longer useful to waste time in peace negotiations but israel just for the sake of it. he told the u.n. -- occupation is at its worst and most critical since 1948. the year of israels independence. he said palestine needs help from the international community. >> we want your protection. we want the protection of the world. we can no longer bear all these attacks perpetrated by the settlers and the israeli army. we need protection and look to you. protect us, protect us, we need

you. >> he described the shootings of palestinians as extrajudicial killings and did not condemn the stabbings. the situation around south sudans civil war is much worse than we've known. a new report that says civilians have been raped, beaten, forced to fight, and even in some cases forced into cannabalism. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

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among the details, allegations of rape, torture, children being forced to become soldiers, mass graves, mutilated bodies, and reports of people forced to drink human blood and eat their flesh. there is no evidence genocide has occurred. tonight a look at the effects of war in south sudan. it is the youngest country in the world. tens of thousands have been killed and many have been forced to they fled. >> she's the month of six

children from south sudan and voted for independence four years ago. he's being forced to leave her home and go back to sudan. >> i really regretted it. i will never go back to south sudan. if you saw how they killed our loved ones, you could not imagine how we arrived in sudan. neighbors gave us beds. >>reporter: nearly 200,000 people have run away from violence in south sudan in the last four years. government forces are fighting rebel groups for control with civilians often becoming the victims. five members of this family were among them. reginas relatives attacked, her mother and sister killed, and she doesn't know what happened to the others. >> my mother and sister were hit in the head. other siblings were separated from us and i don't know where they are now. [woman crying].

>> four years ago, it was a different story. after years of conflict, people voted to separate from sudan. the government helped transport many of them back to areas they called home, a new country of south sudan. [clapping]. >> they were hopeful of a new life and peace after independence but instead they got war. >> death is everywhere. people were buried in a very large grave yard. the kids were not safe either. even a pregnant woman has not escaped death. >>reporter: less than five years after leaving sudan, they're back. this time, as refugees who have suffered a lot. caroline malone, al jazeera. sky wheeler is a researcher with human rights watch and joins us to talk about the findings, video, the horrific stories. what were you most struck by? >> i think just the scale of the abuses. we've seen similar reports that

have come out better. our organization has done some reporting. the united nations has found evidence of war crimes, crimes against community by both government and opposition forces. but this really underlines the scale of the abuses that have taken place in this conflict. it also does service to the ethnic element in this conflict about how both government and opposition forces have targeted people again and again. >> it assigns blame to both sides, the government and rebels there. >> absolutely. i mean, forces from both sides have pillaged towns, destroyed huge amounts of civilian property. rapes by both sides. and massive displacement of population. >> so when you see the findings and the disturbing details about

cannibalism and targeting of ethnic groups people think genocide but reports say no genocide here. do you agree with that? >> we have also not found that general size is being committed but this conflict is enormously ethnic. >> why is it not genocide then? >> we found then that there were again and again groups both of them being targeted by the government and opposition forces. but the threshold we found didn't reach that of genocide and that's also been the finding of this report and the u.n. as well. >> what needs to be meet to meet that criteria. >> it should be said, like, that what has been found is just as bad. i mean, the war crimes that have been committed in many different towns, large parts of the country are completely

destroyed. crimes against humanity. very serious. that's an international crime and an atrocity crime that we found as well. these will not milder designations or descriptions of what happened. these need to be taken extremely seriously. we need to see accountability this time. this report is extremely strong on that, this new au report. >> how so? >> this conflict is perhaps some of the worst and brutal killings and attacks south sudan has ever seen but it's also just the latest in many decades on attacks on civilians and there's never been any accountability to these commanders and so this time there needs to be some kind -- >> how can you -- justice, accountability, how can that be imposed on a region like this?

