>> syria accuses the u.s. of heinousgression, saying three of its soldiers were killed in a coalition air strike. this is al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. also coming up. >> the threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. >> the u.s. president said americans should not turn against each other in the face of controversy. >> germany has taken in almost 1 million refugees so far this year. climbs talks heat up in

paris as delegates around the world enter the last week of negotiations. syria's foreign minister is accusing the u.s. led coalition of killing three of its soldiers in an air strike. the syrian government says four aircraft took part in the raid and it's now written to the u.n. security council demanding what it describes as a heinousgression be condemned. let's go to washington, d.c. what's the u.s. saying about this? >> the obam obama administratios denying that the coalition air strike targeted syrian soldiers. what a coalition spokesman is saying is that the airstrikes took place 50 kilometers from the syrian military base and that the targets were oil

warheads, not people. the allegations they will certainly investigate, but they are very robustly denying that they are targeting or did target any syrian military. it's something that the u.s. has been steadfast about, that it's airstrikes in syria are not against the syrian military, but are against targets controlled by isil. if this were to be the case, it would be really unprecedented. >> at the same time, a rare address from the oval office by the u.s. president vowing to crush isil. what's the plan, though? is he revealing a strategy for dueling that? >> well, essentially, the president on sunday night told the u.s. nation and in fact an international audience that there isn't going to be a significant change in the way that the u.s. led coalition goes after isil. what they say they are doing is

going after isil targets within territory that the group controls that is going after the leadership of isil, trying to bring them in, if not actually kill them, but they insist this is not a war against the government of president bashar al assad, even though they are opposed to his leadership. they are trying to make it very, very clear and trying not to have anyone drag them into a larger conflict because they say that's not the way to resolve the other major problem in syria, which is, of course, the civil war which has been going on for more than four and a half years. they say the only way to end that is through diplomatic means and it's not going to be done through the military, so two separate conflicts from the u.s. >> thank you very much. >> the u.s. president barack obama vowing to defeat terrorism and destroy isil. his rare televised address came

in the wake of wednesday's mat shooting in california in which 14 people died. >> on wednesday, 14 americans. >> the backdrop, the oval office. this is only the third time u president barack obama has you would have the setting for a national address, meant to send a message of seriousness after the attacks in california that left 14 dead. >> the threat is real, but we will overcome it. >> he has had a tough time, 57% disapprove of how he's handling the fight against isil. 72% say the effort is going badly and 60% say it's time to send more troops into iraq and syria. his strategy is facing criticism. >> change our strategy, come up

with a ground force to go in and destroy the caliphate before we get hit here at home. >> the president has criticism for the u.s. congress, saying it's time for new begun control legislation. that is unlikely. just last week, the senate voted down a bill that would have kept people on the no-fly list from buying weapons. president obama also urged are americans not to frame this as a war against islam. >> that, too, is what groups like isil want. isil does not speak or islam. they account for a tiny fraction of a more than a billion muslims around the world. >> before the speech, hundreds of advocates rallied outside the white house to send a similar message. >> the basic thing is to make the world realize that the terrorism that they're seeing not only domestically but nationally is not representative of islam. >> the president using the

speech from the oval office trying to calm fears to assure americans that he has a strategy to defeat isil, because it was clear after the speech he has no plans to change it. patty calhane, al jazeera, washington. >> with no end to the violence in syria in sight, record numbers of refugees continue to flee. germ see has taken in over 960,000 people this year. that number four times the total for all of 2014. the rest of the e.u. is said to be failing refugees. >> we have a very polarized society, also in germany, they have racist attacks. we have a very hostile movements against refugees. on the other hand, we have refugees departing society. it is our hope from greece to germany to u.k., the society is functioning and stick to the

