after a bloody civil war and 60 years of mistrust, the leaders of china and ty wan are now shaking hands for the first time. hello i'm jane dutton in doha. also on the program, russia suspends all flights to egypt after a bomb is believed to have caused saturday's crash. walks away with barely a

crash. presidenscratch. president obama says no to the keystone xl pipeline from canned. two men and an historic handshake with we've just seen live when china's president xi jinping greets taiwan's ma lin jo. they call each other mr. because china does not recognize taiwan's independence. whatever side you sit on, sahil

ramaan speaks to us from singapore. >> reporter: you touched on some important points, jane. 12 months after both sides said they wouldn't see each other on the sidelines of a reefnlg regil conference in beijing. china has become more assertive in the last months. taiwan itself, the dispute of the south china sea has been really the top story here in the region for quite some time and therefore the dialogue that taiwan needs with beijing is very important. and when you have the chinese president inviting you for talks you're not exactly going to say no if you are the incumbent president of taiwan. what also is significant is the location here in singapore.

the scheduled meeting of both the singapore prime minister and the chinese president was scheduled after 25 years of diplomatic and economic relations was already called. the announcement that taiwanese president ma would be attending and therefore a huge gathering of media, 500 from across asia pacific has gathered here for symbolic handshake and to try to cement perhaps the way to form and create dialogue which last been stumbling for the last few years. >> and that dialogue sahil will be happening, we're talking about the meeting the two gentlemen calling each other mr, sahil you wonder with the timing, why now?

>> not just china and singapore having a relationship for 25 years, it's very significant for china to cement some sort of relationship with taiwan, because president ma is the incumbent prime minister, bus taiwan is heading into a general election, and this communication is very important, perhaps mr. ma thig thinks is something that will be a vote winner in taiwan. suggesting that the antichina opposition are in the lead and if that is the case, the leader of the party at the moment is a woman and if she does win that election she will become the first female president of taiwan. but what you see is taiwan trying to cement some economic perhaps some business deals that might actually help it in the

election. tut butt as far as the chinese are concerned they are not here to sign any particular economic agreement. it's all about trying to bolster the relationship and trying to ease the tensions that we've seen over the last 20 years. we of course have to remember that when taiwan ever wants to promote independence, call itself independent country we see quite aggressive stance from china in 1964, missiles being launched into the taiwan straits, that ratcheted up the tension and caused regional concern. >> you tell us if anything comes from that meeting over there sahil. the schism between china and taiwan goes back to 1949 when china's nationalists were defeated by communists on the mainland. rob mcbride has more. >> reporter: this will be an

historic meeting with leaders along the road since the time of their founding predecessors. in 1949 after a bloody civil war mao zedong against chan chiang kai-shek. , set on very divergent paths. >> the soviet union supported china, and the taiwan strait became a cold front frontier. until 1979 when china said it wanted dialogue. >> reporter: as the cold war ended and mainland china, helped by much closer business transparent and communication

lings. but the differences remain. versus taiwan's multiparty politics and its vibrant free speech, the two leaders come together knowing differences even how they address each other is a problem with neither recognizing each other as the president of china. at this meeting they will simply be mr.. the fact that the two sides at least acknowledge each other's existence counts as progress. >> translator: as long as the confrontation is over, china is effectively unified and this summer is part of this process. this is not how other countries solve the process. the process is very chinese. >> reporter: this summit could set a precedent for future regular contact at the highest level or it could be a one-off with relations changing back to their fractious ways. but a handshake between a mr. xi

and a mr. ma is about to make history. rob mcbride, al jazeera, beijing. >> andrew thomas is in beijing, what's the reaction there from this summit, andrew? >> well, can you see behind me right now, a big protest right through the heart of taipei. perhaps 100,000 people dead against this meeting. both the presidents thrust out there, the words meaning no consensus for meeting, stop the meeting, they don't want it to go ahead. most of the people want taiwan to be a proper independent country. they never want unification with china. not only those with beijing but the party led by president ma. the system, they want a properly independent country. but it has to be said that not everybody is as vocal as there.

