latest. trying to bring stability to libya, we will have a live report. you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. also on the program, syrian president bashar al assad says he is willing to negotiate with opposition groups but not ones involved in military action. under pressure, climate change talks in paris are extended, but delegates say they're on the verge of a landmark deal. bringing one of the greatest novels in russian literature to the people. we're in moscow for reading of

toll stay's war and peace. >> just moments ago, the u.n. envoy to libya announced a deal to form a unity government after months of talks. he made that announcement from tunis, but at the same time, the foreign ministers of the world have joined to meet in rome, the big meeting on sunday, obviously, this will be top of their agenda, as well. we are joined live now from rome. this is a pretty big announcement. obviously there are as i will many more steps before it's finally implemented, but tell me more how we can expect this to affect the meeting of the foreign minister's in rome. just a few minutes ago, sergey lavrov mentioned, talked about libya. >> well, definitely it will be a

positive. at the end of the day, the conference in rome which is dubbed the peace conference, what the italians were hoping was to give a decisive push towards the creation of a national unity government. we heard the u.n. special envoy say that the warring sides, the head of the two rival camps in libya, the general national congress based in tripoli and house of representatives based in tub before you can have agreed to sign a deal on the 16th which december. at the same time, we heard the u.n. envoy say that a lot of problems remain and a lot of problems need to be worked out, and this will take place in the implementation stage. that's where the problem lies. there are issues like where will this government be based, in tripoli? we nope the united nations wants it based in tripoli. another question we want to find out is whether all the members of these two institutions are onboard. as of late, we've seen the head

of the general national congress and head of the house of representatives come together. they even came up with their own deal, which was quite different than the j deal, before the j intervened and tried to get them to agree on the u.n. deal. are all the members of these two institutions onboard, but definitely, this is a positive sign. it will have a positive effect on the conference here in rome on sunday. like i mentioned, who is onboard and who is not? if you don't have the main political actors in libya, the main military actors, the armed groups on the ground onboard, this could just be a recipe for further disaster. >> let's cross now to this deal being covered live from the capitol in tunis. obviously you were there listening as the u.n. envoy spoke. he had quite a lot to say. he seemed incredibly optimistic

and enthusiastic about all the hard work, about whether or not it's paid off. tell us more. >> well just before he came to speak, the representative from the g.n.c., the tripoli rival government and the representative from the house of representatives in the east basically hugged and kissed and they said that this agreement would be signed on the 16th of december, so of course, martin was extremely happy with what he managed to achieve. months and months of talk finally led to an agreement that will be signed, will go ahead, which is excellent news for the rome conference on sunday. he did have a message in particular to the libyan people in what he said. >> i'm today very happy to have this agreement around the table. i'm convinced that human suffering has to end in libya.

those who agree to sign, they put the national interest and the interest of the libyan people above personal interest. i admire, i personally admire the courage and the wisdom of those around the table to go to sign this agreement. >> questions remain where will this government be based, in tripoli or the east and what will happen to general hafta. he wasn't mentioned in all of this. i think the reason why this talk worked and others in the past haven't is definitely the fact that isil has taken more territory in libya, worrying the international committee and libyans trying to come to an agreement. >> all right, reporting live

from tunis, thank you. isil says it carried out three truck bomb explosions in syria that killed 22 people including kurdish internal security men. a syrian monitoring group said the attacks were in the kurdish town, the area in the province that is a base for kurdish fighters battling isil. in the saudi arabia capitol riyadh, groups agreed on the basic principles for a democratic political solution to end the five year long civil war. more than 100 delegates from armed and political opposition groups were in attendance, agreeing to hold peace talks with the government in the first 10 days of january. some factions maintain that syrian president bashar al assad must step down before the start of a transitional period. a key opposition rebel group has signed the statement, following earlier reports that said it had pulled out of the negotiations. assad said he is willing to negotiate with the opposition,