>> this needs to be part of the solution for south sudan. in the peace agreement signed in august, a very fragile peace agreement, they did agree they would support hybrid court to be established. the a.u. has said they'll establish this court. >> so there's an idea that the leaders could be in theory held accountable in an au court. >> that's correct. this is something possible now. >> and brand new. >> and brand new. but we need to see a lot of support. we need to see donors coming in and making sure that this court is as robust and strong as it needs to be in able to provide accountability. >> a slight bit of hope something might be done about this with a court being created. >> okay. thank you, we appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. still ahead, a desperate rescue. hundreds saved after their wooden boat cap size around greece. greece.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. more reporters, more stories, more perspective. >> from our award-winning news teams across america and beyond. >> we've got global news covered.

undisclosed misconduct. the prosecutors are expected to drop the charge of lying to the fbi. >> a police officer in south carolina has been fired after he violentery arrested a high school student.

he threw her and federal officials are now investigating. >> it was another tragic day at sea for refugees trying to reach europe. three people drowned with their boat capsized after the greek island oflessless boss -- lesbos. just a few of the survivors of another tragic sinking in the aegean. they looked bewilledered, unsure where to smile or not. a child was passed into the boat apparently unharmed but passed into silence. but many were much, much worse.

>> in the darkness, the key side was transformed into an emergency triage center strewn with foil blankets. many were suffering severe hypothermia and shock. some appeared to be slipping away despite the best efforts of specialist medics. >> move. move. move. move. >> okay. okay. >> a child wrapped in blankets was hurriedly rushed to hospital in the arms of a medic. others were able to walk. lesbos has been receiving 5,000 refugees every day this summer. this is not the first sinking tragedy here. local residents are deeply

affected by it. >> babies are drowning. i am 67 years old and i can't hold back my tears. of course, it is the big states that must help. since we have small and unable to do so. they must do the job. the people drowning are our own blood. yet, we are sorry. but what else could we do? shame. >> more boats arrived with more survivors. these in apparently better. like so many sinkings this year, the true total fatalities may never be known. paul brennan, al jazeera a route used by refugees to get to germany could soon be restricted. austria intends to build a fence on its border with slovenia. more than 700,000 refugees have

arrived in europe so far this year >> the former australian prime minister is facing criticism for anti-immigration measures. he says europe should do the same >> this means turning around people coming by sea. it means denying entry at the border for those with no legal right to come. it means establishing camps for people who apparently have nowhere to go. it will require some force. it will gnaw at our consciences, yet, it's the only way to prevent a tide of humanity surging through europe and quite possibly changing it forever. australia started its cra

crackdown in 2013. some leaders condemned abbott for citing the bible for his position. now to a stunning new global health report. the w.h.o. says tuberculosis killed more people than hiv and aids last year. that is despite the fact that tuberculosis can be treated and cured. gerald tan explains. >>reporter: every day, nearly four and a half thousand people die from tuberculosis. no region is immune to the bacterial infection alleges known as tb which mainly affects the lungs. significant progress has been made tackling it. mortality rates have halved in the past 25 years but that's still a long way from ending the epidemic. >> worldwide, 9.6 million people arest mated to have fallen ill in 2014. nearly a quarter of cases killed

more in india alone. it killed 1.35 million people. aids/hiv killed 1.2 million. because tuberculosis can be treated and cured, the world health organization calls these deaths unacceptable. >> this is a poorest among the poor disease and they're neglected. these people cannot speak loudly about tuberculosis. more than 95% of people can be cured. it's an issue of strategy, financing, planning for interventions. the who is appealing for $3 billion. it also hopes to close the gap in detection as more than a third of cases last year either went undiagnosed or were not reported. the focus now is on the most vulnerable communities to be first in line for treatment and

not the last. and joining us now from chicago is dr. gary shotkin from the university of illinois chicago school of public health. doctor, thank you for being with us tonight. >> thanks. >> a lot of progress has been made but clearly a lot of work left to do. why is the mortality rate so high. this is a disease that can be cured. >> yeah, that's exactly right. and so this is kind of a mixed story. but a really important story because you can see the progress that the world health organization and the countries have made because there's been about 40 million people whose lives have been saved in the last 25 years because of the way world health and their workers have been working on this. but the rest of the way is in need of resources and that's what they're talking about. so why are people dying from tuberculosis? it's largely because we haven't

