foreign ministers from 19 countries have met in vienna for top level talks to resolve the civil war in syria. she say a number of agreements have been reached. well, the talks come as more than 60 people are killed and dozens wounded in a syrian government missile attack on a crowded market. at least 30 refugees including 11 children drown as more boats sink off the coast of

greece. the last british prisoner has been released after more than a decade in guantanamo bay. i'm in doha with all the sports including australia gets green and gold fever as the wallabies prepare to take on new zealand. all the buildup for saturday's match coming up. world powers backing rival sides in syria's war have finished crucial talks in austria. for the first time iran, a key ally of the syrian president, was involved in the diplomacy sitting down with the regional rival saudi arabia, which along with the u.s., supports syria's rebels. at the close of the meeting, the u.s. secretary of state john kerry outlined what the world powers taking part had agree on. >> the participants agreed today that syria's unity,

independence, territorial integrity, and secular character are fundamental. we agreed that syria's state institutions will remain intact. we agreed that the rights of all syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination must be protected. we agreed it's imperative to accelerate all diplomatic efforts to end the war. we agreed that humanitarian access must be assured throughout the territory of syria and the participants will increase support for internally displaced persons, refugees, and their host countries. we agreed that dash and other terrorist groups as designated by the u.n. security council and as adpreeed agreed by the participants must be defeated. >> to get the late on the talks in vee yen that, mohammed joins

us live. there have been several meetings about trying to find some kind of solution to the war in syria. from what you heard the snuz conference, does it sound like now we're on a potential path to peace? >> reporter: barbara, what's interesting about the president conference that's actually still going on right now between u.s. secretary of state john kerry, russian foreign minister and laz rov and the special envoy of syria are all speaking. what's interesting is after a couple of days of really lowering expectations on the part of all the participants here when they would speak to the press, it seems as though it's a mood of more optimism with regards to trying to find some kind of common ground to resolve the crisis than we've heard in a long time. now secretary of state john kerry as well as foreign minister lavrov talked about how

difficult the discussions have been. they were being quite honest and transparent when it came to expressing to the media how tough it was to come to a mutual understanding. these points that you outline, that sound bite with secretary of state kerry a few moments ago, they're called a mutual understanding by the participants here today. what was praising repeatedly in the presser is that these nations, many of them on opposite sides of this issue, some supporting the syrian president and many supporting the opposition, the fact of the matter is they say the fact they were able to get around a table and try to hash these differences out, that this is serious progress, and that they are committed to try to continue to pursue progress when it comes to syria. all of them said repeatedly that the situation in syria is not an inevitable one. that all should be done to try and resolve the syrian civil war. secretary kerry spoke often about how dire the humanitarian

situation is in syria right now and how they must continue to pursue a path toward peace. they also all spoke about how there must be a renewed effort to counterdash, and to that end secretary kerry stated that the u.s.'s approach when it comes to syria going forward is a two-pronged one. one, a renewed issue to pursue dash and to reinvigorate diplomacy. in two weeks' time there's another meeting in vee yen ya. it's not clear who will participate in the meeting and if, in fact, the syrian opposition or members of the regime of al assad will be there. there is a sense of hopefulness absent if these talks for quite a long time now. barbara. >> the latest from vienna where the meetings take place. thank you. after russian air strikes in syria that targeted opposition strongholds as well as those of isil, russia's foreign minister

sought to reassure the international community that his country was not entered the conflict on al assad's side. >> translator: before wre talk about military interventions from the air or ground, both need to be conducted with the agreement of the government or u.n. security council. >> as the diplomacy goes on, the carnage continues. government jets fired rockets into a market near damascus killing 61 and dozening more injured. it helped in douma, which is often targeted by government forces that counter rocket attacks by opposition groups. in august 117 people were killed in a single day of air strikes in the ground causing a global outcry. meanwhile, the u.s. will send up to 50 special forces to northern syria to help in the fight against the islamic state of iraq and the levant. this will be first time the u.s.

