she was taken to the hospital, but was okay. that's it for us. the news continues live from london next. ♪ talks to end the war in syria are underway in new york with major obstacles to overcome. despite a supposed ceasefire in yemen, pro-government forces seized two towns from houthi rebels in 24 hours. charities are having to help more and more people in spain. and making music, the hub bringing world-class recording

facilities to the public in south africa. ♪ the foreign ministers of 17 countries are currently holding meetings in new york on new talks on how to end the war in syria. they are hoping to arrange a ceasefire from january, and then direct negotiations between the syrian government and opposition. but the opposition says it won't agree to a ceasefire unless president assad steps down nfl and ministers have yet to resolve their differences over which opposition groups to involve in the talks and which to define as terrorists. >> on the two importants a sects, one is the opposition groups, and the other is the composition of the opposition and the list of terrorist organizations. there seems to be no agreement. >> we are heading across to our

correspondent in new york in just a moment, while we wait for that, let me report that russian fighter jets have carried out air raids in syria. an isil affiliated media outlet reporting that nine people were killed in strikes east of aleppo. iraqi medical sources say 11 people from two families have been killed in an air strike fallujah by the u.s.-lead coalition. at least three killed are said to be children. the siege by the iraqi army has lead to a shortage of food and basic necessities in this that area. kurdish forces say they need stronger international support and more weapons. there are at least 25 million kurds living in parts of syria, turkey, iran, and iraq. in turkey, the pkk has been fighting for independence for

decades, but is closely allied to syrias ypg, the people's protection unit, who are syrian kurds fighting isil. the iraqi kurdish forces known as the peshmerga are based in the north of the country, and despite their requests for help, they are having some success against isil, as our correspondent reports from the peshmerga base in the north of iraq. ♪ >> reporter: it's a symbolic day for peshmerga forces here. they regained control of their town from isil fighters a year ago. many isil commanders were killed during the battles, including the brother of the isil leader. vehicles and heavy weapons were also ceased, which the peshmerga are now using on the front lines. they say most of the captured military equipment is u.s. made, which isil stole from the iraqi army. the hardware is a reminder for

soldiers that they can defeat isil, also known as daesh. >> daesh does not have the strength or morale to attack kurdish areas, because it is known that the peshmerga will fight and crush them. >> reporter: they are eager to show the gains they have made against isil. these are some of the symbols they have captured during fighting. but isil still remains strong in other areas on the outskirts of various peshmerga strong holds. isil has carried out many coordinated attacks across several fronts. peshmerga forces say they have repelled several attacks across the kurdish region. beside suicide bombers, isil fighters are using vehicles followed by bulldozers in which they are filling trenches dug by the peshmerga.

>> translator: this is a critical decision now, peshmerga and the coalition, with the support of the iraqi military already have a plan to liberate mosul from daesh. >> reporter: kurdish fighters continue to complain about a lack of weapons. they are helped by coalition air strikes, but they don't seem to be enough to win the war. >> daesh are armed to the teeth. and the peshmerga are the ones that are holding the line, defeating daesh, and they are holding the line for the west. so it's now time that the west starts doing more than air support. they must be crushed here for humanity. it's that simple. >> reporter: but the competing interests of international powers involved in this conflict, dpeeting isil remains far from simple. we were hoping at the top of the program to talk to our diplomatic editor, james bayes outside of the hotel where the

talks in new york are taking place. we can go to him now. you had a chance to briefly talk to some of the key players? >> reporter: yeah, that's right, david. there was a brief break in the proceedings here in the syria talks, and it gave us a chance to try to find out what is going on. i managed to grab a few words with john kerry asking him how things were going. his response was only two words, i'm afraid, going well. and the russian foreign minister says we are working through it. but in the last few moments a much longer conversation i was able to have with the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of jordan. jordan is pretty key in all of this because they are not only a member of the u.n. security council, and the plan is for the talks to move to the security council for a resolution, which is still being negotiated as we speak, but jordan also was given

a special role by this vienna process, and that was to try to work out on behalf of all of the countries represented here. a designation of who is a terrorist? which groups do the international community and those taking part in the vienna process consider to be terrorist groups that could have no future in syria. he told me that jordan had come up with a matrix, so it's not jordan's answer to the question, it's the answer of all of the different countries, and they put together showing a range of opinions on this. and they hope this matrix will then guide this discussion. and i am told that most of the discussion so far in this session has been on that issue of which groups should not be allowed to take part in negotiations and for that matter not be allowed to be part of a future syria. what is going on separately at another location, near the u.n. is talking about that resolution, which is supposed to

be passed in a couple of hour's time, and big disagreements on that. >> you have all of the foreign ministers of all of these major nations, 17 i think. we don't have anybody from the opposition or anybody from the assad government in this. that's a major problem, is it not? >> it is a major problem. what those countries represented here would say is that we're trying to work out a framework that would allow syrians to come together, because clearly they failed to come together over a five years in a conflict that has caused so much bloodshed. no one is counting the dead, but it's well over 250,000 people dead. but at some point you are going to have to get the syrians together. the syrian opposition not represented in any way today in new york. the syrian government, if there is a security council meeting, if they manage to get the wording of the resolution