european principle, refugee rights, liberty rights, and but the elite is not functioning at the moment. the coalition of e.u., germany and others try to create protection space in europe, even if others are not ready to do this. >> warring sides in yemen agreed to hold peace talks in switzerland next week, starting december 15. the forces supporting the exiled government and houthi rebels to begin a ceasefire. almost 60,000 have died in the conflict since it began in march. rack will go to the u.n. security council if turkey doesn't withdraw forces near mosul. baghdad said it vitals iraqi sovereignty. turkey maintains it was invited by the local government to train

fighters. turkey promised not to send more soldiers but stopped short of ordering a withdrawal. >> the coalition landslide victory in venezuela was confirmed when president nicolas maduro conceded his party defeat. he will remain in power. 70% of voters cast their ballot, the highest since compulsory voted ended in the 1990's. the election commission said some seats are yet to be counted, but so far, the opposition wants 99 seats, more than double those of the rule party, which is 46 seats so far. there are 22 seats still to declare on that our latin america editor reports from caracas. >> the expressions have venezuela's ruling socialist party headquarters confirms supporters worst nightmare, as the election results were announced.

for the first time in nearly 17 years, opponents of the populist revolution have succeeded in breaking the government's monopoly on democratic institutions, winning a majority in the national assembly. true to his word, president nicolas maduro recognized his party's defeat. >> we've lost a battle today, but the struggle to build new socialism and a new society, it starts now. we should take this as a slap in the face to wake us up so that we can work towards the future. >> the results should have come as no surprise. spiraling inflation, crime, and chronic shortages of basic goods and services had become too much, even for many diehard supporters of the revolution. >> it's a total change. that's what i want, because what we are putting up with is unbearable, intolerable, cues

here, queues there, crime everywhere. enough! >> congress can approve or hold the penalty's budget and investigate public officials. in theory, this would oblige the president to negotiate. >> the government controls the supreme court, the constitutional chamber can basically claire any of these laws unconstitutional. >> an emboldened opposition also has other options, including organizing a recall referendum against the president. >> if the government does not change its attitude, we will have to change the government. >> another indication that more political confrontation lies ahead. >> in a normal democracy, the division of powers is considered healthy, but in a country as

politically polarized as venezuela, convincing bitter political foes to build a consensus and work together for the common good does seem like a long shot. al jazeera, caracas. >> lets cross over now to virginia lopez from caracas. good to have you with us. i know they are still counting the votes. how much of a majority does the opposition have? >> it hasn't been announced. all we know is that the opposition got 99 seats. this is one short of a qualified majority and 12 short of a super majority, the total number which seats 167. if the opposition were to achieve the super majority, we can we could be in front of as much as a change of constitution. this would be huge for a country that has been under almost rule

for 17 years controlling all of the pours in the country. the mood here still one of uncertainty. we expect for the final results to be coming in anytime today, perhaps tomorrow. >> now, how much of a coalition course does this set the president on when it comes to the new legislative assembly? >> both camps are deeply divided, although these oppositions are not as oh overt as one can begin to see them now. one of the things we can expect to see is perhaps the migration of government supporters on to the opposition camp. clearly the country gave a message of being dissatisfied with the way the government's been dealing with the country's economic problems. the future is still very uncertain. we don't know whether the government and opposition will be able to co habit or whether

we will see a further erosion of the constitutional rule here in the country. >> how is this being seen so far? is this being seen as a vote for the opposition, for its vision, it's policy, or a vote against the economic problems in the country? >> well, the streets in caracas certainly didn't, you know, weren't overwhelmed by people celebrating the opposition yesterday. i think that this speaks clearly to the fact that most venezuelans are dissatisfied with the government rather than in agreement with the opposition. the opposition hasn't really set forth a clear agenda of what is to follow. i think that this vote is being interpreted more as a punishment against the government inability rather than a sweeping support for the opposition. again, this is all very uncertain to this point. one of the things that the

opposition has said is that one of the first things they'll do is pass an amnesty law to release political prisoners. clearly that's not going to do too much to solve the countries inflation and food shortages, which i believe is at the crux of what this vote has take his. >> thanks so much. >> still ahead, the far right french national front makes big gains in its first electoral tests since the paris attacks. >> tourist attractions begin to reopen in sierra leone off the the country's declared ebola-free.

