f we'll have more of "america tonight," tomorrow. russia carries out scores of air strikes in syria and helps to take key territory from rebel forces. the world news from al jazeera. a new generation of protesters five years on from the arab string revolution-- spring revolution. in tunisia where many believe it all began. the u.s. federal reserve raises the interest rates for the first

time in a decade. russia's air force says it hit more than 200 i.s.i.l. targets across syria in the past 24 hours. russian air covers also helped regime forces retake a strategic prize, the mountain in the north-west. the mountain overlooks the main rebel supply route between the part city of latakia and bashar al-assad stronghold and aleppo. the syrian army says it captured the mountain after breaking through the defenses of the al-nusra front armed group. peter sharp is in moscow. talk us through these strikes, peter. >> reporter: it seems now that russia is extending its military footprint in syria. don't forget this operation, this incursion into syria was sold to the russian people two

months ago as a very short-term engagement. it is clear now that russia's getting drawn into an extended conflict. it has flown scores of missions in the last 24 hours, but actually they've flown more than four thousand sortees since the bombing began at the end of september. they're picking up their logistic support too. they're moving into two new air bases. they're bringing in a ground to air, very sophisticated missile system and killer class submarines off the coast. does putin still have the support of the people on this? the last opinion polls show that he was running at 89.9% in favor. i think the people in russia basically still give him the support in this mission. political analysts are saying there is no real prospect of russia being overextended in its

missions there, but also on the corn side they're saying there's no clear exit strategy at the moment what are we likely to hear from president putin in the next hour or so when he addresses the public? >> reporter: putin has been very clever to position himself over the last year as an up and coming international player now, especially by getting seriously involved in syria. i think he will point to that new role in a resir gent russia when he speaks to journalists in about an hour's time. he will talk about the success of the tucks with the - talks with john kerry a couple of days ago and the convergence of views that kerry was talking about that russia and america really share common ground on what they see is the principal mission in syria which is to take on

i.s.i.l., but putin will also have to fill other questions that won't be so convenient. there will be questions about the role in ukraine, about corruption and about a very wilted and fading economy thank you for that, peter sharp. human rights watch has published photographs of thousands of people who died in syrian government detention centers. the group says it's damning evidence of crimes against humanity. some viewers may find the following photographs disturbing. these images were smuggled out of the country by a military defector. they show some six thousand people who died in custody, many of them tortured or staff. human rights staff managed to identify just 27 of the people photographed. rival parliaments in libya are divided over a u.n.-backed deal to form a unity government. the united nations hopes libyan politicians will sign the deal in a few hours time, but the president of the general

national congress ain tripoli says none of its members have been authorised to sign the deal. >> translation: the gnc did not authorize any of its members to participate in or sign at the meeting in morocco. we confirm that any attempt to impose non-agreed outcomes will lead to more clicks in the libyan political scene a ceasefire in yemen is in danger of collapse with both sides accusing the other of invoice violence. the ongoing fight between houthi rebels and forces loyal to the exile president is threatening to undermine u.n. brokered peace talks in switzerland. five years ago a tunisian street vendor set himself on fire in an act of protest against government repression. the story of mohamed bouazizi set in motion nation-wide protests that led to the downfall of president zine el abidine ben and his 23 years of

authoritarian rule. our correspondent. one of the key components was the use of social media platforms no show the world what was going on there. what kinds of role does online activism play in the country now? >> reporter: yeah. that's absolutely right. the use of platforms like facebook and twier made it so much easier for tunisians to share and link to videos that state media here would never would have broadcast otherwise and get those stories and images out to the rest of the world at a time that was so turbulent when the revolution was going on. i caught up with one of the most prominent bloggers of that time. five years on now to talk to him about what role online activism plays now and here is what he told us. five years later, he remembers very well when he realized