been able to reach them. so you have to imagine hundreds of thousands of health workers in these countries, but still not reaching all of the people who have tb who need treatment. >> do you feel the global community tackles hiv differently than tuberculosis? >> that's always been the case. i worked in tuberculosis for a while and people were not really interested and nebraska with aids, people did get interested and tuberculosis is still around. aids had a degree of activism and excitement and enthusiasm and glamour and of course we saw a lot of it in the west and the u.s. and europe and it pulled resources, research, money, a new drugs. >> but there's also the argument that aids, at least when you look at the global scale, affects a lot of poor african countries that need the extra help meanwhile tuberculosis affects a will the of ton tris

like india and china who can some argue better care for their patients. >> yes, india and china are considered middle income compared to some of the other african countries. but still overall in this -- even this is in the west we're underspending on health. we're spending on all kinds of other things but still don't have good enough health systems and that's what's needed. the ability to reach people who are sick. with tuberculosis people are not being reached and then passing it on to other people, to the next generation. and it keeps going. >> how vulnerable are western countries like the united states then to possibly an outbreak of tuberculosis? >> well, we've had outbreaks of tuberculosis. i worked in san francisco when it had the highest rate of tuberculosis in the country so

when you pull back resources, tuberculosis does come back. i mean, tb is at fairly low levels. it's still a very important disease and especially in immigrant populations as well. but the problem overseas is just overwhelming by compareson. and that's where the resources are needed. and what world health is responsibly asking for the global community to come up with another three billion which isn't so much really i frankly think they're underestimating how much is needed and it's just simply note that much in considering the trail i don't know trillions of dollars in the community. here's a disease where there's a stratte gentlemen, it is working and they're asking let's go the rest of the way. >> it's frustrating because as you mentioned, there was a cure to this disease. it's stunning how many people it kills every year. thank you for joining us still ahead, the deadly haze.

indonesian authorities desperately hope rain will help end fires covering much of southeast asia with toxic smoke. and because of the millions of people living there, just trying to breathe can be very difficult. difficult.

officials are greatly alarmed by the decision to void the vote. meanwhile, the people of nepal are celebrating the election of their first female president. she will act as a someone equal head of a nation. the prime minister is the actual leader of the country but womens rights activists who once praised her leadership are now criticizing recent comments from her. she reportedly said nepali women fighting for their rights are being influenced by the west. >> forest fires in indonesia are causing major health concerns as a thickening poisonous haze covers much of the country killing 19 people so far. it will be worse than the fires of 1997 they say.

they're considering declaring a statement of emergency. authorities are hoping for rain. >> there's an increase in the possibility of rain predicted to exist. we'll launch are -- the past few da days ham perked hampered us for this. >> and those fires are making life for people there miserable. the smog has caused respiratory problems for half a million people. al jazeera has more now from west indonesia. >>reporter: millions across harebell parts of the country have been forced to breathe toxic smoke for five weeks now because fires are continually burning in large planations. the fires contain dangerous

toxins. the just one week five babies died from lack of oxygen. her parents are angry at companies and farmers who continued to burn forest and vegetation to clear their land. >> those who burn are not using their brains. otherwise, they would think about the impact on other people. and they would know it would create this haze. clearly those who burn are greedy. scientists have calculated this this years fires are emitting more green house gases in the atmosphere than across the entire united states every day. patients in had this hospital are suffering from an increase in respiratory diseases. >> it's not enough to just wait for the rain to come and douse the fires. there should be more sense of emergency. >> there's anger among the

millions forced to breathe poisonous air for five months now. victims of the haze like this baby and the parents of baby la tee pa have yet to receive government support. they say their polite has been ignored by the government. >> erin is afraid of the smoke after losing her sister. she won't take her protective mask off. >> they will have to be brought to justice and punished as severely as possible. we have rule of law in our country. it's the only thing i can hang on to. >> police have named 17 companies suspected of causing the fires. they have lost their licenses but environmental groups say they're a small part of a much larger problem. with fires still spreading out of control, latifas family hope others will be spared losing a