>> welcome back. let's recap the headlines here on al jazeera now. syria says the u.s. has killed three of its soldiers in an air strike on a military base. it's written to the u.n. security council in protest. the u.n. envoy to the coalition against isil denies the strike. >> the u.s. president is destroying to destroy isil, saying the threat from terrorism was real but america would overcome it. 14 were shot dead in california on wednesday. germany has taken in never 960,000 people this year. that number is four times the total for all of 2014. a record 200,000 arrived last month. the u.s. president barack obama denounced anti muslim

rhetoric after last week's shootings in california. muslim leaders say there's been an escalation in death threats, assaults and vandalism on their properties. they say it's being fueled by anti muslim remarks particularly after the attacks in paris last month. joining me by skype is an assistant professor at george state university in atlanta. good to have you with us. beautiful it's kind of a double standard here, the end of last month, we saw someone described as a devout evangelical christian shoot up an abortion clinic and yet christians weren't asked to apologize or to explain the actions of one individual. is there a double standard when it comes to what some muslims do in america? yeah, of course, there's a clear double standard. actually, the far right wing christian anti abortion terrorists operation have been going on since the mitt 1990's and it's never taken on the tone of the rhetoric of terrorism,

nor has it received the kind of public scrutiny that muslim communities have, so there is a double standard, but it is a long served double standard, one that's kind of become tiresome at this point. >> is part of this fueled by the political establishment and political elite, although the u.s. president has tried to speak out and ask things to be put in perspective and be responsible, other contenders for the white house have been described as being quite irresponsible in their comments about the need to even mass register muslim american citizens as if we're in the days of in his ism. >> it's actually quite frightening. if you look at the polls and statistics, this is a completely manufactured phenomenon around election periods. anti muslim rhetoric and bigotry

is manufactured around the political cycle every two years. it's the corporations and interest groups and frankly of ratings, savvy readings greedy mainstream media which do not send as your themselves on the kind of rhetoric that would be unacceptable for any other group in this country. we would look back at these times in sheer embarrassment. >> what do you say to those who would argue that the muslim community doesn't do enough to speak out and condemn these sorts of attacks? >> i would like you to -- i would like them, not you, but i would like them to show me a muslim leader in an established institution that has not repeatedly condemned every terror attack that occur yous. frankly, i get tired of being asked to cult on press releases to show up at press conferences, to give advice to people going on air about how to respond to

these attacks. one, muslims shouldn't feel compelled to respond to the mass murderers that highjack their religion. if they want to address the public sphere, they are happy to. muslims are pushed into a corner where the only role they feel they can play in civil society in the united states is to protest extremism and i've never seen a mainstream christian parade protesting abortion clinic bombings. how often does that sort of thing happen? where do we ask the catholic church to come out and protest these things? we don't. there's an absolutely double standard there. frankly, people have to draw the line and hold firm at a certain point. >> good to get your thoughts. thank you so much. >> thank you. beijing issued its highest ever smog warning. schools have been advised to

close. restrictions are also being image posed on factories a and traffic. >> it's just this kind of pollution the governments are trying to address in paris. negotiations to reach a global agreement on tackling climate change are in their second week. delegates aim to reduce global warming by cutting dependence on fossil fuels which produce greenhouse gases. the u.s. energy secretary is optimistic a meaningful agreement will be reached. >> first of all, we should recognize that having 184 countries come in with targets is really a tremendous platform for the final discussions that will address important issues, differentiation, transparency, reporting on progress, of course finance. these are all critical issues, but i think there's a strong will to converge and to have a strong agreement coming out of paris. a major theme emphasized here in

paris is a commitment to drive innovation, to drive investments, in fact, an international coalition of investors was put together, so all of these countries are committed to that. china not only announced together with the united states its commitment over one year ago, but even in september announced a new cap and trade system going forward. they are taking steps. they have strong regulations. now, clearly, we are hoping that the agreement here in paris will also include required verification measures. it will require, we hope a regular review of our commitments so that we can make them more am best of my recollection. that is still to be determined this week, but overall, i believe that the united states, china, are certainly -- have shown very strong commitments to reaching their nationally determined targets. france's far right achieved