but not if they are armed. >> we were ready and we are ready today to start the negotiations with the opposition, but it depends on the definition of opposition. opposition for everyone in this world doesn't mean militant. there's a big difference between militants, terrorists and opposition. opposition is a political term, not a military term. >> the syrian opposition coalition special rich to the u.n. says assad needs to acknowledge the syrian opposition as a legitimate one. >> when he defines everyone who is in opposition to the regime as a terrorist, that's refusing to recognize there is a partner. while we, you know, decided that we will accept negotiating with the assad regime, even though it's the main perpetrator of terrorism, it's the side that killed most syrians, the side that displaced half of the

population and destroyed the country, because we want to political solution based on the geneva communique. i would say the gap is still wide and that's why we need international pressure on the other side. we need consequences and guarantees for those talks to have a real chance. a lot dependency on the upcoming meeting of the syrian support group in new york, the group that met in vienna, and the fact that they are able to agree that the frame of reference is the geneva communique, number one, number two, maybe if they are able to maybe structure those talks through a security council solution, which would in fact present those guarantees and the pressure needed on the other side, and its backers, russia and ran to come with again, good faith to negotiate. now we've seen that russia is taking part in the conflict. it's not a broker in this sense,

in fact, it's an aggressor, they can be a constructive player if they first stop the bombardment of syrians and second, they again pressure the other side to bring it to the negotiating table to negotiate the implementation of the geneva communique which talks about the transitional period from both sides, made up of both sides. >> fighting continues in iraq between the army and isil fighters as thousand us have been forced to flee their homes. some ended up in the kurdish region in the north. imran kahn reports from the region. >> abdullah has been a butcher for most of his life. he ran a small shop in fallujah. two years ago, he found isil fighters were taking territory on the outskirts of the city, so late one night, he took his family and headed north to here in the kurdish region of northern iraq. he said that decision saved his

life. >> life was just hell for us. the iraqi army would charge fallujah every day. we had nothing, couldn't do anything. his story is common. at least 4,300 people from anbar have settled in this small town tucked away in the hills. kurdish and arab communities get along here and have transformed the place. >> those who fled the violencen anbar province had a very positive effect on this community. they've opened businesses and that means jobs and money. this used to be a holiday town. people would come here once a year, now it's a very busy bustling market town all year long. >> this town represents a new start and chance for peace. he's thankful the kurds have allowed them to open markets and shops.

>> i really like it here. it's peaceful. it's not easy, but at least it's not a camp. i can't imagine i'll ever go back to anbar. there's nothing there. it's been totally destroyed. >> many former anbar residents feel the same way. they say they want to live with dignity and not in camps. this town provided them with that but this is a rare positive example. elsewhere in iraq, sectarian divisions continue to lead to violence and isil continues to hold territory. here, it's peaceful and secure and that's what people want. imran kahn, northern iraq. an explosion in iraq in the ethiopian capital, it is believed a grenade was thrown. the number of casualties is still unclear. we will bring you more on the story just as soon as it becomes available. in zimbabwe, the annual conference of the ruling party is being held. the disastrous state of the economy is a major talking

point. another is the growing question over who will succeed the 91-year-old president. >> the political maneuvering within zimbabwe's ruling party to see who could one day take over from the 91-year-old president has been going on for months. >> now there's no obvious successor to the president. we don't know what will happen if he wakes up today incapacitated. >> it's not widely known how many factions exist in the ruling party.

political analysts wonder what plans are in store from his very vocal wife. >> one thing is that the president has managed to keep people getting surprised. with we never know. it could happen -- >> there are some differences, but say the party is united. >> if those who cherish continue following that spirit -- we must build a party with one set of power and move away from the situation where there appear to be only other people. >> the next presidential election is in 2018. >> officials say they want the

president to run again in 2018. he will be 94 years old, but there are some concerned about the health of africa's oldest leader. the issue of succession is contentious, but the president would likely want to address issues such as the struggling economy and how to move the party forward. al jazeera, victoria falls, zimbabwe. 12 people have died in attacks in two military camps in burundi. gunman trying to steal weapons stormed the facilities overnight in the capitol. recent violence is raising concerns that burundi is fighting back into ethnic conflict. coming up a little later in the program. >> tonight, they step off the plane as refugees, but they walk out of this terminal as permanent residents of canada.