troops work openly on the ground in syria and also marks a u-turn in president barack obama's promise not to put u.s. boots on the ground to fight isil. the white house press secretary said this most special operations force shouldn't be underestimated. >> the president does expect they can have an impact in intensifying our strategy for building the capacity of local forces inside of syria to taking the fight on the ground to isil in their own country. that has been the core element of the military component of our strategy from the beginning. building the capacity of local forces on the ground. >> rosalynn jordan is in the u.s. capitol at washington, d.c. however they want to paint it, it has an assisting role rather than a direct operation role. this creates a change with u.s. boots on the ground. as far as we know, have they checked with the syrian government? do wefr what bashar al assad

thinks of it but russia who says there should be no action on syrian ground without checking with the assad government? >> reporter: well, we don't know, barbara, whether the u.s. has permission from syria to deploy forces inside syria. in september 2014 when the u.s. started to launch air strikes against isil targets inside syria, damascus complained loudly because it said it was a violation of sovereignty. if anyone was launching air strikes against isil, it would be syrian fighter jets doing so, and that the u.s. didn't have permission. let's also not forget that the syrian military has not interfered with the u.s.-led air coalition air strikes on isil targets inside syria. that point about whether permission has been granted is a very important point because the russians do have influence and do have the ear of bashar al

assad and the fighters. they have both raised the point, lavrov as well as a leading russian military officer raised this very point about whether the u.s. has measure mission to carry it out. this is raising questions yet again about weather the obama administration is stretching the bounds of the legal authority to carry out its counter-isil operation. while members of congress agree that isil is a threat, they also question whether the u.s. is doing so legally. the obama administration argues that the legal authority it was granted after the september 2001 attacks basically give it permission to go after isil. there are a growing number of members of congress that disagree and they want to actually try to deal with this issue of granting legal authority to the obama administration sooner rather than later. we don't know if that's going to happen, though. >> it's going to be a little

reaction over the diplomacy from vienna and the announcements out of d.c. as well in the next few days. rosalynn jordan live for you in washington. rosalynn, thank you. one of the terrible encompass of the war in syria is the refugee crisis. now another two boats carrying refugees from turkey to greece have sunk. at least 30 people including 11 children drown in the agean sea. more than 100 were rescued from the water, but many refugees still continue to risk their lives just to escape conflict back in their home countries. we have this report from lesbos. >> reporter: they barely made it. this pleasure boat was lucky to

reach the island. many swam the final few meters to the rocky shore, but out in the agean people are dying every day. a surge in the rivals the last few days has overwhelmed authorities on land and sea. on lesbos they have averaged 7,000 to 8,000 a day. authorities say it's partly due to pressure from turkish smugglers to maximize business before winter. >> whether you're in this type of criminal business there's no respect for human lives, and i think for the smugglers, all of this is like dealing with cargo shipments probably. >> reporter: the surge means more loss of life at sea but also pressure on camps as people await registration. still waiting for his travel documents is afghan fighter alazat. he paid the price for working as interpreter by being hunted down by the resurgent taliban.

my dad said don't work with these guys, and the family life is unrest. take the money and get out of afghanistan. go wherever you want to go. don't come back in my home. >> reporter: he's waited for two years for an american visa. he can wait no more and is asking for protection in europe. this camp built for 1500 is overrun by more than twice that many. they now spill over barbed wire fences into the surrounding olive groves. there's no running water, nothing to eat and nowhere to sit down. only children manage to escape briefly from the daily realities. this is greece's first eu hot spot where new arrivals are screened of the there's room for about 10,000 people in camps like these across the country. greece has now been forced to

raise that capacity to 50,000, most of it in government-built temporary shelters, the remainder in private housing. greece says that europe needs to do more. >> translator: i want to say that as a european leader i feel, shame for both the inability of europe to deal with the human crisis but also for the quality of the debate. >> reporter: greece now has to build the new capacity as the prospect dawns that arrivals may not pause to let the winter pass. >> the situation is not improving for refugees heading further into europe. there have been more chaotic scenes at the border between slovenia and austria. austrian police say around 7,000 people gathered after slovenia brought large groups of refugees there by train. thousands of asylum seekers have been trying to climb over barriers. austrian police are trying to transport people away from the