a record vote in early elections, early results show the national front party received at least 30% of the vote. right republicans are in second place with 27%. president francois hollande's socialist party is trailing in third place with 22% of the vote. jacky rowland reports from paris. >> jubilation at marie la pen's campaign headquarters. her national front has emerged as the leading party after the first rounds of voting. she personally has swept the board in her northern stronghold with more than 40% of the vote. it's a political landslide, and she is savoring the moment. >> the truth is that the national front maintains french people's trust more and more, election after election and once again, if you of some analytical

capacities and connect with the people, you realizes there is no surprise in yesterday's results. >> close behind the national front are the republicans, led by the former president, nick sarkozy. he had some words of warning for people who voted for the national front. >> we can here their worries. >> the socialist leader, president francois hollande, has seen his personal approval ratings jump since the paris attacks last month, but that popularity doesn't seem to extend to his party. the socialists are trailing, and they say they'll withdraw from the second round in the north and the southeast. >> the national front is

currently in the lead in several regions, but now is when tactical voting kicks in. in the second round, people may choose to vote for a candidate not necessarily from their preferred party, simply to keep that far right out. >> for now, the national front is celebrating, but this was only round one and the turnout was low at 50%. the second and decisive round will take place in one week's time. jacky rowland, al jazeera, paris. >> the government in azerbaijan is searching for 29 oil workers missing afters explosion of an oil rig. they admit the men may no longer be alive. four our countries are asked to search their waters for the bodies. the oil platform caught fire

during high winds in the caspian sea on friday. >> the leader of september's failed coup in burkina faso is charged with the murder of a president 30 years ago. he was assassinated in 1987. the exact circumstances of his death of still unknown. the charge is complicity in the murder. he's the most senior official to be charged in the case. >> government rebels are preparing for more fighting after peace talks in ethiopia failed to reach a deal in sudan. the military is on high alert in darfur and blue nile where rebels have been battling since 2011. in september, the president announced a two month ceasefire to persuade rebels to join talks in the sudanese capital.

>> now that sierra leone is declared ebola-free, tourist sites hope to be busy again. a sanctuary was closed during the ebola crazy i understand freetown and now is reopening. >> they're intelligent, playful and don't mind posing for the camera. tourists from all over the world have visited the sanctuary for chimps which closed down for safety reasons during the ebola crisis. now it is walking a fine line for survival after losing about $100,000. since reopening, visitor numbers have fallen by more than half. preebola sierra leone was starting to develop a stronger tourist industry with the center one of the attractions. >> when the tourists come, they spend their money to fly to come into the country, so government through taxes generate revenue

there. >> the ebola crisis and falling tourism is estimated to have cost the government around $11 million. back at the sanctuary, visitors are slowly returning. >> they think we can learn from them. they are very genetically very close to us, obviously and they're very endangered, and it's important that there are sanctuaries and place like this where people can come and learn about them. >> that's part of the goal of the sanctuary, educating people about chimps. >> during the 1970's, it was estimated there were about 20,000 chimps in sierra leone. that number has drastically declined, now about 5.5000. >> they were kept as pets and eaten for food, authorities warned not to eat bush meat because of the crisis. creative ways to attract have ors are being discussed and

there is optimism things will bounce back. al jazeera, sierra leone. >> if you want to get more on that that story as well as all the others, just head to aljazeera.com. you will see our front page there with the campaign against isil. >> the threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. >> president obama calls on the u.s. to come together to defeat the threats facing america, but is he able to bridge the partisan divide? connecting the clues in san bernardino, the shooters colleagues return to work as investigators search the home of a person who may have provided the couple with guns yes when i went this week, they didn't find any cancer at all, so i have good news. former president jimmy carter's recovery after