♪ the investigation into the sinai crash focuses on a loud noise heard on the cockpit voice recording. ♪ hello i'm maryam nemazee and you're watching al jazeera live from london and also coming up, healing old divisions and leaders of china and taiwan hold their first talks in more than 60 years. celebrations in sierra leone after the country is declared free of ebola. and a race against timesaving panama's frogs from a deadly

virus. ♪ egypt has confirmed there was a loud noise heard in the last second of the cockpit recording recovered from last week's plane crash. a man leading the investigation says all possibilities are being considered as to what caused the plane to plummet and all were killed when flight 9268 crashed in the sinai peninsula and paul brennan reports. >> reporter: it's been seven days since metro jet 9268 fell out of the sky taking 224 people to their deaths and flowers were laid at the crash site in the desert and after a week of rumors and speculation and finally a officin official stat from investigators. >> debriss are scattered over a

wide area, more than 13 kilometers in length which is consistent with an in-flight break up. some parts of the wreckage are missing and it is hoped to locate them in the in coming days. >> reporter: the lead investigators confirmed that metro jet 9268 was 23 minutes 18 seconds in the journey and reached an altitude of over 3,000 feet and climbing and traveling at 281 knots and pilot engaged and everything seemed normal then catastrophe on the cvr the cockpit voice recorder. >> a noise was heard in the last seconds of the cvr recording. a spectral analysis will be carried out by specialized labs in order to identify the nature of this noise. >> reporter: a team of 47

investigators from five countries are working on the various aspects of the inquiry, additional group of air bus advisors brings the total to 58 people. there was no mention of whether the debris had been tested for trace residue of explosives and no indication how long it will take to analyze the noise heard just before the plane broke up. and so the travel ban and repatriation effort to bring tourists out of egypt will continue and at the apart the scenes are down considerably and thousands of tourists are told to wait in the resort and not come to the airport until a plane becomes available for them. but not everyone is fleeing. the foreign minister of hungary has been in cairo assuring his egyptian counterpart that hungary will not make egypt off limits. >> these decisions can have very serious consequences and currently what i see is that no one has provided us with any

kind of evidence that would have made me to put a travel ban on egypt and until i'm not provided with any kind of such evidence i will not make that kind of decision, you can be sure about that. >> reporter: but there is much we cannot be sure of, questions still to be answered about what happened to this plane. missing wreckage must be found, complex analysis conducted. and if it was a bomb those responsible must be identified. paul brennan, al jazeera. egyptian analysts omar says the authorities in egypt have been unwilling to accept the possibility the plane was deliberately brought down. >> the hypothesis from beginning there was technical failure and the pilot's mistake and surface to air guided missile and there was the grenade ied and from the beginning it seemed that the egyptian authorities were dismissing the terrorist activity whether a missile or a

grenade and when prime minister cameron was saying that this is the most likely cause of the crash, he was heavily criticized by the egyptian media, by the egyptian authorities and foreign minister came out and stated this is very astonishing for him to hear that and surprising for him to hear it and from the beginning they were not willing to accept there was a security issue, there was a terrorist cause for the crash mainly because this has political costs, it has and destroys the narrative that sinai is under control and the present city kept on mentioning a few times that he came to secure egypt after a period of very unstable transition and also it has economic costs. it has -- it will effect the tourism industry so that is why they were dismissing this and being extremely transparent when it came to their own investigation. ♪

it was a handshake 66 years in the making, leaders of china and taiwan met for the first time ever and although the talks lasted less than an hour they are seen as symbolic show of recommend reconciliation and we report from singapore where the historic meeting took place. >> reporter: security was tight in anticipation of the leaders arrival, armed personnel at the ready, the government here taking no chances for the leaders of china and taiwan. president xi jinping was the first to arrive then taiwan's leader. if anyone doubted the importance of this meeting between the two presidents and just take a look at the press poll that arrived, over 500 of them across asia pacific and the rest of the world and looking at every handshake and every smile and wondering what the impact of this meeting will be on both china and taiwan. these are officially recognizes

