rival leaders in libya, sign a deal to form a unity government. ♪ hello there, i'm barbara sarah, you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program, putin defends syrian president assad, and says compromises need to be made to end the conflict. the british government says members of the muslim brotherhood are potential extremists. and five years on, tunisia

remembers, mohammed bouazizi. hello there, thank you for joining us. libyan political rivals have signed the under-backed peace deal which is designed to end years of chaos and fighting. the agreement is large and complex. but it will create a unity government. the first priorities for the new government will include easing internal conflict, and concentrating on battling isil-linked groups. it also gives the libyans until early february to form a presidency council. the united nations special envoy gave his reaction. >> today is an historic day for libya, five months ago, the initialling of the libyan political agreement, showed a brood consensus on the framework

for ending months of destructive violence and political divisions. today, by signing the completed political agreement, you are completing this process. you are turning a page in the history of libya. from today, the agreement puts in place the single set of legitimate institutions, the potential building blocks towards a peaceful, secure, and prosperous libya. >> joining us in the studio is our senior political analyst. here is the question, how likely is it a that this is going to work? >> well, it doesn't seem like everybody is happy about it. notably the leaders of the two parliaments are not in agreement. in fact there is a bit of

absurdity to the whole thing that the who heads of parliament met in malta a few days ago, and agreed not to agree to whatever these delegates have agreed to in morocco. so this is a step forward in a conflict that has been going on for 40 years. people are talking about and agreeing on some sort of transition. apparently there is going to be a lot of problems along the way, moving forward. >> and i guess the question is, and a lot of the critics will say that this is, and we have seen all of the meetings in rome, leading up to it, that this is something imposed from outside. how much is that perception going to undermine the fact that it is the libyans that have to come together. >> we have situations in syria, yemen, and libya. there is certainly a local urgency to resolve the problems, because civil wars are not good

for anyone. and in places like yemen or syria and libya where there's no clear winner, if anything they are just fighting until they both lose and the country loses even more than they do, there is a need amongst the libyans to resolve the fight. no there's more international urgency as well, especially european urgency to resolve the issue. so it is the libyan or it is international, i think it's libyan with international incubation. >> we now have this framework leading us to february to form a sort of presidency council, which then in turn elects a cabinet and so on. do you think that is in itself a realistic aim? do you think the libyans are leaving with that priority in mind? >> the fact that there is no winner or loser in the conflict means that both parties are

going to have to move forward together. that's not easy to do after years of civil war. but they have no other option if they want to serve their country. the president council is important, and transitional government is important. they might have problems of how to implement it. for example, who is going to be the heads of the army? it seems like there is a bit of a liner there, about if we don't agree in ten days, then we are going to go into choosing one a different way, which means the likes of hafta who supports the tobruk government probably not be in elected. that in itself will create a problem. so in determines of the dynamics of how this is going to be put into practice, i think we'll see a lot of problems. >> thank you. let's go to the conflict in ukraine. the low-level conflict with

turkey, the fight against isil, and how to end the conflict in syria. vladimir putin reflected his country as a key global player when he held his press conference on thursday. peter sharp was listening in moscow. >> reporter: this man looked like he was enjoying himself. president assad, he said, will stay on. >> translator: i have said on many occasions, and i want to repeat it, that we will never agree with the idea that somebody from outside, whoever it is, should impose the idea of who should rule another country. it simply doesn't fit with any kind of common sense or international law. and secretary of state kerry asked me about this. i told him my position hasn't changed, we believe the syrian people have to determine who should bring them. but russia's expanded military presence will continue its

support just as long as the syrian army continues its operations. putin continued again and again to the shooting down of one of his aircraft by turkey. it was a hostile act ho said. >> translator: our people died when they shot down the plane. what made us particularly indignant is if it had been accident and the turks didn't know it was aircraft, they would have apologized, but that didn't happen. so nato started getting involved. was that really necessary? >> putin said a sophisticated surface to air missile system is now in place, and he warned turkey not to cross into syrian air space. and in a year that saw a role in the peace process. they confirmed the russian plan was very similar to americas. 2015 will be remembered as the year of resurgence of russian