area. well, we have much more for you ahead in the news hour. the latest in yemen where even children are targets for snipers' bullets. celebrations on the streets. why not everyone is quite so happy with the results of the election. in sport, it began with a controversial refereeing decision and it ended up in hostage-taki hostage-taking. jo will have the details of the bizarre combination of a top level football match in turkey. more than 50 were killed during two days of fighting in yemen. fighters allied with the exiled president say they have houthi rebels in areas under their control and civilians are killed in the crossfire. senior houthi leaders say

efforts to find a political solution have failed. a warning, some viewers may find the images in the report disturbing. >> reporter: she's one of the latest casualties in yemen's war. she's 7 years old and doesn't understand why grown-ups are killing each other in her hometown. >> translator: i was playing on the street and was shot in the leg with a bullet. >> reporter: it's a tough job for mothers to explain to children what are snipers and why they shoot at anything that moves. >> translator: my sister and her son were both shot by snipers. she was hit in the stomach, and the child in his leg. today my daughter was shot as she was playing outside. >> reporter: people say hundreds of have died in weeks of intense fighting between houthi fighters backed by forces loyal to the former president and pro mief

government fighters. they say they have gained ground, but the houthis have deployed snipers on hills overlooking areas they control. >> translator: they have tanks, artillery and heavy weapons. we are just armed with our conviction that we will prevail. we will continue to hold our ground to defend our own city. >> reporter: with no signs of a let-up in the fighting, diplomatic attempts seem to be falling apart. efforts to reach a peaceful solution have failed, and that's from a houthi agreement peace plan brokered by the u.n. the head of the houthi committee criticizes the u.n. envoy. snipers are killing again. her husband says she was shot dead from a houthi-controlled area. women and children are vulnerable in any conflict, and in yemen, too, they are paying the highest price.

israel has agreed to release bodies of palestinians who died in recent fighting or killed in hebron in the occupied west bank, and on friday israeli forces shot another two palestinians at a economic point in the occupied west bank. israeli police say that they opened fire after the men tried to stab a policeman. one of the palestinians has died and the other one is in a critical condition. 67 palestinians and 9 israelis have died in a string of violent incidents since the beginning of october. as the violence continues in the occupied west bank, palestinians are accusing israeli troops of shooting dead civilians who pose no security threat. the allegation is supported by rights groups including amnesty international. we have the report noi from the city of hebron. >> reporter: they're in grief and struggling to accept what happened to their sister. the father of 17-year-old dani from hebron tells me she was

shot dead by an israeli soldier after passing through two army checkpoints. >> translator: they say she had a knife. if you have even a metal screw, the machines will pick it up. she's already been searched twice and then a soldier yelled at her where's your knife? she yelled back, i don't have a night, and he shot him. >> reporter: amnesty international says it's one of several places it investigated in which palestinians were deliberately shot dead by israeli forces that pose no imminent threat to life. in some cases the person shot was left bleeding to death on the ground, in violation of humanitarian law. such reports are adding to exiting tensions in hebron where a few hundred israeli settlers live in the heart of city with severe restrictions. clashes here between young palestinian protesters and the israeli army are nothing new.

now palestinians are shot dead in disputed circumstances. al jazeera asked the israeli military about amnesty's claims. they directed us to the ministry of the foreign affairs. they simply said this was yet another incident in which amnesty demonstrates a lack of sfw in the israeli victims of palestinian terror. some activists say troops sometimes placed knives next to palestinians to falsely complicate them in attacks. this man who fears reprisals spoke to someone who witnessed a shoot. he disputed the israeli forces act that she was shovelled in a stabbing attack. >> he tells us that he saw the guy, the young palestinian man just walking on the street. hearing something, and then raising his hands shois open palms in order to show that he didn't have any weapons on him,