the other as head of state, china sees taiwan as its rogue providence off the chinese coast and they an independent country. by 1949 and after a bloody civil war he and his communist declared the public in beijing and he and his defeated nationalist created their own republic of china on the island of what is now taiwan. the talks were a surprise to many on the sidelines of a regular summit last year they dismissed any contact with taiwan. taiwan's leaders said talks would only happen if they saw benefit and he has much at stake. >> if the president is able to successfully carry out this meeting i think it would certainly solidified his legacy, historic his position historically and post presidency political life if he is able to set himself up as a cross street

broker. >> reporter: a test of he and his party flagging in opinion polls before elections due in the new year and the president spoke before the talks started and he was very positive. >> translator: 66 years of development of the cross straight relations indicates that no matter how much wind and rain both sides have been through, no matter how long we have been kept away from each other no force can keep us apart. >> reporter: the meetings lasted less than an hour. this is what he had to say afterwards. >> translator: both sides speak to one china policy but we have to recognize that although there is one china we agree to disagree on its definition. there are different interpretations. >> reporter: political commentators agree this was a purely similar bot bolic meeting and while it was all smiles on saturday the up coming presidential and general elections in taiwan could see empty china opposition taking power then back to the drawing

board for both, robin with al jazeera in singapore. taiwan's main opposition leader says she is disappeointig it made no reference of democracy and freedom and protests in the capitol taipei and andrew thomas sent this update. >> reporter: these protesters on the streets of taipei did not want this summit to go ahead and holding up posters like this one a crossed out president xi jinping, no to the talks it says. most of the people here want independence for taiwan, official independence, internationally recognized as such of its own country and they think that president xi jinping and the other president are ultimately long-term want reunification of china something they do not believe in. the dpp party and opposition party of taiwan is likely to win an election in january, they are also after independence for taiwan long-term. but they are not part of this protest. they don't want the people to think they wouldn't be able to keep the lines of communication

open with beijing if they were in power. a somali mp has been left seriously wounded after a drive-by shooting and mohamed was on his way to parliament in the country's capitol mogadishu when his car was sprayed by bullets, the armed group al-shabab claimed responsibility for attack and in the last three years since the forming of the parliament 14 have been killed in mogadishu, in burundi a controversial weapons amnesty will be done at midnight and stamping out resistance to reelection and opponents to told give up weapons and surrender or face police action and the international court fear it will trigger widespread violence, at least 200 have died and 200,000 people have fled the country after zizi decided to seek a third term. sierra leone has beneficially declared free of ebola.

♪ this is how people have been celebrating in the capitol free town, world health organization says there have been no new ebola cases in the past 42 days but neighboring guinea is still trying to rid itself of the deadly virus. the ebola virus hits sierra leone very hard it suffered more cases of the virus than liberia and guinea where the first out break was recorded in march 201. more than 12000 children in sierra leone have lost at least one adult who looked after them. more than 3,000 have lost both parents to the virus. in total 4,000 have died and that had a big impact on village economies but guinea and liberia just across the border ebola is still a threat and the world health organization is warning for sierra leone this is just the end of the current crisis. we have the international medical response team in sierra leone and speaking from there

she says saturday's announcement is a major milestone. >> reporter: we were fortunate enough to be with our national team and our goal is centered to listen to the declaration that was announced by w.h.o. and as the statement came out everyone jumped up and started cheering and laughing and clapping and there were also a lot of tears and really in remembrance of the countless numbers of people who lost their lives as a direct and indirect result of this. in the last several months there has been considerable effort by the international community and the government of sierra leone to really strengthen the healthcare system with training workers and having protective commitment, to rehabilitate healthcare facilities and help the staff members be able to diligently screen for ebola like systems and considerable work for safe places of isolation and referral if necessary and also a

lot of considerable effort out in the community to really provide key health promotion and disease promotion messages. still ahead for you on al jazeera, he came offering aid but india's prime minister is greeted with protest as a rally in kashmir. and engulfed in mud and debris the latest in efforts in brazil after a burst, 5 people are now missing. ♪

