egypt's president promises to work with other countries to protect foreign tourists after the sinai plane crash. ♪ i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, the u.n. warns 5,000 refugees will try to cross from turkey to greece every day over the winter. the battle for syria's highways. the government takes control of a strategic road in aleppo, but loses a key supply line in hama. and the disappearing coastline of louisiana, hit by rising sea levels and environmental destruction.

♪ hello, egypt's president abdel fatah al-sisi says he is ready to work with what he described as all of our friends after the russian plane crash. hundreds of people have been protesting nearby at president sisi's human rights record. cameron says it is more likely than not that a bomb was the cause of the sinai crash. he says britain is working with egypt to restore flights as soon as poeszable. >> my role is to act in the right way to keep british citizens safe and secure and i act on the basis of intelligence that i receive, and the basis of advice that i get. of course i cannot be sure, my experts cannot be sure that it

was a terrorist bomb that brought down that russian plane, but if the intelligence and the judgment is that that is a more likely than not outcome, then i think it's right to act in the way i did. >> german airline group lufthansa has followed the british plan. so jamal on this issue of the flights, what has the egyptian response been on this? >> reporter: well, obviously they are not happy at all, because tourism is one of the only flows of foreign currency they have been getting in the last few years. considering the huge instability and insecurity that is in cairo and other formally top

destinations for tourists, britain providing one million tourists actually to egypt every year, and the suspension of those flights is going to hit egypt hard. not only because it is going to effect its economy, but sisi is already an embattled president. he has failed to deliver on the many promises he has made since taking over power, particularly in terms of trying to improve people's lives in terms of trying to combat violence and extremism as he says it. in fact the opposite has occurred over the past two years. violent attacks interest tripled sin the military coup that he lead. this latest incident has proved another blow to his presidency. >> and so -- i mean the crash was obviously high on the agenda, but what else have they been talking about? >> reporter: well, in terms of

the public statements they have spoke -- >> we seem to have lost jamal for the time being. hopefully we'll get him back a little later on. in the meantime the first funerals of saturday's plane crash have been taking place in russia. >> reporter: the first of the 224 victims to be buried. as investigators in the sinai increase the search area, britain has revealed they have additional intelligence, indicating an isil affiliate could have been behind the disaster. the government held an emergency meeting discussing how to get some 20,000 british holiday makers home safely. >> it looks increasingly likely

that it was brought down by a bomb, so i act on the intelligence, the advise of experts, and it's the right thing to do to suspend these flights until we have safely bring people home. >> reporter: russia maintains any theory on the crash at this stage is pure speculation and their anger over not being party to new information is palpable. >> translator: it's surprising it is the chief of a foreign affairs ministry, and frankly, we're really shocked to find out the british government has information could shed light on what happened in egypt. >> reporter: and this video from the isil affiliate in iraq, celebrating the plane crash and sending a stark warning to russia. stranded tourists are being told flights back to britain could begin on friday, but not before the government is convinced passengers will be safe. as the search continues, people

are pinning their hopes on the data recorded by the flight's black boxes, hoping their will answer the many questions of what happened in its final moments. ♪ u.n.'s humanitarian agency says it is expecting at least 5,000 refugees to arrive in greece from turkey every day. as it begins to expel thousands of would-be asylum seekers from southeastern europe. in the first nine months of this year, a quarter of all asylum speakers came from syria. some 75,000 came from kosovo and albania. and as many arrived in germany

during the same period from serbia as afghanistan. >> reporter: parts of berlin, arab and turkish communities have long added to the ethnic mix. but in recent years they have joined by others. they are the subject of some hard choices by the german government. these two who are abanian says the new law has tried to left their community trying to work out whether a hostile community is better than the one they came from. >> they have a much better life. they have security, they have hospitals, doctors, and all of the schools for our children, but on the other side they feel this home sickness, because they are here as kind of strangers. >> reporter: the numbers sought

that more kosovoians made the journey this year than syrians. the feeling has grown that economic migrants have used the syrian crisis as a trojan horse to come into germany on a false claim. the new laws here serve more than one purpose for angela merkel, for a start they help her keep our right-wing coalition together, which increasingly believes that germany is becoming a soft touch for anybody who wants to come here, but merkel can argue that getting rid of tens of thousands of people from the balkans can free up money and space for desperate refugees from syria. police arriving at apartment blocks to explain that they have to go. >> translator: it's a really big job, and the immigration authorities and police don't

have enough resources to expel all of these people. but there are trained police talking to them, hoping they will volunteer to leave. we offer them money to return home. >> reporter: yet the central claim that all of the bakken countries are safe, since they are not war zones isn't shared by hume -- human rights group who say that some are at great risk. >> i would not say they fall under the geneva convention. but the situation they would endure when they go back to kosovo is a situation which would not allow them to have a life in dignity. >> reporter: still the fact is that nearly 200,000 people from the balkans will be removed under this scheme. their failed cases are collateral damage of the syrian war. lawrence lee, al jazeera. the syrian government says