and then a few seconds after he was shot with these rounds of machine gunfire and then fell for the ground. >> reporter: it's impossible for al jazeera to verify that version of events. it's clear that with every shooting dead of a palestinian, the anger on the streets is growing along with calls for the israeli army to change it's tactics. al jazeera, hebron. earlier in week fabricipaki government promised aid and compensation to survivors of the earthquake, but that's not extended to businesses and many have no insurance. we have the report from islamabad. >> reporter: people in this clock shop aren't sure what's happening, and then they realize it's an earthquake. they run into the bazaar, and the clocks on the wall continue to shake. the tremor lasted over a minute. no one was hurt here in the

busiest bazaars just south of the pakistani capital islamabad. it could have been much worse on monday, but no matter where you look many shops are not insured. he's been a clock distributor for nearly 40 years. he depends on his work to support his family and is helped by his sons, but many shop owners are not insured. >> translator: the money we would spend on premiums could easily be invested in the business. we get nothing in run for a claim because companies would never pay out for the volume of the business or rebuilding the shopt. >> generally, a starnld insurance policy here includes protection of fire and theft. natural disasters is an option added at the discretion of the customer. there are over 50 insurance companies in pakistan that offer quake protection. legally, businesses aren't obliged to insure themselves.

>> reporter: >> translator: if the government forced them to insure themself, this would encourage everyone to see the benefits of proper inclusive insurance. >> the majority of people affected by the earthquake have no insurance. earlier in week the prime minister announced compensation packages for families of the dead and injured and those that lost homes but nothing for businesses. this commercial property was also badly damaged in the earthquake, which happened over 250 kilometers away. the facade is crumbling and there's a real fear the building may collapse with another strong aftershock. the structure itself is also not insured. back in islamabad the construction continues neck to his home. the properties are valued at approximately half a million dollars, and yet he and none of his neighbors have home insurance. as a religious man he feels his family has been protected in the past and will be in the future.

al jazeera, islamabad. tanzania's new leader called for unity after the political poe opponents accused him of stealing power in a rigged election. he won 58% of the votes keeping the ruling party in office. we have the report from tanzania capital. >> reporter: tanzania's national election commission said he won it with $ 8.8 million votes. the party has been in power for 54 years. con speck kaish con speck yusly missioning was the opponent. he said the election was rigged. they deny the allegation. >> the law makes it very clear. there was absolutely no way to

validate what work has been done by the electoral commission. >> reporter: preliminary reports say that the election was reasonably fair. he wants to continue what he started and be a minister for public work in the infrastructure. he's also going to be strong on corruption. those who voted against him want a real change and the ruling party does not represent that. there's anning rer in in neighborhood where people say they feel cheated. jobless graduates to the roughly 6 million who voted for him. >> translator: there's no democracy. over 50 years, and we'll still being ruled by one party. >> reporter: some analysts say he has a tough job not just uniting the country but dealing

with factions within the ruling party. >> he should rebuild his party. his party is comparatively to the old days is a weak party. he hasn't tried to repair it, you know, does ideology. the old analogy is to leave it. rr there's a desire for change here especially among the young people. the president-elect is appeals to them to give him a chance to make those changes. still ahead on the program, as the u.s. prepares to release over 6,000 prisoners convicted of drugs offenses, we meet the family of one man who will soon be set free. chinese parents are now allowed to have more than children, but do they want to? a mixed reaction to the end. one-child policy. in sport why this american gymnast could become one of the biggest stars at next year's

olympic games. s.

world powers back rival sides in the civil war reached a number of agreements during talks that end the conflict. it was the first time iran took part in negotiations. the u.s. announced it will send about 50 special forces personnel to northern syria to advise in the fight against isil. at least 30 refugees including 11 children drowned after two boats sank off the coast of greece. well, it's been one month since russia became involved in syria's war. it's launched over 1,000 air strikes in the past 30 days and says that isil is the target. we take a look now at what's at stake from moscow. >> reporter: russia didn't start the war in syria but may be trying to finish.

