to defeat the evil organization of isil for good. >> the british prime minister makes his case for air strike against isil in syria, a crucial vote in parliament is just hours away. ♪ hello there, i'm barbara sarah. russia's defense ministry says it has proof that turkey's president has profited personally from the sale of oil by isil, turkey dismisses it as a slur. severe flooding sweeps through southern india.

and counting sharks, we're in florida where scientists are leading a global project to save the ocean's most successful predator. ♪ hello there thank you for joining us. the british prime minister has set out his case for expanded military action against what he calls the medieval monsters of the islamic state of iraq and the levant. politicians are debating whether to authorize strikes against isil in syria and will vote later on wednesday. david cameron said mp's face a choice between keeping britain safe by taking on isil in its syrian strong hold, or sitting back and waiting for an attack on british soil. the opposition leader is against the action, which he describes as an ill-thought-out rush to war. but he is allowing his mp's to vote in favor of strikes if they

want to. and that does make it likely that david cameron will get his way, meaning bombs missions could expand from syria and iraq within days. >> facing a threat from isil in iraq, this house voted 524-43 to authorize air strikes in iraq. since then, our brilliant pilots have helped local forces to halt isil's advance and recover 30% of the territory isil captured. i monday i spoke to the president of iraq and he expressed his thanks. and when our planes reach the border with syria, we can no longer act to defund his country or our country even when we know that isil's headquarters are in raqqa in syria, and it's from here that many of the plots

against our country are formed. >> there's no doubt that the so-called islamic state has imposed a reign of sectarian and imhuman terror. and there's no question that it also poses a threat to our own people. the issue now is whether extending british bombing from iraq to syria is likely to reduce or increase that threat to britain, and whether it will counter or spread the terror campaign isil is wages across the middle east. the answers don't make the case for the government motion. on the contrary. they are warning to step back. charlie angela is live for us outside of the houses of parliament in westminster where that debate is going on. more than 150 members of parliament want to speak in this debate. what are the main arguments that we have been hearing so far? >> reporter: we have heard from

dozens of mp's so far, many in favor of this proposal, though they acknowledge that it is not a perfect scenario. they say it is in the national interest to protect security for britain, but they do say, along with mp's who are against it, that they are worried that there is no overall strategy, no end game in sight for what would happen once the air strikes end. there have been queries from both sides on who would make up these ground troops. because air strikes alone are not going to retake territory from isil. only ground troops can do that. cameron said that 70,000 free syrian army fighters were available to take on that role, but now he has had to take a little step back from those figures, because they have been so widely disputed. he is now saying there would need to be a ceasefire in place with the assad regime, before they would be willing to fight

isil fighters. so plenty of people voicing their support, and many mp's against saying this is not the time to be extending air strikes from iraq into syria. it will only exacerbate the problem, and really we need to find a political, diplomatic solution first, before we start adding more military aircraft into the already crowded skies both syria. >> the public here in the u.k. has been historically reluctant for anymore military action in the middle east, since the war in iraq, where a million people demonstrated and still the country went to war. but after the paris attacks there was a bit of thinking that maybe extended military strikes in syria were a good idea. do we know where the british public stands now? >> absolutely. after the paris attacks in beirut and the downing of that russian airliner, 59% of the

british public said they were fully supportive of extending air strikes against isil in syria. in that number has now reduced to 48. less than half of the british people now agree. we have seen a lot of facts put on the table and people perhaps not so emotional after those terrible attacks in paris. and also we have seen protests here. there were protests last night outside of parliament from anti-war demonstrators, and they are gearing up against tonight. there were some 4,000 last night. nowhere near the million we saw in 2003 before the military action in iraq, but it's still a significant number. and the mp's phones have been ringing off of the phone all week. constituents writing, phoning, emailing them urging them not to back this proposal. david cameron said he wouldn't

be holding this vote unless he was assured of its victory. so we can expect for this vote to pass and for british planes to be bombing targets in syria probably by tomorrow. >> we have a few more hours to go before that vote. charlie angela in westminster, thank you. syrian government and opposition fighters have agreed to a ceasefire in a rebel-head area near the city of homs. rebel fighters will withdraw says the government, but rebel groups say they will not withdraw. the deal was mediated by a u.n. delegation in syria. >> translator: the goal of this visit is to implement the plan that was called for after though vienna talks.