it has taken control of a strategic highway into aleppo. the route allows it to supply its forces based in the western part of the city. the road was cut off by isil forces last month. but the government has lost ground on another key supply line in northern hama. and there have been weeks of fighting since the government and its allies pushed into the region. zana hoda reports. >> reporter: this is just one battle in a war that is focusing on syria's highways, the opposition has advanced in the hama countryside, taking control of most of morrick, a town on the main road in the west of the country. there have been weeks of fighting since the government pushed into this region, but the rebels managed to make background in this region. morrick is close to a main highway. the government wants to take

full control of the hama countryside to be able to protect itself strong holds and push further north. >> translator: the regime pushed into northern hama and southern idlib to remain the highways. they need land routes. they cannot air drop supplies to their forces. but the opposition has turned the tables and took the road. the government is in a difficult position now. >> reporter: but it has regained ground on another front. when isil captured this road over a week ago, it was seen as a setback for the government. this road is a lifeline for the military and the people who live in western-controlled districts in the divided city of aleppo. but the main highway between aleppo and the capitol damascus further south has been blocked by the opposition for years. >> this new battle is about securing highways. it always has been. the army has had manpower problems. even with the support of hezbollah, it had to choose

battles. the goal of the government and its supporters now is to secure movement between the cities and maintain control of what it calls core territories. this fight, however, also have political goals. each side is hoping to change the balance of power in order to impose their own settlement, and while tactical gains have been made, neither side has achieved a strategic win. zana hoda, al jazeera, beirut. still ahead on al jazeera. caught between fighting and famine, we report on starving yemenese. rome tries 46 local politicians, businessmen, and gangsters accused of digging lucrative public contracts for years. ♪

♪ hello again a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. egypt's president says he is ready to work with what he described as all of our friends to ensure the safety of foreign tourists after the sinai plane crash. he has been meeting with david cameron in london. >> translator: even after the crash of the russian airplane there was a telephone call with the prime minister and he agreed on more coordination of checking the safety procedures, and i shared complete understanding. and we responded immediately to the demands, and we received the team at the airport, and i say here that we are ready to kwap rit with our friends, and make sure the security measures taken

at the airport provide the safety needed for people to come to us. >> the united nations refugee agency expects 5,000 people to make the crossing from turkey to greece in the coming months. the u.n. food agency is warning it hasn't been able to reach two of the most vulnerable regions in yemen for weeks. intense fighting means the people are stranded and no aid can get in. >> reporter: these positions in the mountains nestled between two remote provinces are among yemen's front lines. pro-government fighters are trying to keep away houthi rebels coming in from ta'izz. >> translator: there, you can see houthis [ inaudible ] in the district in ta'izz. >> reporter: it's an important

area that links to the southern part city of aden, which is a strong hold for pro-government forces, with the administration of president hadi has been operating. >> translator: if houthis and militias take control of this area, they could take control of [ inaudible ] and town, and then head to the coast to take control of aden. god willing we won't allow them to take control of this area. >> reporter: more than 3 million people are caught in the fighting, and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating quickly. the u.n. says it can't provide aid because of the intense fighting, and roadblocks set up in the area. for five weeks they haven't been able to reach these provinces. which means tens of thousands of people are without essential supplies. >> they are beyond our reach,

and [ inaudible ] emergency, food, and security measures. it means they are hungry, and these [ inaudible ] and we haven't been able to reach them for the last few weeks. >> reporter: dozens have been wounded in recent weeks. in neighboring ta'izz as well, many civilians including children have been killed and injured. people say houthi rebels and forces loyal to the former president are in the east and south of the city, and medical supplies are running out. once the fighting stops the damaged bridges and roads will make it even harder to provide help. the u.n. chief negotiator in libya is set to step down and take a job with a gulf country which supports one of libya's rival governments. he'll take over the uae's

diplomacy academy. it has brought a furious response from the tripoli-based government which has asked for an investigation. let's go live to gabriel elizondo who is at the u.n. for us. what do we expect to hear from leon today? >> reporter: he is giving an address to the security council right now. this is a regular update to the security council on the fragile political situation in libya. the u.n. is trying to negotiate some sort of power-sharing agreement between the two governments there. the government in tripoli and the house of representatives based in tobruk. however, this has been overshadowed by leon apparently taking a job at an uae think tank, run by the government, and

apparently negotiating this job while he was still the u.n. special representative to libya. this is so important because the uae is a key backer of the house of representatives. so it is being looked at as a potential conflict of interest. it looks bad on him personally, but beyond that, the allegation is perhaps he could have been trying to influence the outcome of the talks being brokers by the u.n. to try to get some power-sharing agreement. so that's really the controversy that has really every shadowed him leaving his post in libya. >> and have we heard from the u.n. about this letter sent by the gnc? >> reporter: as leon went into this briefing, we asked him what he thought about these allegations and why he took this job. he ignored our questions and

walked in without addressing it. however, the united nations has not also addressed the latest allegation, showing the guardian newspaper published emails allegedly between leon and the foreign minister of the uae talking about this job while still working with the u.n. but the gnc has sent this letter asking for an explanation on how this could happen, they say it could torpedo the entire political process in the country. >> thank you very much indeed. rescue teams are search through the rubble of a collapsed factory in pakistan. at least 21 people died in the incident. there was structural damage in the area due to an earthquake there last week. kamal heidler said there is still hope that people might be alive under the rubble.