>> a power packed welcome for a group of syrian refugees who arrived in canada.

let's take a look at the top stories now on al jazeera. libya's rival governments have reached a deal after key talks in tunisia to form a new unity government. the special envoy said the two sides will sign the final deal on wednesday. syrian president bashar al assad says he is willing to

negotiate with the opposition, but not if they are armed. on thursday, syrian opposition groups agreed to set up a joint body to hold talks with the government in the first 10 days of john. 12 died in attacks on two military camps in burundi. gunmen trying to steal weapons stormed the facilities in the capital. an army spokesman said 20 were arrested and five soldiers injured. in afghanistan, we are getting reports of a powerful explosion in the diplomatic area of kabul. the afghan police say there's been gunfire, as well. we'll continue to follow this story and get you as much information as possible and bring it to you when it's available. talks in paris to reach a new global deal on climate change have been extended a day. they are close to a final deal.

the text of an agreement is expected to be released saturday morning. the j secretary general said the future of humanity is at stake. >> i am urging the negotiators to make their decision based on global decision. this is not a moment of talking about national perspectives. a global solution will help local solution. >> we are into the last lap of negotiations, that is how the french are describing it in this push to get an agreement by saturday. it's clear that there has been important progress on some issues, for example, the whole question of that target figure of 1.5% temperature rise above preindustrial levels. the words will say that it has

to be well below two degrees. there's been progress on finance and getting commitments of money to help developing countries help the very poorest countries make the switch to renewable energy, however, there are still a number of important sticking points. one of them is to do what is called differentiation, to use the jargon, how do you measure and report progress on reducing emissions. the developed world does it in one way, developing countries have had different ways up until now. the developed world wants the developing countries to do more, the developing countries saying that is not fair, because we are not operating on a level playing field. those are some of the key issues and they are important issues, although clearly a lot of progress has been madonnas far. >> the first plane load of syrian refugees from camps in

jordan and lebanon has arrived in canada. prime minister trudeau welcomes the refugees. another flight will lands on saturday. canada intends to settle 25,000 refugees by the end of february. >> this is a wonderful night where we get to show not just a plane load of new canadians what canada is all about, we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome in people who are fleeing extraordinarily difficult situations. it's not just about receiving them tonight. it's about the hard work we're all going to do in the coming weeks, months and years to ensure that everyone who passes through here tonight and in the weeks and months to come are able to build a life for

themselves, for their example, and also contribute fully to the continued growth of this extraordinary country. >> last month, the european union and turkey reached a deal to stem the flow of refugees coming into the continent. as we report from turkey, a deal seems to have increased the number of people sailing to europe. >> smuggling people to europe has just become a lot harder along this stretch of the turkish coast. military reinforcements have arrived, while from the air and sea, the coast guard watches for suspicious activity. on land, the security forces tell us they are as busy now as they were in summer. these refugees didn't want to talk. they didn't need to. they're expresses say

everything. >> are you ashamed of human trafficking? you'll kill these people, the officers shout to the bus driver. >> you can see the filth and swayl lower refugees were forced to wait in sometimes for several days before they were able to get in boats and cross to lesbos. while this site might have been abandoned in the endless game of cat and mouse with the turkish authorities, there are endless launching off points along the coast. >> the european union's desperation to reach the deal with turkey aimed as reducing the number of sea crossings may have now increased traffic. one smuggler we reached on the phone said he's never been busier. our work is double that of the officer, he says because people are scared the deal with the e.u. will close the border, so people are rushing to get out. >> they signed to cross. >> the governor has drafted in