foreign policy an effective demonstration of moscow's ability to project power in the middle east. tens of thousands of photos from syria are being put forward as evidence of crimes against humanity allegedly committed by the assad regime. a human rights organization says it has verified the pictures. a warning that you may find some of what we're about to show you disturbing. human rights watch say the photos document deaths of around 6,700 people in syrian prisons over several years. this is one of their case studies. 14-year-old boy who was taken into custody a syrian intelligence officer who found an, anti-assad song on his cell phone. his family spent years searching for him.

they found his picture amongst the photos. we have blurred his face out of respect for his family. >> translator: it was him. it was achmed with a number. they put a number on him. achmed was a soul. and he became a number. >> human rights watch says that shows the images to forensic pathologists. their verdict was that people were starved, baent, and tortured. it was systematic, and on massive scale. syria's president has spoken about the photos before, and dismissed them adding that the pictures could have come from anywhere. the british government is to intensify its scrutiny of muslim brotherhood members, associated and affiliates in the u.k. the prime minister says an investigation has concluded that membership of the group could be a possible indicator for extremism. lawyers for the muslim

brotherhood say the criticism is unwarranted and that it would be challenged in british courts. in a statement, the muslim brotherhood said that they openly engaged with the british government's review, and it is a travesty that this was not reciprocated. they added: a senior lecturer at the institute of arab and islamic studies, earlier explained what the scrutiny will mean in practice. >> first they will continue to ban the visas from muslim brothers affiliates so not allow them to come to the u.k. they will also look at the charity affiliated with either the organization or the general idealogical trend of the organization, and to make sure that the -- the -- the -- the funding is going for very

specific charity purposes, and if anything goes in the wrong direction, then they will be liable for prosecution. and -- and i think they will also monitor the statements of the figures affiliated with the muslim brothers, although all of the senior leadership have rejected violence and condemned violent acts in general, they will be looking at the affiliates that will either promote or condone armed tactics against the regime specifically in egypt. much more to come on the program, including, why an arms deal involving taiwan has seen america's top diplomat summoned to china.

>> we have people who are desperately in need of jobs. >> hear from citizens caught in the crossfire... >> we want freedom, freedom! >>...and what america can learn from chicago's ongoing

gun violence. time now for a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. libya's rival governments have signed a u.n.-backed deal to form a unity government. it -- it's hoped the agreement will bring stability to the country. vladimir putin has ruled out better relations with turkey. thousands of photos have be smuggled out of syria, aappear to show the deaths of thousands of people in syrian prisons. bashar al-assad has previously dismissed the photos. on this day five years ago,

events were met in motion that would change the middle east and north africa for example. what would become known as the arab spring would lead to anti-government protests, revolutions, and war. it started with one man, a tunisian who had had enough. his name was mohammed bouazizi. he set himself on fire outside of the local government offices after being harassed and abused by officials. bouazizi died 18 days later, and the massive anti-government protests which began after his act, quickly grew. knowing that his 23 year rule of iron fist were over, the president fled to saudi arabia. he would be the first of many dictators eventually forced from power as the arab spring erupted across the region.