to try to stop the shelling and fighting across syria. ♪ russia's defense ministry says the turkish president and his family are involved in an illegal oil trade with isil. at a briefing in moscow, satellite images were displayed. russia claim these show oil tankers heading to turkey. the turkish president has repeatedly denied the allegations. we'll get reaction from bernard smith from istanbul, but first rory challands from moscow. >> reporter: essentially what it was doing was laying out what it says is the evidence supporting claims that it has been making for some days now. the claim is this, that isil is involved in a $2 billion a year trade in illegal oil.

oil that it steals from the territories it occupies in syria and iraq. turkey according to russia is the principal buyer of this oil, and it gets into turkey by three main smuggling routes, and after that it's then sold on. the revenues from this are then channelled back to isil in the form of mercenaries and ammunition and weapons, but the main controversial plank of its allegation is not this. the main controversial plank is this is not some casual smuggling operation, this is something that the turkish state is involved in and the president and his family directly profit from. erdogan recently has said that if it's proven that turkey is involved in this trade, then he will resign. russia says it's not actually trying to get that to happen. what it is doing here, it

insists, is trying to lay the evidence out for international journalists like myself to investigate, and also to foreign military attaches who are present at this military briefing as well, for them to take away and act on. what russia is trying to do it says is shut down isil's illegal trade in oil, and it -- it is in doing this, that the biggest blow against the organization will be struck. >> reporter: reports that oil from syria is being smuggled across turkey's border have been circulating for sometime now. what the russians are saying is with this new satellite imagery is that it's happening on such a grand scale that it is happening under the noses of the turkish authorities and they must know what is going on. the turkish president has already said that if it can be proved that turkey is involved in this, he would step down, and adding further to that, he said

that turkey has not lost its value so much as to buy oil from a terrorist organization, and he says no one has the right to slander turkey. but erdogan also keen again to extend an olive branch to russia, and he says he doesn't want to further harm relations with the russians, but it seems that although the one thing that the russians are asking for, an apology for shooting down that fighter jet as it strayed into turkish territory is not forthcoming and turkey continues to say it's not going to apologize for defending its territory. montenegro has been invited to join nato. it's a strategically important country as it sits on the aid

reattic sea. but russia isn't happy. >> reporter: as nato foreign ministers gave montenegro the green light for talks, the head of the alliance stressed the importance of the move. >> the accession to nato will be another important step. it makes clear that nato keeps its door open to complete our vision of a europe whole, free, and at peace. >> reporter: the defense minister told al jazeera, her country of 650,000 people has already made great efforts to meet nato's joining criteria. >> we already did a huge amount of work, so we did implement indication of reform, deeply in the secretary of defense, and secretary of security, we are dealing with rule of law, we are deep into negotiations in the

european union as well. >> reporter: formally part of communist yuk go slaufia has come a long way. if montenegro is a full member, it leaves only serbia looking not westwards but towards russia. sergei lavrov has called nato expansion a provocation, but before leaving brussels his u.s. counterpart rejected that. >> i would say to russia and any other country that worries or thinks about this. this is not focused on them specifically. it's focused on the potential of defense against anybody or anything that is a threat, including isil. >> reporter: montenegro's flag could soon be flying here as

nato's 29th member. good news perhaps for the alliance, but another reason for russia to push back. nadim baba, al jazeera, at nato headquarters in this brussel. hundreds of thousands of people are stranded by some of the worst flooding on record in southern india. winter monsoon rains have lashed the area. our correspondent reports from new delhi. >> reporter: heavy rain has pored on people in this state for weeks. now many in southern india are trapped in steadily rising flood waters. coastal areas, including the state capitol are hardest hit. response teams have been sent to try to rescue thousands of people. >> for the last 24 hours, everything that we [ inaudible ] then here comes so much flood