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stories for you now egypt shun authorities say a loud noise was heard from last week's plane crash and leaders of china and taiwan met for the first time in 60 years and what is hailed as a show of reconciliation and they are celebrating on the streets of sierra leone after the west african nation was officially declared ebola free. now in other stories heavy rain and flooding has been disrupting life in the iraqi capitol baghdad and doing what they can but blaming politici politician with this and we report. >> reporter: for the second time in a week iraqis have to wade through streets to get anywhere, trapped in their homes after roads were swamped with water and sewage and doing all they can to deal with the heavier than usual rains as the

drainage systems failed to cope with downpour iraqis in flooded homes see it as an example of crumbling infrastructure and insufficient public services. >> translator: the rain is still flooding our homes and streets. we want a solution for our problems swiftly, our children have become ill due to such hard circumstances. >> reporter: more than 50 people have been killed since rainstorms struck several areas last week. before the latest deluge they protests of what they call inefficient government to take care of them and called on the government and corrupt officials and fired warning shots when demonstrators tried to enter the green zone where the parliament and government convenes. >> translator: where is the old money? one thousand billion iraqi dinners. >> reporter: people also continued to protest against corruption and lack of electricity and services skroo

the people of iraq are not treated fairly and nothing serious from the politicians and the economy is deteriorating and the people are suffering and the politicians don't respond to people's requests. >> reporter: hadi responded to the pressure announcing reforms to deal with corruptions and incompetence but have been blocked by parliament because he announced them without seeking approval from legislatures and stalemate angered the muslim cleric and warned politicians against anticorruption reforms. >> translator: we have to affirm the need to protect the constitution and the law must not be used by the legislative or any other authority to circumvent or delay the reform steps. >> reporter: activists are already calling for more hesitation against corrupt government officials but public outrage and political promises are far from materializing and improvements on the ground, al jazeera. in syria at least 20 people have been killed in suspected

russian air strikes on the rebel held town of douma according to monitors from the syrian observatory for human rights and this video is said to show the aftermath of the strikes which left six children dead and several areas in the countryside outside of douma were also targeted and the death toll could rise further. more than 3,000 refugees reached mainland greece and have been stranded on several islands during a four-day strike and held an emergency meeting with the mayors of several of the islands to discuss the situation, about 600,000 refugees entered europe through greece this year. there has been violence on the streets of germany where thousands rallied against the country pollicis on refugees and thousands of supporters for alternative for germany movement were met by hundreds of counter protesters, at least 10 prorefugee demonstrators were arrested after scuffles and germany has an influx of up to

one million migrants and refugees this year. now india's prime minister modi announced $12 billion of aid for india kashmir and leader wanted to restore the muslim majority state to the former glory but despite the pledge his visit was marred by fighting between police and protesters which left one man dead. and jamal reports. >> reporter: police confronted protesters before the morning rally, almost as soon as the black flags and balloons appeared on this small neighborhood street police swooped in and contained the protesters even as some tried to run, they like other demonstrators want self determination on whether indian administered kashmir should remain with india, merge with pakistan or be independent. local politician and protest organizer engineer was taken away by police along with some supporters.

al jazeera interviewed him a day before modi's visit and said the expected announcement of economic aid will not subdue the conflict in kashmir. >> subject to justice and leads to a resolution so it's all right but at the same time you need to dissolve the political dispute. >> reporter: at the rally the prime minister delivered as expected, announcing more than $12 billion in funding for victims of last year's floods and economic development in the region. >> translator: my dream is this money should be used to make a new kashmir and advance and progressive kashmir and do not consider the $12 million package just the beginning. >> reporter: security has been stepped up all week with hundreds detained before the rally. parts of this place remained empty in the afternoon, news of the promised aid, development and jobs by modi did not temper the frustrations felt by some locals at the security clamp

down for days just for the rally. >> translator: democracy, democracy, what is this democracy? is this democracy that is shut people in and bring people and police from other parts of the state? >> reporter: short and sporadic protests like this one continued through the afternoon leaving the promise of economic aid at odds with some people's political feelings. modi and state officials hope the a package will help boost support and confidence among people here in the region but the fact that so much security was needed for the rally and to prevent protest shows that any announcement here is a tough sell. jamal, al jazeera, administered kashmir. moving to pakistan where a teen has been pulled from the rubble of a collapsed factory after his parents mistakenly buried another body. 19-year-old mohamed spent 50 hours trapped under the debris