for one month russian jets have bombed areas across the country. >> translator: we will support the syrian army only in a legitimate fight specifically against terrorist groups. >> reporter: 30 days and more than 1,000 air strikes later, military analysts are still trying to determine kwho putin defines as terrorists. on one hand russia says it's going after isil fighters. while some of the air strikes have hit isil areas, many haven't. the united states, which is also bombing isil in syria, isn't convinced about the isil line. >> assad has really chosen himself to fight isil. >> last week asad made the first foreign visit in the for years he's been at war with his own people. the trip was a surprise, but the destination wasn't. moscow is a long time ally. not long before the russian military campaign began, assad admitted he was running out of

soldiers. >> translator: the terrorism spreading today would without kwur decisions and actions spread to more territories and states, not just in our region. >> reporter: russia's propaganda machine is hard at work, too. slick internet videos appear to glorify its role in the conflict, but they're filmed from the vantage point of the russia russian accidents. here are the ones that aren't. russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, but with hospitals being hit, russian tactics are also under scrutiny. >> what they're doing is if they have a target that they think need to hit, they are not worried about the collateral damage and hitting the hospitals and killing innocent civilians is something they've been doing really since they became involved. >> reporter: has any of this made a significant difference or shift in the fighting? we still don't know for sure.

the casualty numbers may hold clues. an estimated 595 people have been killed so far in the russian air strikes. most of the dead are not civilians or isil fighters but from groups fighting the syrian government. >> for more on syria is the day's events in vienna, we're joined in the studio by chris doyle. thank you for joins us here on al jazeera. after an hour and a half where a lot has happened in the syrian crisis, let's focus first on the meeting in vienna. the first meeting where iran was at the table, we saw a news conference with kerry and lavrov both sitting there from the u.s. and russia. they had some kind of plan to have a plan. what did you make of what came out of it? >> first of all, we have to welcome the fact that these talks have happened. it's been over 600 days since the last international conference on syria.

that's a start, and indeed, they haven't announced a breakdown of talks they carry on in 14 days time. that has to be welcomed. there is nothing that is particularly fresh. they talked about a single state of syria and it should retain the secular character. perhaps the one area we're hearing more talk about, though, is a gathering consensus that there could be elections after transition period of six months. now, i think a lot of syria experts would query whether that is conceivably possible given the state of the country, how confided it is and the levels because these powers meeting in vee yann yen that today are able to say that doesn't mean it can happen. the other thing, of course, is absolutely clear is here are all these powers meeting. it includes all the major external actors, but there are no syrians.

perhaps it's appropriate they hold these talks at the hotel imperial. it was quite extraordinary to hear the eu higher representative say that all the relevant actors were there at this historic meeting. well, syrians are wondering when they're going to be invited to give their views about the future of their country. >> forgive me for interrupting. does it reflect the reality, though, this has become a bit of a proxy war? that's not to say the relevant parties in syria have an impact, but especially since we saw russian involvement in the past 30 days, proper military involvement. doesn't it reflect the although? >> it reflects the reality that the syrian part of the conflict is subordinate. the united states and russia play out their differences over syria. vladimir putin tries to

demonstrate he should be taken seriously and russia has the interest in syria. there's the cold war between the saudis and iran, and it was very noticeable that they were -- the saudi and iranian foreign ministers are at complete opposite ends of the table today. they're playing out their differences over syria. yes, there is a strong argument to say the international actors in this conflict immediate to do what they are doing right now, sort out some of their differences so they don't further full apart the syrian actors on the ground. >> it was interesting listening to the language coming out of kerry and lavrov. kerry saying they will agree to disagree whether al assad should stay. at almost exactly the same time the white house has announced they will have under 50 or so special forces in syria itself. this raises the question whether they have the okay of the syrian government to do it, which is

something that lavrov himself has said anyone with any kind of action in syria should get the k of the syrian government. do you see that as becoming a potential spark between the u.s. and russia? >> well, i think this is fascinating. the times -- timing of this is accidental, and i understand that john kerry claimed it was, he didn't know this announcement would be right then. to happen right in the middle of delicate talks is obviously sending out a very strong signal. i cannot believe that that wasn't deliberate, and it is saying that russia is taking its own unilateral steps in regard to syria and the united states is capable of doing the same. it's not a huge military step. >> it's symbolic. >> they could use it as an excu excuse. i don't want to use that word because an skugs to confront of