you goto talk to other people in the streets and they are a bit more pragmatic. as you'll see here they support this summit. >> translator: i'm pleased it's happening, i think it's a great break through for taiwan. i hope something positive comes out of it for country. >> i support this meeting. we need taiwan and china to forge peaceful communications. if the leaders can communicate it's showing one area we're at peace. >> translator: i believe this could open a new chapter for taiwan. >> andrew, there is an election in january. is this likely to have any impact on it? >> reporter: well, right now president ma is doing very poorly in polling, it look like his party is goods to look that election and hi opposing party s

going to win. there is a feeling that this meeting might push more people towards an independent dpp party. on the other hand what this might also do is bring home to the taiwanese that inevitably they have to speak to beijing, do they trust dpp party, the independence party, to hold talks or do they actually think that perhaps they're better sticking with the knc who will keep a dialogue open? will they be scared effectively, is the voting for ruling knc and against dpp? so a bit of a mixed message. people here think it will push people towards the opposition that president ma and his party ought to go. >> thank you andrew. on to other news, rebels in syria say they have captured a

village from hama province. aftermath of the fighting, syrian forces had taken over the village just last month. violence has escalated in the west bank after days of calm. a 72-year-old palestinian woman, family confirmed she died later a jerusalem hospital. they say she was trying to fill up her car with fuel. israeli officials say she was speeding towards a group of soldiers. a 22-year-old palestinian man has been killed in fighting, died by a single shot to the head. 30 other palestinians were injured and four israelis have been injured in a shooting and stabbing attack. there's been nearly daily violence since the beginning of

october. 76 palestinians and 9 israelis have been killed. russia has suspended flights from egypt, data from the black box of the airline has suggested that a violent explosion happened on board the airline. paul brennan reports from london. >> reporter: there is a major exodus now underway from sharm el sheikh. twe,000 departing britains will be, appreciative usely described the u.k. flight suspension as premature. the question is what changed the kremlin's mind. the british said their decision was based on intelligence which made it more likely than not that a bomb was responsible. the head of russia's fsb gave no details saying only it was expedient to suspend flights until the real reasons for crash

are known. >> translator: until we determine the actual causes of what happened, i believe it is reasonable to suspend flied to o egypt. on the one hand we find it necessary to cooperate with the egyptian authorities to continue joint work on the reasons for the crash of this aircraft. intriguing clues, it's been suggesting that these pock marks on the inside of this rear door could be the result of shrapnel originating on the inside of the aircraft. the metal hull seems to have peeled outwards, indicating the force came from the inside of the plane. >> the only way to put the pieces back together again. the good news is, it is not underwater, you literally put the jigsaw back together.

it tells you if there was an explosion, you'll see if the explosion was inside or outside. >> there is a spotlight on egyptian security, particularly over baggage handling. the italian air security is warning all passengers, and british repatriated to the u.k. will only be able to bring hand luggage with them. >> we are moving up the number of flights normally expected on a day like this by quite a lot. so aspiration is to get as many people home as possible. >> that is not an easy challenge. had hoped to operate 15 planes,

but in reality only five departed. egypt said it simply couldn't cope with any more than that. >> egypt will cooperate fully with the u.k. authority to bring back those tourists but we want to make sure that they come back safely, and that the planes are dealt with in a professional way. >> the search of the sinai desert is continuing. scattered on the ground the debris of lives cut tragically short. children's books, a jewelry chain, what hasn't been found is a definitive reason for crash. the options are narrowing. paul brennan, al jazeera. >> plenty still ahead on al jazeera. as the people are watching, they go to the polls in the first meaningful election in a generation. and odam burst in brazil and a town is engulfed in dirt and

debris. debris. heroes... this is one promise americans need to keep.

>> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the soundbites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is. >> hello again you're watching al jazeera. the top stories, the leaders of china and taiwan have met for the first time. xi jinping and ma yunung jo have met in singapore. the general election is due to be held in january in taiwan.

russian has suspended all flights and data from the black box recorder suggested violent explosion caused the crash in which 224 people died. a young man has been found under the rubble of a collapsed building in pakistan. he was pulled out hours after authorities said hopes were starting to fade of finding any other survivors. the four story factory in lahor collapsed killing nearly 35 people. >> the rescued man crawled out, we didn't have to pull him out. we are hopeful he will recover soon. >> tell us about this good news kamal hyder. >> yes, in fact this particular boy was rescued 50 hours after

the factory building collapsed. now interestingly his family had already been given a body of a badly mutilated laborer and they had buried him thinking they had buried their sob. but yesterday when they saw this first hope a ray of hope and they saw it on television they were shocked but at the same time, releafd to know that their son was alive. that has given hope to the rescue teams that there possibly are more survivors, although so far there is a steady flow of dead being recovered from the factory. however people are not giving up hope. it is a delicate job. one thing that is coming out of this tragedy is the facts that the labor department that was supposed to enforce that no child laborers were not involved in this factory were not doing their job. also the fact that this building