>> reporter: this man says his cousin was trying to sell his fruits and vegetables, but the police kept moving him on. his family relied on his income, and he had to take the risk. >> translator: the police decided to confiscate his cart and scales. when he went to the municipality to meet the governor, he was turned away. they refused to speak to him. >> reporter: he wanted to earn enough money to get married and help his family, but the constant police harass , corruption and poverty prevented him from achieving his ambitions. perhaps he felt humiliated after a policewoman slapped him. or hopeless about the future. whatever his reasons he decided he wanted to die right outside the offices of the officials who treated him so badly. his friend, achmed, was close by.

bouazizi set himself on fire because he felt discriminated against. i was in front of the municipality building. i saw him on fire. i saw people try to put the flames out. it was such a painful seen. >> translator: he was suffering a lot at the time and had many problems. no one was there to listen to his concerns and worries. >> reporter: his friends and family took to the streets. >> translator: we were able to raise slogans like employment is our right, and you gang of thieves. we spoke out against the injustices and mohammed's fate. in that was the beginning. >> reporter: within weeks there were protests across tunisia. mohammed's plight resinated with so many people, because they were suffering from some of the same frustrations. he died on the 4th of january,

2011. ten days later, the president fled the country. >> translator: i remember how things were straight after the revolution. people stood together. unfortunately politicians make promises and fail to keep them. we're asking for more national opportunity. we hope our region gets its share of development and the state reaches out to people here. >> reporter: people here are tired of the slow pace of change since the revolution. many here say that life is more difficult now but the death of bouazizi did give tunisians the freedom and dignity that eluded this young man all of his life. our correspondent is live for us in tunis. we were hearing in her report how in the town, there is a frustration about the slow pace of change. is that echoed in tunis as well?

>> reporter: it is, barbara. frankly, you know, in the last few days, we have spoken to a lot of people here on the ground in tunis who have said that not nearly enough has been done. on the one hand you have things that are terrific that have happened, like the national dialogue quartet getting a boost with the nobel peace prize, but on the other hand you have concerns not just of the economic variety in the fact that job creation isn't happening at the speed with which they would like here. but also more importantly, security matters, because there have been three attacks just in this past year that have happened here. you have the attack at the museum here which killed dozens of people several months ago, and then you have had an attack in zeus where there were

tourists that were killed. and a bus load full of presidential guards were killed when this suicide bomber detonated himself inside of that bus. and unless the government can really work together to improve the situation, the underlying issues like the economy, jobs, and corruption will continue to be the case, and that the issues of security and making sure that terror attacks -- that have happened in the past year, don't keep happening. barbara? >> i guess the people of tunisia, though, were the first ones to find a voice, the first ones to really take to the streets and protest against dictators who have been in power for decades. so people that were activists back then, what are they specific saying now? are they happy? obviously there's a lot of things that still aren't as they should be in tunisia, but do they feel that things have

improved? >> reporter: yeah, we have spoken to a lot of the online activists that were very active when it came to the days of the revolution, really blogging, moment by moment, using social media to -- to try to get out those images that were so important to tunisia and the rest of the world when tlef lugs was going on. many have told us that it does seem as though there is more freedom of expression here now, and that that is a good thing. one of the more prominent bloggers of that time period, i spoke with at length yesterday, and he was telling me that what is really important is that there is a generation of folks, of people who were 17, 18, 19, 20 years old, five years ago when the revolution happened that have gotten used to living in an atmosphere where there is freedom of expression, but he says because of that, many people here feel the dissidence,

the online activism, cannot be -- oppressed any longer. >> thank you. imf chief has been forced to face trial in her role of a payout to a french businessman, which totaled more than 400 million euros. the head of the international monetary fund was french finance minister at the time of the payout. she says she will appeal the decision. the united states top diplomat in china has been summoned to explan an arms deal with taiwan. past u.s. weapons sales to taiwan have attracted strong condemnation from china, which

considered taiwan a renegade province. >> reporter: it has been a while since a u.s. diplomat was summoned to china for a stern rebuke. but the foreign minister told the diplomat that china regarded what the united states had done as something that threatened china's sovereignty and security interest, and warned of retaliation. by that he possibly means sanctions against the u.s. defense contractors involved in the construction of these warships. china regards taiwan as a break away province that will one day return to the motherland. this comes at a time of heightened tension in the south china sea. and then of course, next month we have presidential elections in taiwan, and at the moment, opinion polls show that the