u.s. on syrian grounds. >> i think what we see at the same time is peace talks are going on. it's still the ongoing escalation on the ground. of course, there was a massacre today in a suburb of damascus. we see increased weapons being delivered to those forces opp e opposed to al assad, the so-called moderate opposition. we see increased russian and iranian presence within syria. there's two parallel processes here going on at the same time. >> very briefly if you can. we're seeing iran now at the table and u.s. and russia agreeing toe disagree on the points where they don't see eye to eye but having a path to peace. is there any kind of turning point, i guess, in a way? >> fe look at the diplomacy over the last three months, it leads up to such a meeting. we have seen far more diplomat

activity. there are reasons for that. the huge refugee crisis has the europeans very agitated by a solution and the russian swer very longs has aggravated things and there's the continuing presence of isis. so all of these things means the diplomacy has been much more active, and that's why i think they're going to continue the process and try to find a way forward and in the past they walked away after the last geneva conference, they walked away and there wasn't a follow-up. >> director of the council for ar rab understanding. thauch very much. the last british resident to be held in guantanamo bay has been freed. he had been held there for 13 years. during the last eight years cleared for release twice. he flew back to the u.k. on

friday as emma heyward reports. >> reporter: after more than 5,000 days inside guantanamo bay he was finally back on british soil. flown back to an airport on the edge of london. a moment his family and campaigners are longed for. >> shaka will have a mix of euphoria, because he was never sure it would happen. at the same time it's a crashing back down to earth where he has to figure out what's wrong with him physically. he's going to have to start reshlg his relationship with the family. he hasn't seen his wife and kids since they were very small. in the case of farris, he never met his child at all. imagine going through that as a parent? >> reporter: during his incarceration he wasn't charged with anything. he was detained while working for a charity. in 2002 he was transferred to guantanamo bay. by 2007 the bush administration

cleared him for release. still in custody in 2009 when the obama administration also cleared him for release. he went on hunger strike sever times, one of the many prisoners to protest in this way. campaigners say he was held in a appalling conditions, sometimes in solitary confinement and allege he was beaten. his release is after years of relentless campaigning bus bring his family. he has to try and rebuild his life. it's expected he'll be reunited with his family including one child born during the initial stage of his incarceration. his release is after more than 13 years said in the world's most notorious prison. many ask how and why it took to long to free him. about 6,000 prisoners are

about to be released in the u.s. to help reduce overcrowding. all are first-time offenders locked up for nonviolent drug crimes. more than 205,500 inmates serve time in 122 federal u.s. prisons. that's more than any other country. it doesn't include state prisons or county jails. from figures in 2013 it costs almost $30,000 a year to house, feed and auto look at each inmate. patty culhane reports now from washington, d.c. >> he's always having fun. >> reporter: the really likes to talk about his brother, todd. >> comedian. he demands the room. always has. >> his pictures show an inseparable pair always smiling growing up in the poverty-stricken side of washington, d.c. this is where the pictures stop.

at 24-year-old todd foster in his first run-in with the law was found guilty of a nonviolent crime, dealing crack cocaine. along with seven others they had 15 kilograms, and that meant his sentence was life in prison. no chance of parole. >> you sell drugs, you know, you do your time or whatever. life without parole for something you can put in your pocket? i never -- i would never see that in a million years. >> the judge had very little discretion because federal law requires mandatory prison sentences. its a formula that looks at the type of drug, the quantity, the circumstances and that adds up to the sentence. the independent commission that oversees sentences just changed the formula, reducing the time future and past prisoners will have to serve. shaving an average of two years of prison time for drug offenses, but for those sent to life it means they will know

