after 66 years of mistrust, an historic handshake from the leaders of china and taiwan. jute hello, you're watching al jazeera. also - egypt says foreign intelligence on what may have caused the russian airline to crash has not been shared with cairo. >> india's prime minister narendra modi visits

indian-administered kashmir with the promise of help we head to gaza to hear the story of a blind karate competitor hoping to represent palestine. taiwan reaffirmed its commitment not to seek independence from china. chinese president xi jinping and taiwan's leader ma ying-jeau. shook hands. the first meeting has been called a symbolic moment of reconciliation. >> translation: today is an extraordinary day. the leaders of taiwan and china have met and gathered. this historic moment will open a new chapter, leaving a mark history.

>> translation: both sides should stick to one china policy. we have to recognise that although there's one china, we have to agree. no independence will be seen from taiwan. it is not allowed by the constitution. . >> we go to singapore, where the meeting took place. >> if we show you the press corp that are still here. when this meeting was announced less than 36 hours ago, what singapore experienced was a dell usual of journalists, 500 journalists and camera men here, many from the asian pacific region. the features in a roundtable session that you saw, or will

see in this broadcast was broadcast live to china, so was the president's speech, talking about cooperation with taiwan. as soon as he finished his speech, chinese broadcasters stopped stopped broadcasting from singapore. they did not broadcast what the taiwanese leader had to say. it's an interesting situation, that it's all right to hear what the chinese president said, but really no one else's opinion seems to matter. the schism between china and taiwan goes back to 1949 when the nationalists were tweeted by -- tweeted by communists on the mainland. rob mcbride has more. >> reporter: the meeting between the leaders of china and taiwan picks up a relationship virtually on hold since the time of their founding predecessors. in 1949 after a bloody war, mao tse tung and his communists

declared the people's republic of china in beijing. china's people created the republic of china on taiwan. competing governments republic of china on taiwan. set on divergent paths. >> translation: the soviet union supported china, taiwan sided with america. it was a cold war frontier. both sides remained on war footing until 1979 when china said it wanted dialogue. >> reporter: as the cold war ended and mainland china transformed itself economically, the gulf between the two changed helped by communication and transportation links. political differences remained. china's one party system and strong state control versus taiwan's multiparty politics and vibrant free speech. the two leaders come together, each how they address each other

is a problem, with neither recognising the other as the president of china. at this meeting they'll be mr. the fact of the two sides at least acknowledging each other's existence counts as progress. >> translation: as long as the confrontation is over, china is effectively unified. this summit is part of the progress. this is not how the countries solve their problems. this is vi much chinese. the summit could set a precedent for future contact at the highest level, or it could be a one off with relations changing back to their fractious ways. activists in syria say government, forces bombarded a city north-west of the capital. this showed the aftermath of strikes that killed 10 people, injuring dozens more. many districts under rebel control. doctors without borders say 40%

killed were women or chin. >> a village in hamas has been dean from government farces. activists say damage has been down. hama as been a key target of russian air strikes. >> government leaders complained that foreign intelligence has not been shared with him. >> the information we have about the incident has not been shared with egyptian security agencies. this is a question mark we should ask, because we are the most involved party when it comes to the issue. we expect technical information to be provided to us. instead of proceed. >> french investigators say black box flight recorder data suggests an explosion caused the disaster killing 224 people.

thousands of british and russian tourists are bleeng flown home from egypt as paul brennan prorms. >> reporter: there's a major exodus under way from sharm el sheikh. 20,000 departing britains will be joined by 40,000 russian tourists. russia and egypt described the flight description by the u.k. as premature. what changed the kremlin's mind. the british said their decision was based on intelligence, making it more likely than not that a bomb was responsible. the head of russia's f.s.b. gave no details, saying it was expedient to suspend flights until the real reason for the crash is known. >> translation: until we determine the cause of what happened. i believe it's reasonable to suspend flights to egypt. it applies to the tourist channel on the one hand, and on the other hand we believe it's necessary to cooperate with the egyptian authorities to continue joint work on investigating the reasons for the air crash.

>> reporter: a visual examination of the wreckage of the metro jet gives clues. it's been suggested that the pock marks on the inside of the door could be the result of shrapnel originating within the aircraft. other similar photos. on this one, the metal hull appears to have peeled outside. again, perhaps indicating that the force came from inside the plane. >> the only way is to put the pieces together again. the good news is it's not under water. you have all the pieces because it's happened in a desert. you take a big hanger, take all the piece, put it together if it and that will tell you whether it was outside the fuselage or inside the fuselage and that means it was a missile or a bomb. >> reporter: there are concerns about security. the italian aviation authority is telling all airlines to carry out their own checks, in addition to those done by the airport.