things had changed for good in tunisia. i had a discussion, i think it was in the second week of the revolution, and we were discussing politics. we were discussing saying it was impossible that the regime will not fall and my friend was saying no, it will. we had a public discussion and then went home. not a single policeman told us you cannot speak about this. >> reporter: in 2011, like many other young citizens, he placed great importance on the role of online activism. >> many people lost their fear through twitter and facebook. each one writing a little sentence or a word and someone else reading that and saying e squatoh, he say that. i can say a little bit more". >> reporter: it's a belief the

activist you turns analyst that he holds as strong now that he did then. >> in 2008, social media was still limited, and so barely no-one knew about what was going on. however, in 2011 where more than a million tunisians are on facebook, the people daring to affront the security forces, people are, wow, this is really happening. >> reporter: the protest in tunisia grew as quickly as the anger and soon calls for reform were as loud online as they were on the streets. while many here still contend that it was the power of the people rather than the power of the internet that allowed the revolution to take root, there's no denying that twitter and fast book users would have broadcast.

ones showing aftermath of brute force from a government trying to suppress its population. she, who still posts on social media sites as much as he monitors them tells us online activism has help to break the fear barrier in a way he couldn't never have imagined >> we have new activists, especially the younger generation, and you see the result of the uprising when you see how free they feel and whenever there is an issue, they raise their voice. >> reporter: voices, he tells me, from both the actual world and the digital one, that will continue to resonate and that can never again be silenced. he told me that as far as the activists that are his age go, that for many of them there's still a slight fear in the back of their minds that things could

possibly return to the climate of fear that they were once at here. he says that's why it's so important that activists of his generation and the next generation continue to get their invoices heard, continue to post up daily, and continue to make sure of whatever criticism they have is broadcast not just to tunisians but to the world as well the u.n. secretary general has wanders that burundi is on the brink of a-- warns that burundi is on the brink of a war. a ament n envoy will visit the region to press regional parties for talks. -- u.n. burundi has been in turmoil since april since the president sought a third term in office. live for us in bujumbura, our correspondent. these accusations from the u.n. that burundi is heading to a civil war, is that the feeling

there? >> reporter: yes. this is the feeling of many people here in burundi. although the government disagrees with them. the secretary general ban ki-moon is comments for growing action in burundi. the secretary general called the events of the last few days as chilling. he is referring to the killings on the streets of burundi which some say were carried out by the military, young men grabbed out of their homes and shot point blank execution-style, and this is recent memories of a different period, 1994, the genocide in rwanda, and it doesn't help that the population of burundi is divided. the world, before genocide

happened, was criticised. countries like the u.s. were blamed and that is what the international doesn't want to see happen and this is one of the results why the u.n., human rights council is today holding a special session to discuss burundi and their situation, the human rights situation here i wonder what's going to happen now and what's going to be done to prevent an escalation of violence there. >> reporter: well, according to the international community right now, it is planning two things. first of all, a special adviser is expected here in the coming days to try and convince the president to halt those opposed to him, him serving another term in office. that's the first step. the second step is the african

union and the u.n. to bring to burundi international peacekeepers to protect civilians. this is an idea that has been rejected by the government of burundi. they say those who are urging for the deployment of peacekeepers have other ulterior motives thank you for that. china is objecting to an appearances deal. sanction china regards taiwan as part of the territory. u.s. is defending the deal saying the policy between taiwan has been consistent and has helped to maintain security in the region. political commentator says the asian foreign policy is confused >>. >> it is difficult to understand

it. the u.s. recognises the one china policy and that would include taiwan, but it also insists on going on with the taiwan's relations act which says it will give arms to taiwan to protect itself. this is equivalent to saying to the state of georgia, since you were involved in the fed rate war, china will continue to arm you. there have been military talks and engagement, but from the u.s. point of view it's very difficult to see the u.s. has not articulated a comprehensive foreign policy which involves both asia, europe and the middle east and this has been a bit of a hindrance. american exceptionalism is a rationalization but it doesn't tell people where you stand and what is becoming a multi polar world still to come on the program, down to business. argentina's new government gets

to work on the country's triplets policy starting can currency controls. plus. common asends a rocket-- sends a rocket into space to search out dark matter which makes up much of the universe. universe. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself, and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment,