freedom. part of the reason is money our country spends a lot on prison and they are overcrowded. almost har are there on drug charges. congress continues lower the penalties further p-but that has its critics. >> it will drive the crime rate up because these peel will go back to what they did previously and that is victimize the public by selling poisoned drug says, heroin, cocaine, crack, methamphetamine. they destroy people's lives. >> the vast majority that get out are sent back to prison. ford knows the challenges they're facing. >> with me it's life. this is the poorst i'll be. you want to say, hey, hey, you can me. i'm there. i'm going to be -- i'm going to be tied like this. ich to make sure i write. he's going to be good. he's definitely going to be good. i promise you that. >> after 21 years of thinking there was no hope of freedom,

now he has a chance to find out. patty culhane, al jazeera, washington. russia has failed to agree on creating the largest ocean sanctuary in antarctica. it's the only country understand behind it after china gave its report for a revised international plan. there is some optimism now. >> reporter: it is the least-touched continent of earth. millions of squareky low meters of sea, ice and life. only polar bears live in the arctic, but they're the birds and fish that live no one else. the eco-systems are valuable within themselves. they're also essential laboratories to measure the faekts of climate change. >> given all the impacts, it's important to distinguish let's happening through climate change and what through tourism and

shipping and ships. i have control thm thm controlled areaed. you can hit them with good scientific control. >> for the past five years these annual meetings delegates from 24 countries mru the yourian union have been negotiated to establish protected area. agreement needs consensus. in previous years russia and china vetoed proposals. they want to reserve the right to fish free le rly and said fully persuaded at the science behind the proposals. >> every year they're not established, it's open for fishing and other activities to degrade the eco-system. it's important to be put in place as soon as possible, to protect them. >> disappointing then but they failed to reach consensus this week. there is, of course, some frustration here. most delegating are leaving more opt advertise mcthan in previous

years. they may not have reached agreement but substantial progress has been made. pornly for the first time china says it now supports one of the tworoposed protected areas, russia, though, remains opposed. >> they've indicated they're not quite ready to proceed with this marine-protected area yet, but they're willing to talk with us intersessionally and we'll them up on the offer and hopefully we can convince them. >> so there's growing hope it's coming. for now antarctica still lacks the protection it needs. ant drew thomas, al jazeera, hobart. much more to come after the break including the chief solar setups that are keeping electricity in business. i'm lee wellings ahead of the rugby world cup final. will the mighty all blacks be stopped by their great rivals

australia?

the $50 solar system he's had for six months keeps him if

business. >> i did my business. >> zimbabwe currently produces about 1,000 megawatts of electricity a day, less than half of what's needed. to try and plug the gap, government leaders tell sglim bab wans she has to buy a solar powered heaters because electric ones are being phased out. >> i don't think people will be able to afford looking at it. people have been laid off jobs and the cash is not available. >> a 100-liter water heater costs about $100 after naulgs. the average life span is about three years before some maintenance is needed. >> we like to be saving 300 or more megawatts of electricity consumption. if we go solar, it means we're going to be serving 60% of our -- of what we pay for the energy. >> poor families are told they

can buy imported heaters had a government subsidized price announced soon. >> we are working with both india and china, but also with the countries outside of the regio regions. we are working with european companies, in particular german, because they have good technology in the solar sector. we're working with all countries and would welcome any investments into those energy sector. >> reporter: this current energy crisis is partly being caused by low water levels in the hydroelectric dams and aging stations. regular power cuts mean street lights don't always work. they're being replaced and eventually all the major highways will have that. around 8 million of the 13 million people don't have access to electricity. using more solar energy could change that. government officials are hoping

the energy crisis will be solved in the next three years. it's time for the sports news now. here's jo anna. >> thank you so much. less than 24 hours before australia takes on new zealand in the final of the rugby world cup. green and gold fever is catching in sydney where the iconic operahouse gave its own tribute lighting up in the colors of the wallabie wallabies. they are putting the final preparations together as lee wellings reports. >> in size and in excitement, this is the most successful yet. the tournament will have the final it deserves, australia against new zealand, the top two playing each other in the world cup final for the first time. the final is on the day of the halloween festival, and what's scary about these is they might