loved one because of this man-made disaster. and we're joined by a professor of sustainable development at colombia university. these fires happen every year so why are they so bad this year? >> it's a tragic situation that's happening in southeast asia. this year is an el nino year which is an atmospheric condition. it means in southeast asia, conditions are dry, the fires burn, there are emissions aband this haze is spreading over the region. >> and the government said it underestimated the effect. but how much responsibility should they be saddled with? they're created by farmers trying to create land. >> fire does not occur naturally

very often in that part of the world in the humid toics so they're caused by people. fire is an effective, cheap way to clear land and manage agricultural lands. >> but should the government allow farmers to do this. >> it is not allowed. in indonesia, fire is not allow. >> but they do it anyway. >> it's very difficult to control. >> why can't the government control this? >> one reason is in some areas there are deep stores of peatland where there are very sick layers of carbon-rich material and when people go to farm that, they have to drain that from the water and then when the dry conditions come, that's like a tinderbox. so when the fires begin, they

burn on the peatland and they're hard to put out. >> do you get the impression that the government isn't particularly concerned about stopping these fires or does not have did resources so stop them. >> it certainly requires a lot of resources. probably more than the government can handle. and as you can imagine it's quite a big political issue in that part of the world. >> farmers rely on this. >> right. >> so where do you think the blame lies for this then? >> it's easy to point the finger at one type of company or another. there's a will the of finger pointing which goes towards the oil industry and certainly some companies and small holders who are producing oil palm do use fire. not all of them. but some do. but also other types of land users.

there's timber concessions. different crops. there's all kinds of people using the lands so it's difficult to point at one single industry. the main issue is the fires occurring on the peatland. >> because that creates such toxic smoke causing so many problems. >> and it's so difficult to extinguish. >> what are your concerns about the health impacts of this? >> there are certainly health impacts. respiratory respiratory problems and cardiovascular impacts. schools an airports are closed. it's a huge health and economic impact. >> and people are dying from this. >> okay. thanks for coming in tonight. >> thank you. tainted honey is creating a disaster for mexican bee keepers >> and the british secret service says its most famous

fictional spy is not fit for duty. duty.

a british man jailed in saudi arabia has been set free after found with homemade wine. saudi arabia bans alcohol. his family said he wouldn't survive the punishment and

circulated a petition for his release. now to our global view segment. look at how news out lets across the world are reacting to various events. this headline from global times, it's time for global destroyer to serve. the chinese newspaper writes china should remain cause and it's a simple challenge by the united states to the rise of chinese power. the guardian says it risks escalating an already-tense situation. >> the u.s. must keep open lines of communications with china to prevent things from getting out of hand. >> and the toronto star headline brings syrian refugees in the right way. it writes that the prime

minister elect should rethink his promise to bring 25,000 syrian refugees to canada by the end of this year. the paper suggests that maybe that's too soon and it would be better to do it the right way than rush to meet an arbitrary deadline. to mexico now, mayan bee keepers are fighting to save their livelihood saying a new type of soy bean is contamina contaminating what they can eat. >> this bee keeper calls it their greatest treasure. the same color but more valuable than gold. it's called honey. produced here in tree trunks by tiny bees. they don't sting and they make the most prized honey in the jungle. >> we use it for ceremonies to

ask for rain. >> the ancient mayans even mixed honey with dirt, their famous pyramids. her husband uses smoke to keep them from attacking. >> the honey produced here is extremely sought after and fetches a very high price on the european market. but the livelihoods on the families depends on their ability to keep their honey pure. >> and that's why these nearby planations have become the enemy. genetically modified and sprayed with herbsides. they're providing bees with what bee keepers describe as contaminated pollen. >> they're threatening to close

our market. >> ucatan peninsula bee keepers made a final appeal this week on the eve of this ruling. the court has the power to limit crops that have the potential to impact health. . and finally, the world's most famous spy james bond would be unfit for duty according to british spy agency mi6. it says bond wouldn't be given a job

today because he doesn't have the emotional intelligence for modern spy craft. >> that does it for us tonight. thank you for watching. stay right here, america tonight starts now. starts now. [ ♪ ] everything you are looking at at some point were covered with water. a lot of people want to move away, they can't afford to sell their house, throw another well. >> how did we get to this point. >> assuming that water would never run out.