agreed, something everyone is going to vote on, then the syrian government's ambassador will be allowed to sit in on that meeting. >> thank you, james bayes there. nato has agreed to send aircraft and shichs to strengthen turkey's defenses on the border with syria. it's a package designed to try to stabilize the area after turkey shot down a russian jet last month. investigators have started to examine the black box data from the jet. turkish security forces have killed 54 suspected members of the kurdistan worker's party, the pkk. a civilian and a turkish soldier were also killed. there have been two days of operations in southeastern turkey, on the iraq syrian

border. turkish government said on thursday that it would intensify its efforts against pkk fighters in that area. talks between the sides collapsed in july, bringing a two year ceasefire to an end. a palestinian had been shot dead after an attempted car ramming of israeli soldiers during a demonstration. another palestinian was shot and wounded during a similar car ramming attempt at the west bank check point. a campaign of attacks by palestinians had seen 19 israelis killed and a u.s. citizen since october. the israeli forces and armed civilians have killed at least 115 palestinians. after sitting out peace talks on friday morning, houthi rebels have returned to negotiations with yemen's government. they have been upset about the announcement of a humanitarian aid deal. as the two sides accuse one

another of breaching a ceasefire, pro-government forces say they have taken more territory from the houthis. >> reporter: a rare moment of joy. celebrations on the streets of adenmark the return of more than 260 prisoners of war. these fighters with the pro-government southern resistance movement, some of them barely into their teens, were freed in exchange for more than 300 houthi rebels. >> translator: we suffered a lot. the houthis exercised all kinds of abuses. we didn't get any prisoner rights. we weren't entitled to a proper diet. >> reporter: al jazeera can't confirm these allegations, but it is clear that both sides have suffered. it was hoped the swap would help u.n. sponsored peace talks in switzerland, and perhaps it did, to an extent. because the houthis and yemen's government agreed to allow desperately needed aid into the

contested city of ta'izz. but details continued in the u.n.'s announcement of the deal appear to have antagonized houthi representtives. a ceasefire has been in place since tuesday on paper, but hardly in practice. [ explosion ] >> reporter: the battles continue, and humanitarian agencies on the ground say they haven't seen any aid arrive. elsewhere pro-government fighters say they have now captured houthi camps on two provinces, destroying their vehicles and taking prisoners. as the fighting drags on it is estimated four in every five people in yemen now require aid. the situation is more acute for the sick. health services have been badly disrupted. doctors at this cancer clinic in aden are worried they will soon run out of supplies. >> these children are suffering

because we lack medicines and cannot perform tests. >> reporter: the conflict has already killed nearly 6,000 people since march, half of them civilians. gerald tan, al jazeera. still to come in this program, a dutch court rules that nigerian farmers can sue shell in the netherlands for pollution caused by leaking pipelines. britain's last deep coal mine closes down. stay with us, if you can.

♪

global lead lines 17 foreign ministers are meeting in new york for talks on how the end the syrian civil war. kurdish forces fighting isil in iraq say they need more weapons and international support. and houthi rebels have now returned to the yemen peace talks in switzerland, despite earlier saying they would pull out. they accuse one another of violating a ceasefire put in place before the talks. a dutch court has ruled that the oil giant royal dutch shell can be pursued in the dutch courts for compensation over oil spells in the nigher delta. the del has the been blighted by contamination for years.

it now opens the way for many more to launch lawsuits against shell. our correspondent reports from abu abuja. the nigher delta has some of the richest oil fields in the country. royal dutch shell operates around 50 wells there. farmers who's land has been blighted by decades of oil spills have fought a long battle for compensation. but are told they could only pursue the subsidiary and only in the nigerian courts. friday's ruling means the farmers can now sue the parent company, and in the netherland's court. the farmers have been supported by campaign group, friends of the earth. >> the fact that there is a call

for jurisdiction in this case, means that probably in the future, in similar cases victims of human rights abuses by corporations or other companies that also have a company here in the netherlands can bring their case to the netherlands to get justice. >> and it's also about all of the other people in the nigher delta who are suffering who now have the opportunity to take their case to the netherlands and fight shell in their own country. >> reporter: shell issued this statement:

being able to sue the parent company could open the door to multi-million dollars payouts. activists say the judgment by the court will be crucial to having decisions against international oil companies implemented. they accuse the government of being too slow on acting on such judgments, despite an order for shell to stop all drilling in the delta. campaigners are hailing it as a legal break through, but the actual liability for the pollution and spillages remains unresolved. there will be more court cases on that in 2016. the african union is proposing sending 5,000 peace

keepers to burundi which it says is on the brink of civil war. it allows it to deploy a force without the country's consent. the u.n. says at least 400 people have been killed since april when unrest began of the president said he would seek a third term in office. just a few weeks ago rwanda's president criticized his burundi opposite for trying to get a third term. now people across his country have voted in a referendum that would allow him to extend his own term. he has been in power since 1990. voters in central africa republic capitol have voted yes