superintendent only had thrort for threauthority for three sto. the rescue efforts are still continuing. >> thank you, kamal hyder. many hope the votes in myanmar well help transform the country from a military dictator ship to a fully democratic society. scott heidler has more from yangon. >> reporter: with the election posts down, myanmar is just hours from heading to a historic vote, the election that the whole world is watching. many have seen extensive campaigning. many here haven't seen in a

quarter of a century. with all political parties running. especially the national league for democracy, the party of the nobel laureate, aung san suu kyi. boycotted the election a year before the transition to the somewhat civilian government. more than 91 parties participating in these elections. her father unu was the last democratically elected prime minister. he was removed by military coup in 1962. >> now within five years, within five months we wanted to have changes, lots of changes we wanted to see. but as for my father, as he was a seasoned politician, so he might not have this kind of

frustration. >> reporter: she feels the nation needs to channel some of her father's patience. as the ruling party wraps up its campaigning, this is their last rally some feel that despite predictions of a big win for the opposition and aung san suu kyi, this is just part of the process to full democracy. that destination is still far away. and they also think this election is neither free nor fair. >> this is a very important step on the road to democracy for myanmar but it is only a small first step. even if opposition parties were to win 100% of the seats elected that are available to them, the military has a constitution in place that is stacked in their favor. >> and that includes banning aung san suu kyi from becoming president and giving the military the power to appoint 25% of the parliament. with so many factors and possibilities in play and in

uncharted territory exact predictions of myanmar's political future is probably as accurate as the famous yangon fortune tellers. scott heidler, al jazeera, yangon. >> swearveg country iwest africs expected to be given the all clear, after over 42 days of eenl ebola free. refugee policy for syrians despite an announcements from the foreign minister, syrians will be bard from reuniting with their families. government spokesman saying there is no change to their status so far. an operator of a mine says a

small earthquake may have caused two dams to burst, rafael peroni reports from mariani. >> it is hard to believe there used to be 200 home in this areas. now there are own ten after a mixture of water mining materials and mud flooded the area. southeastern brazil, those who used to live here can hardly believe what happened. >> translator: i heard a strange noise. and when i went out to see what it was it looked like a volcano. i don't know how i managed to escape. i saw a lot of people running. >> translator: what passed through our house was worse than a tsunami. everyone was shouting. families shouting. >> reporter: hundreds of people have been rescued. many are now shem ter shelterinn

emergency accommodation. 12-year-old victor can't put the horror of his experience into words. his family spent the night in the forest waiting to be rescued the next morning. >> i feel my grandson, my brother, i started screaming, it was really hard. i want to wake up from this nightmare. >> environment groups are claiming that the flood is spread mercury and arsenic all along its path. however the company is denying there is any toxic material this the area. >> translator: it is important to note that the sludge burst out of that dam is iron ore spoils which isth earth. there is no physical damage it caused. >> san marco, a joint venture, a small earthquake may have caused

the dams to burst. rescue teams are flying over the region but as every hour passes hopes that they will find any more survivors are fading. al jazeera, mariana. two police officers have been charged with a fatal shooting of a six-year-old boy in louisiana. jeremy maddis was hit six times as police chased his father's car. officers have been charged with second degree murder and attempted second degree murder. president obama has rejected a canadian company's bid to build a pipeline across the united states. the company transcanada had been trying for seven years to get the project built. rosiland jordan reports.

>> reporter: president barack obama rejected the company's application on friday. the first reason, economics. >> the pipeline would not make a meaningful long term contribution to our economy. so if congress is serious about wanting to create jobs, this was not the way to do it. >> reporter: the other reason the u.s. credibility on ending global warming. the u.s. is meeting with other countries at a major climate change conference in paris in december. >> frankly, approving this project would have under cut global leadership. >> transcanada has been trying to build the 1900 kilometer long pipeline along the u.s. heart land since 2008. it would connect transcanada's oil appliance with refineries in the gulf of mexico.

would was preected to mov predi0 gallons of oil a a day. >> my priority is to go ahead and get it done. >> but the state department which is in charge of the review finally decided that keystone xl doesn't serve the u.s.'s national interest. transcanada's ceo says he is displeased. >> today rhetoric won out over reason. >> while environmental groups are celebrating they say they need to keep the pressure on the president. >> we've helped him stop arctic drilling, we'll help him stop atlantic drilling. this is not just about what the

president is forced to do in a under pressure. >> if you want to find out more about that important decision and other news log on to our website. website. >> on "america tonight": a survivor's story. >> why would you as a rape victim be concerned about bringing shame to your family? >> in my plong community i hmong community, a daughter who doesn't get married to the man who raped her is seen as less than clean. >> good morning and thanks for joining us, i'm adam may, sitting in for joie chen who is on assignment.