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>> the only live national news show at 11:00 eastern. >> we start with breaking news. >> let's take a closer look. hello again. a reminder of the top stories. russian air cover has held syrian regime forces take a significant prize in the area. a mountain over looking the

area. burundi is on the brink of civil war. ban ki-moon is calling for urgent talks to stop mass violence in the country. china is opposing 1.83 billion dollar arms deal between the u.s. and taiwan. the u.s. defending the deal saying it is consistent with its policy. asian markets have opened with gains after the bank's decision to raise interest rates by a quarter of a %. rates have been near zero for seven years in an attempt to bluffed the global economy. it is likely to strengthen the dollar and boost investment in the united states. >> reporter: it was a sign of confidence in the u.s. economy. the federal reserve raised interests rates a quarter%. >> this marks the end of an extraordinary 7 year period

during which the funds rate was held near zero to support the recovery of the economy from the worst financial crisis in recession since the great depression. >> reporter: she said the increase was justified because inflation had been held to below the target of 2%. thanks to progress in cutting the overall jobless rate to 5%. half of its level when the u.s. economy was tanking. on wall street trading was heavy. the markets closed higher. the rate increase could hurt american exports, but at this stage it is emerging economies that are expected to suffer the most from the stronger dollar. >> common wisdom say when you start raising rates, the market should settle off, but the reality is it reduces uncertainty. >> reporter: the rate increase was widely anticipated. so much so analysts say it was already factored into the markets ahead of this announce:

the question is how high will it go and how quickly that answer could further shake things up here on wall street and on main street. from credit cards to car loans, higher interest rates mean higher borrowing costs for consumers as well as businesses. analysts predict it will be minor. >> consumers are benefitting from the huge drop in oil prices and gas prices still falling presented rapidly. so that's freed up cash flow that they're spending not just on retail goods but also on services, more on recreation, leisure, entertainment, that sort of thing >> reporter: the fed promised future increases will be gradual over the next year. news keeping investors happy, at least for now adrian brown has more on what the u.s. interest rate rise could mean for china. >> reporter: i'm in the city in north-east china, a key economic

center where business leaders like others elsewhere in the country are trying to assess the likely impact of this rise in u.s. interest rates. the last time it happened, obama and president xi jinping had yet to become presidents of their countries. china had yet to host an olympic games. this rise in rates for china will help exporters because chinese goods will now be cheaper because the value of the yuan will fall against the dollar. also it is worth pointing out the chinese government effectively owns a sizeable chunk of the u.s. economy in the form of debt, some 1.2 trillion dollars of treasury bills that are now sitting in its sovereign wealth fund and the value of that will go up. a lot of big chinese conglomerates have borrowed in u.s. dollars.

also a lot of countries are exposed to u.s. dollars that they export to. china's economy is continuing to slow. the government has been cutting interest rates here not raising them appeared that has caused the yuan to fall in value. what is worrying the leadership, it is the timing and size of future rise says in u.s. rates average is to relax foreign exchange restrictions which have been in place since 2011. the announcement comes six days after president macri took office with the promise of economic reform. >> reporter: an expected announcement by the minister of finance. >> translation: we are aiming to normalize the economy. we inherited a complex situation, but we have started to fix it. that's why we are lifting exchange rate restrictions.