security personnel from outside the region in a crackdown which was planned before the agreement with the e.u. >> our only concern is saving lives especially as winter approaches. in fact, it started getting cold and when women and children fall into ther water, they can quickly freeze to death. all our efforts are to prevent this. >> this people haven't made it to europe this time, but more than 30,000 refugees have crossed from turkey to greece so far this month. >> there is no life now, no life. every day, planes are dropping bombs, there is fighting. in syria now, you don't know who is fighting each other, they are all the same. they come from around the world to fight and kill neighbors, kill each other. >> with the easy route cut off, refugees are making longer, more dangerous further sea voyages down the coast. in the last 10 days, 30 people, many of them children drowned in

the now freezing cold aegean. desperate circumstances force desperate choices. bernard smith, al jazeera on turkey's aegean coast. north and south korea are holding talks aimed at improving their strained relations. ministers from both countries are meeting near the demilitarized zone. relations worsened in august when north korea leader kim jong-un ordered his troops on to a war footing. he we have more from seoul. >> these talks have their jen resist from the heightened tensions in august including fire across the demilitarized zone and a deal on august 25 that mandated regular senior level communications between the governments of north and south korea. we thought it would be in seoul or pyongyang, instead it is in

the industrial complex. we've had word of initial pleasantries and initial greetings during which the north korea head delegate said during the last eight years or so, there had only been a handful of high level talks usually in response to some kind of emergency in relations. this, he said could be the start of the real effort to try and improve the situation on the peninsula in terms of the relationship between the two governments. as for the agenda itself, it hasn't been made. it's almost certain that the south korean side will raise the issues of reuniting families, wanting more regular events where separated families separated for decades can meet at least briefly with their family members from the other side of the border, the north korea side likely to argue for resumption of tourism. one project in the southeast of north korea suspended since 2008, they want that to restart. it's taken four days and

four nights and a cost of 1,300 russians to read through four volumeles of war and peace. and so it began, both a literary and broadcasting marathon. from moscow, st. petersburg, the arctic circle, from london, vienna and paris, famous russians, ordinary russians, even a russian in space, they are all taking a turn to read for the cameras a page from leo tolstoy's magnum opus. a t.v. presenter, a great great granddaughter of tolstoy is one of the driving forces behind this project.

>> tolstoy is uncomfortable, russian society, because he questions a lot of key rules of the -- how society is built. he questions the power, the government. when you read war and peace, the battles, you understand his idea that war is the awfullest thing in the world. >> it is described as not a novel, not a poem, what it is is an epic, over over four volumes it tells the author's interpretation of napoleon's disastrous invasion of russia. for the book's fans some of who were chosen to read, the work's historical setting doesn't limit it's timeless qualities. >> the questions he raises are still relevant now and the answers, well, russian literature doesn't generally give answers. it asks questions and we're still trying to solve them. >> it feels like he is still

nearby, advising us on life. in the book, there are simple people and he shows us a chain of mistakes that everyone makes mistakes and that we should be able to overcome them. >> to great fanfare, this reading of war and peace has been broadcast live on russian television, radio and on line. the project's creators call it a democratic event and a unifying one, saying that great literature can bring people together in troubled times, whoever they are, wherever they are. >> of course i couldn't do a report on reading war and peace without having a go myself. here goes. he gripped the pummel, spurred his horse and galloped off under a hail of bullets that poured down on but luckily missed him. he wanted one thing, to find out what was going on and help rectify at all cost any error. if you want to know what happens

next, read the book. if you're quick, it will take four days and four nights. >> nicely done, rory. check out our website to stay up to date on all the latest news, aljazeera.com. the defendant is guilty of the crime of sexual battery. >> abuse of power, a former police officer convicted of raping more than a dozen women while on duty. tonight, they step off the plane as refugees, but walk out of this terminal as permanent residents of canada. >> an overnight welcome for syrian refugees starting their new lives in canada. a trail of clues, investigators combing the bottom of a