[ inaudible ] down in the [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: conditions deteriorated on tuesday with heavy down pours making water-logged areas even worse. people are using social media to describe how they are being badly hit. some major roads resemble rivers. flooding has damaged other infrastructure, including rail lines. the city's main airport is closed. commuters trying to reach the south have been left stranded across india. >> translator: all flights have been canceled the airlines are issuing tickets for flights tomorrow or the day after but haven't said anything about accommodating us. none of the nearby hotels are vacant. where do we go. >> reporter: they have received month's worth of rain in a few days. and it is warned that much more is on the way.

much more to come here on al jazeera, including what was said when this vomit myanmar's outgoing president for the first time since her election triumph. and now conflict in iraq have left many people without basic services like water and sanitation. ♪

>> half a million fields will lie fallow. >> if we had another year of this severe drought, i'd say all bets are off. time now for a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. the british prime minister has set out his case for expanding military action against what he

calls the medieval monsters of islamic state of iraq and the levant. politicians are debating whether to authorize air strikes in syria nflt turkey's president has hit back at claims that he has been buying and personally benefitting from oil sold by isil. the russian defense ministry says it has proof that he and his family have been involved in the illegal oil trade. severe flooding has forced thousands of people to leave their homes in this india. the area has recorded it's heaviest rainfall in other a century. cameroon's army says it has freed as many as 900 hostages and killed as many as 100 members of boko haram. the military operation is said to have taken place recently on

the border. nigeria's former national security advisor has been arrested and accused of stealing billions of dollars. it is alleged he embezzled weapons this were supposed to be used to fight boko haram. he denies the allegations. >> reporter: this is the former national security advisor. a presidential committee report says he embezzled $2 billion in fraudulent deals while he was in office. he was responsible for giving out military contracts under the previous government. a total of $5.4 billion is missing according to the committee. the money should have been spent on weapons to fight boko haram. >> money intended for the procurement of weapons to support the military in their war against terror was diverted. >> reporter: but this soldier

says corruption is still a problem even after the new government came to power six months ago on an anti corruption platform. >> corruptions in the military today honestly is 97%. because some of generals, [ inaudible ] for one particular item, they will literally use, like, a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand [ inaudible ]. the money goes into their pockets. >> reporter: these pictures show nigerian soldiers training without weapons, equipment or uniforms to fight boko haram. we put these concerns to the presidential spokesman. >> corruption is being fought systematically. it's being reduced and it will

take time for it to be eliminated within the military and the entire country. >> reporter: but soldiers say corruption is still having a negative impact. >> given the conditions of this corruption, to defeat boko haram to be frank with you, will be 50/50. >> reporter: former national security advisor says the case against him is politically motivated. he was part of a coup that removed the president from power when he was a military ruler in the 1980s, but the government says that has nothing to do with the case, and that it will publish the evidence against him and deal with corruption swiftly. pakistan has hanged four men for their involvement in last year's taliban attack on a school. more than 150 people were killed in the attack, most children.