>> reporter: it was one of former president cristina kirchner's most unpopular policies. tight controls on the currency market by limiting dollar purchases. rising inflation and a lack of faith in the peso. people have long sought refuge in dollars. she banned the sale of dollars in 2011. now in an attempt to get this country's economy going, the new president macri is doing what the previous government said was impossible to do. there is is no uncertainty in the financial district because nobody knows what will be the consequences of liberalizing the exchange rate. this latest move is popular amongst the business sector who say that controls were hurting argentina's productivity. there are fears about what this new measure could bring about. government opponents say that macri is devalue ewe eighting the currency by 40%.

argentina inflation rate is around 30%. these people have been demanding a pension rate for years. they say they're worried about more inflation. >> translation: we have been demanding a raise and we are already seeing prices go up. we are fighting for a better pension. we can only afford ahalf of what we need to exist. >> reporter: since macri says he will lift currency controls, prices have started going up. the price of beef has increased 30%. analysts say he made the right call >> it will be step-by-step to get out of this stagnation, but you need to have an integral approach because expectations are very high. expectations are changed and are high internationally. you have to fulfil those. >> reporter: after years of tight controls, macri's government seems determined to

liberalize the economy of latin america's third largest economy. there is no doubt argentina has a bumpy road ahead regular commercial flights between cuba and the u.s. are expected to soon resume. the two countries have agreed in principal to resume flights. officials hope to announce an agreement soon. it will be an important step for the neighbouring countries after diplomatic relations were suspended for more than five decades. bat more's mayor is calling for calm after a judge declared a mistrial in the freddie grey case. the 25-year-old man decided after sustaining neck injuries while in police custody. john terrett has the details. >> reporter: freddie grey's death hit a raw nerve in a nation with a history of race relations with the police. a hung jury now has been unable to reach a verdict in the first

trial of his death. >> if some choose to protest, they must peacefully demonstrate. that is their right. but i also want to be very, very clear about any potential disturbsances in our city. we are prepared to respond >> reporter: 25-year-old suffered a spinal injury after being arrested for allegedly posing an illegal knife. he was failed to be secured adequately with a seatbelt. this shows porter looking on as grey is shackled and placed in the van. >> the family's position has always been that they want justice and they know that the only people in a position to bring about justice are the judge and the jury. you have heard that that jury could not reach a verdict. you know now that that doesn't mean anything about the future. >> reporter: according to court filings, the driver of the police van stopped at about 9am

and asked porter to check on grey. according to a report in the baltimore sun newspaper, grey asked for medical help. the van made another stop to pick up another suspect, paramedics were not called until 9.24 when the van reached the police station. grey's statements and those of all officers present will likely raise questions in court when the further trials get underway. >> reporter: grey's death led to protests across the country. here in baltimore rioting forced the authorities impose a curfew and enforce the national guard to maintain law and order. at the heart of this, people ask asked a simple question of the country, who will police the police? civil rights campaigners saw the trial as a test of whether the justice system in the u.s. values black lives or not spain's prime minister was

attacked while campaigning for the upcoming general election on sunday. she was meeting voters in his home region when he was punched in the head head. the attacker as seen here is believed to be a minor. he was arrested. the prime minister posted a message on social media later saying he was fine. a new space craft developed by the chinese academy of sciences has launched its mission to scan the cosmos for elements it's hoped to give us more understanding of mysterious and as yet unseen dark matter. >> reporter: launching on board a long march rocket, the dark matter particle explorer is said to give a view we have not seen before. the space craft will orbit earth at an altitude of 500 kilometres

while its powerful space telescope searches for high energy gamma ray electron and coulds make rays. using a series of detectors, it is able to map the direction, energy and electric charge of these particles as they travel through space. from these scientists hope the telescope will see evidence of what is known as dark matter, which has never been seen or directly detected, but by looking at the movement of galaxys, they are sure it exists. it makes up 80% of the universe. >> it is extortions from the galaxy, and these measurements of these extortions is telling us that there is an additional amount of matter in the universe that we cannot see. >> reporter: the space telescope is a first of four the chinese academy of sciens is

developing to explore the galaxy. we will get the photographs within the next few days a quick reminder of our website, al jazeera.com. >> i'm russsell beard, in southern kenya, where the latest development in human elephant conflict resolution is creating a real buzz. >> and i'm amanda burrell in indonesia, to see a wasteland restored. >> and i'm sergio quitana in arcata california learning how to flushit