pro-independence candidate is in the lead. all of this comes at a time of warming relations between tie china there the leaders met in singapore, but this latest rowe over the sale of arms to the united states is a reminder that this relationship is fractious and complicated. it has been a year since the u.s. and cuba announced they would begin normalizing relations. the embassy in this havana has reopened, and cuba has been removed from the list of state-spons state-sponsors of terrorism. andy gallagher reports. >> reporter: it was a day few thought they would ever see, a year ago this month, more than 50 years of strained relations between cuba and the u.s. drastically changed. prisoners were released. the u.s. embassy in cuba hoisted

its flag over havana, and the process of a normalization in relations officially began. in the months that followed diplomatic ties have been reestablished and travel restrictions from the u.s. eased. but for some meaningful change is still out of reach. this cuban activist has been described as the most persecuted artist in cuba. he says things have gotten worse. >> translator: if it's a negotiation you are supported to give a part to cuba, and cuba gives their part. but i haven't seen much progress. only more repression, more detentions and immigration. >> reporter: some say the improving relations has always been the driving force behind a recent spike in cuban migration. last year alone, more than 40,000 cubans have made their way to the u.s. fuelled by the

fear that the policy that gives cubans residency will soon come to an end. cubans and cuban americans have witnessed things many thought they would never see, but in many ways cuba remains an isolated nation. despite that, many remain cautiously optimistic about the future. rick says real change in cuba will be slow, but he believes a policy of engagement will eventually bring rewards. >> we are fighting 50 years of severed relations, of conflict, of deep distrust between the united states and cuba. it is going to take a while to overcome that, but we have already made significant strides. >> reporter: few doubt that last year has been the beginning of a long and complex process, the u.s. economic embargo remains firmly in place and cuba is the only single party state in the

americas, but many remain quietly optimistic that change will eventually come. thousands of anti-government demonstrators have gathered in front of parliament in the albanian capitol. they have been throwing eggs, tomatoes, and flairs in an effort to interrupt parliament. the philippines has one of the highest literacy rates in asia, but many filipino children drop out of school after learning how to read and write to support their families. one man is trying to change that one book at a time. from manila, margo ortegas has the story. >> reporter: they call him godfather. this 63 year old welcomes everyone into his home. a retired accountant, he turned it into a library 15 years ago after his parents died. it's a way to honor them, he said, bypassing on the only

inheritance they left him, a love for learning. >> translator: as a filipino that they didn't have the opportunity to go to other places, i wanted to do something before i turned 70 that would help other filipinos, and books are my means to do that. >> reporter: tucked within a less affluent area of manila, the reading club began with his own books from childhood. there are about 50 public libraries in manila, but they are not easily accessible to all. there are frees to be paid and strict rules that must be followed before a library card is issued. none of that applies here. this 14 year old comes by as often as she can. her parents can no longer afford to send her to school, and she now helps earn a living scavenging through trash. >> translator: when you read you

forget time, because the pages take you away, and you can learn about other things, through these books. >> reporter: and there is no shortage, though he gives everything away for free, more comes in through donations without him needing to ask. every inch of his house is now lined with thousands of titles, and the books never stay here too long. >> translator: there is no such thing as garbage. one person's waste will fill another person's needs, we must remember that. >> reporter: through the reading club. he hopes to open doors for those who have less in life. it's reward enough, he says, if readers in turn do the same for someone else. english football champions chelsea are looking for a new manager after announcing the sacking of their manager in the past couple of hours.

he won the title with chelsea for the third time last may. but this season their form collapsed. much more on that and everything else we have been covering on the website, there it is, aljazeera.com. ♪ criminal charges, federal officials focus on the man suspected of helping the san bernardino killers. while president obama seeks out new ways to prevent terrorism on u.s. soil. and ash carter under fire for using his personal email at work. and new rules could put the breaks on the development of those driverless cars. ♪