british passengers repatriated to the u.k. will only be allowed to bring essential hand luggage with them. >> reporter: we are working through challenging issues, we are putting additional security in place. we are moving up the flights. on a day like this, by quite a lot. aspiration is to get as many people home as soon as possible. >> reporter: that is a challenge. the u.k. airlines, monarch and easyjets hoped to operate 15 flight out of sharm el sheikh on friday. in reality five planes took departed. eight in total. egypt's said it couldn't cope with more than that. >> egypt will cooperate fully with the u.k. authority. to bring back the tourists. we want to make sure they come back safely and the planes are dealt with in a professional way. >> reporter: the search of the

sinai desert is continuing. scattered on the ground, the debris of lives cut short, children's books, a jewellery chain. what has not been found is a difinitive blame for the crash. the range of options is narrowing . >> police fought protesters as india's prime minister visit the indian administered cash year -- kashmir. narendra modi announced an aid package for the flood victims and promised more economic development. our correspondent was at the protest. >> protesters here have been clashing with police. the protesters are supposed to be contained in that area there. when they marched, waving the flags and the balloons, the police swooped in, almost out of nowhere and tried to push the crowd back, they've been running back and fourth. police have them contained to

this area. they were protesting narendra modi's rally, and he is here to announce an aid package to help victims of the flooding and announce development for the state. the people say they don't want economic help. they want political freedom, they want the issues addressed at the political level. curfews and securities around the city, preventing protests like this happening. but smaller contained ones have gotten through. police are struggling to contain this. it is kept in this general area. a young man has been found alive after spending 50 hours under the rubble of a collapsed building in pakistan. he was pulled out after hopes

were fading. the building collapsed killing 45 people. kamal hyder has the latest. >> hundreds of relatives are waiting for news of their loved ones that are under the rub. it's the recovering of this 19-year-old, 50 hours after the collapse of the building that is giving a ray of hope that perhaps their relatives may be alive. the search and rescue operation is slow. they do not want to move anything that might compromise anybody that may be alive inside that building. as you can see, a narrow road is separating the relatives from the rescue workers, who are busy across the road. you can see piles of rubble, lifting up large pieces of the debris, and the idea is to try to see if they can reach more survivors who may be alive under the rubble.

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hello again, the top stories on al jazeera. taiwan sought commitment not to seek independence from china. the leaders shook hands for the

first time in 66 years. egyptian leaders complained that foreign intelligence on the russian airliner crash has not been shared with him. data suggested that an explosion caused last saturday's metro jet crash killing 224 people police fought protesters as the prime minister visited indian administered kashmir, a local politician among those arrested candidates in myanmar held rallies before the parliamentary election on sunday. many home it about help to introduce full democracy. the opposition says the military is stacking the deck in its favour. with the election posters down and campaigning coming to a halt. myanmar is heading to the polls. a vote the whole world is

watching. over the past two months, most of the cities and towns are seeing campaigning some most have not witnessed. a vern election with all political party. especially the national league for democracy. the political laureate aung san suy kyi. the party boycotted a 2010 election, a year before the transformation to the civilian government. >> they did participate in the polling five years ago, as a founding member of the democracy party, one of 91 parties participating in these elections. her father was the first and last democratically elected prime minister, moved by a military coup. for 50 years we were under the rule. not within five years.

with within five months we wanted changes. he was a seasoned politician. he may not have a kind of frustration. >> she feels they need to challenge sol of her father's patients. some feel that despite predepictions of a win for the opposition, in is just part of the process to full democracy, that destination is still far away. >> and they thing this election is neither free nor fair. >> this is an important step on the road. but it is a small first step. if opposition parties were to win 100% of seats elected that are available to them, the military has a constitution in place stacked in their favour. >> and that includes barring

aung san suy kyi from becoming president and giving the military the power to appoint 25% of the parliament. with so many factors and possibilities at play, and in u.n. chartered territory, the predictions of the future is as accurate as the yank gong fortune tellers this is one of myanmar's closely watched elections history. florence louie spoke to do voters. >> the 2015 general election has been described as a landmark election. >> i'm here with two first-time voters, a corporate affairs executive, to talk about the poll on sunday. >> how important is the election to you? >> it's very important for me and the country. the right to vote is very - the most important thing for the democrat initiative, if we are truly practicing, and we can

pick our government. >> this election centered on the topic of change. what change are you hoping to see? >> i hope to see more representatoin from the opposition party. i want to see more from the opposition party. >> myanmar started on a transition to democracy five years ago. are you happy with the changes. >> i'm happy with the changes. people can see the country and government. at least they are trying to change. they are trying to change the legislative. >> i want them to take more responsibility for rule of law. and i don't feel safe around here these days. there's a lot of crimes. also, health care system is

poor. and education system, i want my son to go to the best group kristina and her friend will join 33 million legible to vote in the myanmar election on sunday. a somali member of the parliament has been severely wounded in a drive by shooting. al-shabab claimed responsibility for the shooting. a hotel used regularly by politicians in the capital was bombed last week, killing 15. >> sierra leone has been declared ebola free by the world health organisation. the west african country passed 42 days without a new case of the virus. the world's worst out break claiming nearly 4,000 lives. and more than 11,000 in the region. >> the operator of a mine in