of the bag factory here and hope had been fading of finding anyone alive, at least 45 have died since wednesday's disaster and they say dozens more people are still missing and kamal is there and has the latest on the rescue mission. >> reporter: hundreds of relatives are still waiting for news of their loved ones who are still under the rubble. but it is the recovery of 19-year-old mohamed, 50 hours after the collapse of the building that is now given a new ray of hope that perhaps their relatives may still be alive. the search and rescue operation is very slow because they don't want to move anything that might compromise anybody that may be still alive inside that building. as you can see a narrow road is now separating the relatives from the rescue workers who are busy just across the road. you can see piles of rubble,

cranes lifting up large pieces of the debris and the idea basically is to try and see if they can reach more survivors who may still be alive under the rubble. in spain tens of thousands of people have joined a march of madrid over action of domestic violence and it was organized by feminist groups across the country, 41 women killed so far this year by partners or ex partners according to government figures and more than 800 since 2003, protesters called for better help for victims of domestic violence. >> translator: we think it's important to be here today because the fight against sexist violence needs to be a national priority and we call on the government and the next government after the december election to act so they stop killing us. >> reporter: seven more people have died from their injuries a week after a nightclub fire in

romania and death toll to 39. protests continuing in bukarast and demand early election and end to corruption and blame lax government safe tiff standards for the file and the prime minister has not been replaced. operator of a mine in brazil says a earthquake may have caused the dams to burst and 25 missing and hope to find them alive is fading as we report from there. >> reporter: it's hard to believe there used to be 200 homes in this area, now there are only ten after a mix of water, mud and mining, residue flooded the area. this is rodriguez and a small village in the state here southeast 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 past through our house was worse than a tsunami and everyone was shouting, families shouting. >> reporter: hundreds of people have been rescued. many are now sheltering in emergency accommodation like this gym in the city of mariana and others taken to hotels in the city and 12-year-old viktor can't put his horror of the experience in words and his family spent the night in the forest waiting to be rescued the next morning. >> translator: i saw my grandson, my brother, i started screaming, it was really hard, i want to wake up from this might -- nightmare. >> reporter: the floods are along the path however the company is denying there is any toxic contamination in the area. >> translator: it is important

to note that the floods that burst out of the dam is basically iron ore spoils which is inert so there are no other consequences other than the physical damage it caused. >> reporter: the site is operating by mining, company san marco a joint venture between brazil and php and the company says 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. frogs disappearing at an unprecedented rate around the world and scientists blame a fungus spreading fast but there is a rescue underway in panama and david mercer paid a visit. >> reporter: in the lab an hour outside of panama city scientists are working over time

and the motivation is clear, a chance to save frogs from extinction. with a deadly fungus disease threatening amphibians around the world the scientists' work is vital. >> translator: race against time because the fungus appears to be spreading eastwards across panama and we have to rescue individual frogs before the fungus gets to them and then use those frogs to establish healthy populations. >> reporter: this new state of the art lab is allowing researchers to look at ways to protect amphibians from the fungus and get them back into the wild. about a third of the world's amphibian species are in danger of extinction and already 40% of frog species have been wiped out and scientists say programs like this are essential to their survival. building a lab in central america brought new challenges. without stores to buy food for the frogs researchers have to raise the insects themselves.

maintaining precise temperatures and humidity is essential giving amphibians the nutrients they need to thrive. >> translator: female frogs need to have lots of fat in their diet because when they are mating they hardly eat. we need to make sure they are well fed in preparation for the mating embrace which can last from a few days to a month. >> reporter: the lab is home to three species of endangered frogs, more than 300 individuals are separated according to species and gender. little by little staff are increasing this population through selective mating, key to the frogs long-term survival. >> translator: studies tell us that with 40 individuals, 20 males and 20 females we guaranty that the genetic environment won't be effected in 25-50 years time, this will be important in the future when these animals repopulate areas where frogs have disappeared.

>> reporter: searching for clues that will help fight the killer fungus while bringing threatened species back from the brink, part of a global effort to save frogs before it's too late. david mercer, al jazeera, panama. more on everything right here, al jazeera.com. >> this week on talk to al jazeera: stand-up comedian mo amer. >> it's like, "are you a terrorist"? like literally, "are you a terrorist"? i'm like... "who says yes"? like seriously, "who says yes"? oh... you got me! you're so tricky... here's the bomb, be careful! >> he's one third of the trio "allah made me funny". >> look at this stage master allah. this is a lot of room for a palestinian, you know? >> the group uses humor to cosl