be the best team yet. they've won 13 consecutive world cup matches in their quarterfinal against france they won beautifully. in the semifinal against south africa they showed they can win ugly, too. steve hanson's starting team has nearly 1,000 cups between them with many that won the trophy four years ago. >> it doesn't matter what you do. life experiences are massive, and there's experiences that you win from and don't. hopefully we've won enough. >> australia was given a fright two weeks when they beat scotland bing a single point but impressed beating the host england andout scoring argentina by four tries to none. >> we know it's ement extremely physical, and i believe we've prepared accordingly, you know. once the 80 minutes starts, not

only with your preparations take ahold, but also a lot of reasons that are drivering you mentally. that takes over the physical part, and you're on the field for the physical parts later. >> it's the progress of second tier rugby nations such as 2019 host japan's incredible victory over south africa that's the major success of the tournament wauchled by over 2.4 million paying spectators as well as several billions on television over the six weeks. the cream has risen to the top. new zealand is the favorite to be the first time to lift the world cup three times, but to do it they need to cope with the physical and mental pressure of beating their closest enemy in rugby's biggest gachl. >> south africa and argentina have a priedz to play for. they contest the bronze medal match in an hour's time at

london's olympic park stadium. we have set up semifinal showdown with poland's competitor. she won in three sets on friday. the hard-fought win means the spaniard, who is playing in thement went tloo you her round robin matches unbeaten. she sneaks into the sem finals as well thanks to her czech teammate. she will place maria sharapova. also on saturday the biggest game in african club football will take place. they will host the democratic republic of congo in the first leg of the african champions league final. it's the first time they reached the final in the 78 heef year

history. it's the second season they have reached this stage with wirt rivals winning the champions league season just last season. >> translator: preparation gone very well. for the moment all goes well. the turkish football federation launched an investigation after a group of refugees were held hostage. they ordered that they be locked in the stadium after failing to award the home side a late penalty in their draw. the boss said he only allowed their release several hours later after a call from turkey's president. the world series heads to new york in a few hours time for game three between the mets and the royals. both teams canceled their formal workouts on thursday after

arriving in new york in the early hours of the morning following game two. the royals are 2-0 up in the best of 7 series. the mets know this game in crucial to to win their first world series since 1986. >> we didn't plan this to happen. comining back home is a big thi for us with the mets faithful behind us and the greatest fans in baseball. part of the reason our team had so much success this year is to handle the resiliency and win ball games. an american teenager is sheth herself up to be a big name at next year's rio olympics. she won three consecutive titles at the world gymnastics championships. the 18-year-old won the women's all around final in glasgow finishing ahead of gabby douglas.

she hasn't lost a meet of any kind in more than two years. rio will be her first olympic games. the united states also won gold in the women's team competition. that is all the sport for now. back to barbara in london. >> amazing how people do that gymnastics. thank you. new photos released by the u.s. space agency reveal more detail about pluto and one of its moon. they were taken by nasa's new horizons spacecraft in july when it was 1.7 kilometers from the dwarf planet. the green of these images shows unprecedented levels of ammonia surrounding a crater on pluto's moon. this is the first spacecraft to visit pluto. it's 3.1 billion miles from earth. lots more on our website, but that is it for this news hour. stay with us. we'll have more news for you in a few minutes. bye-bye.

>> ali velshi, lifting the lid... >> cameras in place for money and not safety. >> on the red light controversy. >> they don't give two cent about your safety. >> there's an increase in rear end accidents. >> ali velshi on target: hitting the breaks.

>> to diminish the muslim population inside burma, it's part of a genocidal process. >> rohinja faced abuse at every turn... rape, forced labor, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention. >> it was planned violence. >> the truth could not be revealed until today.

international talks are completed on the crisis in syria, as the u.s. announces it is sending special forces to assist the anti-government rebels. meanwhile over a hundred people are killed in attacks in duma and aleppo inside syria. ♪ hello, you are watching al jazeera, live from london. all thes coming up. boat tragedy off of the coast of greece. at least 30 refugees drowned, including 11 childr