the four men are the first to be executed in connection with the massac massacre. aung san suu kyi has met the outgoing president for the first time since her party's historic election. myanmar's constitution bars aung san suu kyi from becoming head of state, but she says she will take on a position above that of president. it's day three of the nation climate change conference in paris. more than 150 world leaders are in the french capitol until december 11th to try to reach an agreement to cut carbon emissions. the australian prime minister is one of them. but he will have woken up in paris to news of an environmental demonstration back home. around 200 protesters had to be

forcibly removed by security after staging a sit-in demanding more action on climate change. earlier this year, u.s. president barack obama announced a plan to cut carbon emission by a third over the next 15 years. it's one of the key pollties in his long term plan to reduce greenhouse gases. but as andy gal der reports from the heart of the u.s. coal industry, it has left workers concerned about their future and communities. >> reporter: the grasslands of northeast wyoming are desolate, but few places are more important than the powder river base in. here seems of collis just beneath the first. but the industry dealing with falling prices and foreign competition may be facing its biggest change yet. the clean power plant proposed

by president obama aims to cut coal emissions. and minors like wayne cline say stricter regulations are short sided. >> our president of our company said we got -- we can standing this for five more years, the way it is going, but after that who knows. and probably be a lot of people with no lights. >> reporter: but in 2012 coal combustion made up for a quarter of greenhouse emissions in the u.s., reason enough campaigners say to enforce stricter rules. the wyoming business owners like this, the so-called war on coal is deeply troubling. >> i think it would be bad all the way around for everybody. whether it's car dealerships, restaurants, every business in town. >> reporter: wyoming has until 2030 to meet emissions targets. in this state, coal is an economic powerhouse, that many

will fight to protect. it isn't that people don't want to embrace cleaner technology, but they simply feel excluded from a process that will have a deep impact on their lives. 11,000 jobs will be lost by some estimates, and that could devastate the entire state. in cities like gellet the outlook for many is gloomy. officials told us they are already investing in alternative uses for carbon, and say the region is resilient. >> yes, we're going to have to adjust to a new normal, i suppose, but i also think that we're going to be one of the parts of the country that will be able to rebound from these type of regulatory pinches. >> reporter: some studies claim coal revenues could drop by more than half in the coming years, a fate that may only change if a republican becomes the next president. andy gallagher, al jazeera.

researchers say a hundred million sharks are taken from the ocean every year for their fins and meat. but one new initiative aims to combat sharply declining shark populations by using underwater video. ines ferre reports from florida keys. >> reporter: one by one, sea creatures on this reef are unaware their every move is being recorded, as they swirl around a camera baited with fish. the cameras are part of a worldwide effort to count sharks. an ocean away, all of the florida keys, marine biologist is taking part in the first of its kind census. the process is tedious. >> on any one day we may only put five or ten cameras in. >> reporter: video cameras sit

below these metal cages. chunks of ground up fish are put inside each cage. then lowered 60 to 80 feet. now the waiting period starts. between the time that the bait goes in the water and the time that they see sharks could be a couple of minutes or longer. after an hour and a half the cameras are lifted back up. on this dive, plenty of fish tried to get the bait, but not one shark came by. over in the bahamas researchers captured close-ups of the top predat predators. how can you tell you are not counting the same shark over and over. >> we kind of go through it and find out one frame what is the most sharks we see at any one time. so you can't possibly count the

same shark twice. >> reporter: for the next three years expeditions like this will take place all over the word. capturing activity at more than 400 reefs. >> in general where you have lots of sharks, you have healthy reefs. we want to know why that is, so we can prioritize areas where we can protect sharks or where shark are in trouble. >> reporter: scientists estimate some 100 million sharks are captured every year for fins and meat and they are slower to reproduce than other fish. scientists hope the data they collect leads to conservation efforts. >> there are a lot of people that rely on sharks for resources. it's about how do we work with coastal communities to take sure they are sustainable from the human and economic perspective and the environmental perspective. >> reporter: getting a clearer

picture underwater is critical to making that happen. lots more on that and everything else that we have been covering here on al jazeera on our website. you can see it on your screens right now. the address, aljazeera.com. british parliament at this hour, preparing to vote on whether to launch an air assault on isil. iraqis reacting to the news of u.s. troops being deployed to their country, not everyone is happy. police officers around the country asking the nfl to change its gun policy at games. and say cheese, conservationists taking their cameras underwater, trying to save the world's sharks. ♪