in their election. nearly 90% of voters voted yes in the referendum although turnout was low at 30%. the proposed constitution reigns in the president's power and expands that of parliament and creates a special criminal court to try serious crimes. the spanish prime minister says he is willing to seek a [ inaudible ] without the conservative to prevent a leftest government from emerging after sunday's election. opinion poll is suggesting that no party can win a majority. >> reporter: giving up on madrid and all of her dreams at the age of 26. rosa is preparing to go back to live with her parents on the coast. she studied hard, has two

degrees, but all she could find was temporary work and unpaid internships. she feels betrayed. >> reporter: i'm hoping for a change. a change for all of the people that have been left behind. the politicians forgot about us, their priority was to save banks and cut spain's debt. everything except rescuing ordinary people. fwheed them to invest in citizens. >> reporter: at the red cross they count the cost of the social crisis. they told us the number of people they help increased by 700,000 in 2015. >> translator: there has been a change in the profile of the people we help. before we supported many immigrants and now most of the people we help are spanish. they come from homes that have

slipped into crisis. >> reporter: even the construction industry which collapse sod spectacularly a few years ago is now showing signs of life. unemployment is also falling, but many of the new jobs are combadly paid and short-term. the spanish are having to accept the economic insecurity is now a way of life. jose is a salesman for pharmaceutical companies. after 30 years of work, he is only scraping a living. aged r50, he has also moved back in with his parents. he can no longer afford to pay the bills at his own apartment. this is not the career he once dreamt of. >> translator: i have lost quality of life, salaries have dropped and they won't be like they were before. i know i will never earn the money i used to.

i can afford to buy very few things. >> so spain is at a cross roads. the government says the worst is over. it deserves a second chance. but many spanish want to punish the old political parties for everything that has gone wrong. that makes the results of these elections very hard to predict. barnaby phillips, al jazeera, madrid. the race to calcutta will become a saint. hope francis gave his approval for the sainthood on his own 79th birthday. it the end of an era for british coal mining. the last deep mine has closed down. neave barker reports from beal,

in north yorkshire. >> reporter: emerging from almost a kilometer underground, the final shift in britain's last deep coal mine. in its heyday more than 2,000 people worked here. now with little ceremony, the last 451 minors are saying good-bye. >> i feel teary eyed. it's a sad day. >> it's emotional for everyone. you think you are prepared for it, but i don't think that you are. >> reporter: once the largest deep mine in europe, it's an 11 kilometer journey to the coal base. it's noisy dangerous work, jobs the minors hoped to hold on to for life, but 56 years after it opened, it's the end of the road for this mine. coal powered the industrial revolution and fuelled the

british empire. the price of coal has crashed. as the u.k. tries to reduce carbon emissions, coal-fired power stations like this are gradually closing or moves to cleaner forms of energy, but the u.k. will still rely upon coal for at least another decade, imported from outside of the country. it's cleaner, and cheaper than british coal. u.k. companies just can't compete. in the 1970s and '80s, the mine was one of several to survive government pit closures. it was an era of strikes that bought the minors time until now. some of the newly redundant minors prepare for their final christmas dinner together. >> i feel let down by the

government and the company. the management to close. i feel bitter, because we haven't been given a fair chance to supply [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: some minors have been forced to retire, others are hoping to retrain. when the mine goes, the surrounding come community will fade also. soon after the last minors have left, and the conveyer belts have stopped, the shafts will be filled with concrete. neave barker, al jazeera, in north yorkshire. the final touches are being put to a center for up and coming singers and song writers in south africa. it is aiming to make high-quality recording facilities accessible to all. here is tania page. ♪ >> reporter: this is a kind of

folk, it is one of the most popular genre's in south africa. christopher indulges his position for the music at this music hub. it is one of the best recording studios in the country. >> to bring my voice to the people, when persons listen to what i'm singing [ inaudible ] proper, because now i'm work with the professional people today. >> the building has been associated with the music industry since the 1970s. the government bought it seven years ago, with the idea of making word class recording facilities accessible to the general public and at a cheap price. the studios are busy with budding artists. >> it has always had a developmental agenda, and access has always been a core issue. so our aim is to keep our prices at a level where everyone can

come through and record their music. >> reporter: this building has housed a music studio for decades during apart fi find -- apartheid it was one of the few places black people could come to record. it also contains the first music museum in south africa. >> this was really an icon here. >> the music itself, you know, kept shining, kept the will of the people out there for everybody to -- to feel, you know, to -- to hear, and so on. so i think it was really very important vehicle. >> reporter: u2 and dolly parton have both recorded in studio one, but today it's an italian

composer working with south african mu african musicians. and we are on song at aljazeera.com. government funded congress approves a more than $1 trillion spending plan. world powers close in on a road map to end the war in syria, but the opposition isn't part of the talks. cutting off isil's finances a new strategy take aim at the group's bottom line. [ cheers ] oh, my. and it appears the force is awakening profits at the box office. a look at the film poised to smash every film record in its first weekend. ♪