brazil said a small earthquake may have caused two dams to burst. two are confirmed dead. hope is fading that dozens missing will be found alive. this report from mariana. >> it's hard to believe there used to be 200 homes in this area. now there's only 10, after a mix of water, mud and mining residue flooded the area. this is a small village south-eastern brazil. those who used to live here can hardly believe what happened. >> i heard a strange noise. when i went to see what it was, it looked like a volcano. >> what passed through our house was worse than a tsunami. everyone was shouting, families shouting. >> hundreds of people have been rescued. many sheltering in emergency accommodation, like here in

mariana, many were taken to hotels. this 12-year-old watched the horror of his experience. his family spent the night in the forest, waiting to be rescued. >> i want to wake up from the nightmare. >> environment groups plain that bloc claim that the floods spread mercury and arsenic along its path. the company is denying there is toxic contamination in the area. it is important to note that the floods that burst out of the dam is iron ore spoils, which is inert. there's no other consequences, other than the physical damage it caused. >> the site is operated by a mining company, a joint ventures

between brazil and australia's bhp. an earthquake may have caused the dam to burst. rescue teams are flying over the region, as every hour passes, hopes to find survivors are fading a palestinian man has been killed with fighting ail long the gaza border. the 22-year-old dying from a shot to the head. 30 other palestinians were injured. a 72-year-old palestinian woman died after being shot by israeli forces in the occupied west b k bank. her family said she was trying to fill up her car, soldiers say she drove her car towards them. >> 76 palestinians and nine israelis have been killed in daily attacks since the beginning. october. >> the white house said a peace deal between israelis and

palestinians would not be possible, before the president leaves the office. the assessment coming two days before israeli p.m. binyamin netanyahu's visit to obama in washington. it will be the first time the u.s. leaders reached face to face since the u.s. and its partners reached a deal with tehran president obama ranted a canadian company's bid to build a pipeline across the heart of the united states. the company, transcanada has been trying to get permission for the project. >> trans-canada's quest is over. >> president obama rejected the company's application on friday. the first reason, economics. >> the pipeline would not make a meaning contribution to the economy. if congress is serious about

wanting to create job, this was not the way to do it. the other wan was credibility on ending global warning. the others are meeting in a claen conference in paris. >> america is a leader when it comes to fighting clak. approving the project would have undercut that leadership. >> reporter: transcanada has been trying to build the pipeline since 2008. it will connect transcanada's oil fields with alberta with existing pipelines and refineries on the gulf of mexico. it was projected it would move 100,000 litres a day. obama hinted he might approve the plan in 2012. >> today i'm directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles and make this a priority to get it done.

>> the state department which was in charge of the review finally decided it doesn't serve national interests. the c.e.o. is disappointed and is considering next steps. today misplaced symbolism was chosen: >> environmental groups say they need to keep the pressure on the president. >> we helped him reject the keystone pipeline, we helped him stop arctic drilling. we'll help him stop fossil drilling this is not just about what the president does in a vacuum, but what he's pushed to do. >> helping president obama build his legacy, and looking ahead to whoever replaces him in the white house now, opportunities for young sportsmen and women in gaza may

be few and far between, more so for those with a disability, now the palestinian community is using an experimental programme, taxiing blind boys karate. here is a story of a blind competitor dreaming of representing his country. >> translation: i am 15 years old, i live in gaza city. i was born blind. so was my older brother and young sister. being blind used to make me sad. i got used to it. i adapted my life to cope. in the beginning i spent most of my time at home doing nothing. i decided to change my handicap and set goals. i went to school and studied. i want to continue my studies and get a university degree. so i can find a job one day. our school is a special blind school, it helps us a lot. here we are able to study and continue our lives as normal.

one day i heard about a special karate training programme. this training programme lp help me defend myself. i joined him. i was shocked. i wanted to know how to practice when i can't see. when i started training, i felt i could make it. i have succeeded. our instructor faced problems. but he took on the challenge. we are nine blind boys, and we help each other as if we were brothers. the coach adopted training involving hearing touch and sensory directions, knowing the four senses and knowing when to move. the instructor played an important role in training us, he became father, brother and friend. we thank him a lot for what he did for us. karate has given me confidence. no more street harassment. i feel we have faced the world. i want to continue with karate,

until we get the black belt. my hope is officials will help us develop so we can representatives palestine in international competition. it's quite an achievement. if you want to find anything more indepth in these stories, go to the website, aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com. >> i'm ali velshi. "on target" tonight, the push to ban the box, plus homeless heroes. a street level look at the battle to get america's most vulnerable veterans back into society. >> friday's blockbuster jobs report shows the u.s. economy has finally achieved a real ve