>> reporter: it is because of that that the rescue teams are not working at a faster pace with the attempt to reach those people. they have identified certain places in this particular large factory building which has collapsed, and they are now concentrating on that particular section of the collapsed factory. now importantly, as you were mentioning, there was some structural damage after the major earthquake according to witnesses that we have been speaking to, but after that, there used to be a lot of vibration in the factory because of the machines running, and despite the warnings, the owner decided to add another floor to the building. so the billing was already fragile and with the addition of the fourth floor that was underway, the building collapsed. but right now the only hope is the voices that people have been hearing. the rescue teams. sometimes they turn off all of

their equipment and try to listen carefully. but as you can see the pace of work has now picked up. they are still busy. this is the second night, and it is a race against time because a lot of people who were buried there may not have warm clothes, it is another cold night in lahore, and it appears it will take several days for them to be able to remove the pile of rubble you see behind me. these were mostly poor people, so indeed, a terrible ordeal for the families who are waiting for news. more than 40 people have gone on trial in rome in a major corruption case. criminals, businessmen, and politicians are accused of being part of a network that rigged lucrative publish contracts in italy for years. >> reporter: rome is on trial. it is the capitol of italy's

criminal underworld. over the past 11 months, authorities say they have unearthed evidence that the city was run by a network of criminals, businessmen, and local politicians who used extortion, corruption, money laundering to rig service contracts. the investigation was rebranded capital mafia. >> translator: it's a classic mafia method. in rome memberi-- members of a corrupted the local administration, and if someone didn't cooperate they used violence. >> reporter: the network was led by this man, a convicted criminal, nicknamed the p pie -- pirate. they are accused of siphoning

off millions of dollars. the crime cindy indicate allege ldly also won contracts to manage migrant reception centers, exploiting the migrant crisis. they called it more profitable than drug trafficking. on thursday the lawyers of the defendants did not deny claims of corruption but said they shouldn't be tried as mafia monsters. >> there are no bomb attacks, there is no violence. it is very difficult to imagine mafia mobsters having to pay public servants in exchange for favors. >> reporter: rome is in desperate need of solid leadership. the former mayor is under investigation over his role in the scandal. the new mayor was recently forced to resign over a

relatively minor expense scandal, even though he handed over years of corruption to the authorities. it will take months for a verdict to be reached. protesters in bangladesh have been carrying mock coffins through the streets, they represent the bodies of secularists, bloggers and, and publishers who have been murdered since february. the murders are being blamed on hard line muslim groups. the demonstrators accuse the government of failing to take action against these groups. in the united states, native leaders from more than 160 recognized tribes are in washington for a special summit, hosted by president barack obama. it comes as some groups are

demanding better protection from the impact of the oil and gas industries in their territories as well as rising sea levels. >> reporter: the women of the nation are recreating their forbearers 19th century migration. they are just outside of new orleans. >> the consistent scene we have had each day is what do you think our ancestors wanted for us. what kind of ancestors do we want to be? and who do we want for our children. >> reporter: they found refuge in the bayous of louisiana. canals were built in the 1930s, and pipelines laid to the gulf of mexico. erosion already underway gathered pace. the ocean water was able to inundate the fresh-water wet

lands that acted as a natural barrier for louisiana for 6,000 years. the department of the interior says oil and gas companies are responsible for up to 59% of coastal land loss. and it's from the air that the destruction is most visible. the outline of man made canals still visible. >> if you look out the window, you can see this is all water now, but we should be flying over a land mass. >> reporter: they are now spread thinly along the coastline. every hour an area the side of a football field is lost. in towns there is now only water. already towns experience regular flooding. >> the water was over the highway, the main highway. >> reporter: this is just the remnants of a hurricane -- >> remnants. >> reporter: not a real hurricane. >> not a real hurricane.

and that's the carry -- scary part. >> reporter: many of the tribes in this region will see no help, because they are not federally recognized. no one in the oil and gas industry accepted our request for an interview, but the industry provides essential employment for the tribe, but lessons have been learned. >> hold them responsible for what they do. don't do as we did when they came in, we just opened up the land and said do what you will. >> now we're here and now we're being pushed away again. >> reporter: there's no consolation of why americans are going to have to move too, i guess, huh? >> reporter: well, honestly, once these areas are deemed unsuitable for us to stay here, you'll have the rich coming in building camps to stay here on the weekend. >> reporter: once again it seems

the huma nation will be forced to leave. much more news for you at anytime on our website, the address for that is aljazeera.com. and you can also watch us live by clicking on the watch-now icon. aljazeera.com. ♪ the british promise to bring their tourists home after flights are grounded in egypt. the latest fallout following the downing of that russian jet liner. the million masked march, the group protesting in hundreds of cities across the globe, promising to unmask the kkk. and poison crabs off of the coast of california could jeopardize an entire st