>> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the soundbites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is.

>> the top stories on al jazeera, the head of the pakistan taliban is condemning an attack on the university in the northwest. earlier, a taliban splinter group claimed responsibility. at least 19 people were killed at the university, including students, a professor and gunmen. top diplomats are discussing how to end the war in syria, john kerry and sergey lavrov have been meeting in zurich. there is growing uncertainty whether talks between the syrian government and opposition groups will go ahead as planned next week. ministers from seven countries are meeting in front to discuss intensifying the campaign against isil in iraq and syria. for more on that meeting in paris, al jazeera's senior political analyst is with us. u.s. secretary ash carter seeking help for new too fast

against isil. will he get that kind of support that he's looking for? >> certainly also the french seem to be excited about what they call how upping up the game against isil. if you saw over the last few weeks at least isil had been carrying a number of attacks in different places, or attacks carried in their name in different countries around the world, so as british defense secretary mr. talon put it, they want now to really take care of the head of the snake, meaning they want to really take on isil in iraq and syria, and certainly the meeting of the defense ministers that means we will know more about more airstrikes. it just happens to be that i saw today a little video prepared by the center for international -- in washington, a bit of a speaker effective on the war in iraq. twenty knife years are bombing in iraq, we've been bombing them

for 25 years and there's talk about bombing them or bombing general for the next 25 years, right? the idea beings that for 25 years, america has been bombing iraq, it hasn't been helping. it took care of different things at different times, sadaam, before sadaam, al-qaeda and so forth. collateral damage is huge. isil has been contained in some places but remains a formidable force. >> the meeting in paris, defense members from seven members of the coalition, which is 60 members, but the fact that russia and turkey are not invited, not participating in these talks, what do we make of that? >> sometimes strength is not in numbers, right? certainly a lot of the 60 members of the coalition are not serious members, just to be added so the lift looks impressive. at the core are two or three countries taking major action against isil, notably france,

the united states and britain supported by germany, et cetera et cetera. clearly since the split between moscow and washington against the drop of moscow's intervention in syria, the idea of two coalitions against terrorism have emerged. russia doesn't really have much of a coalition but certainly has the friendship of iran or complicity of iran there. what's happening between the two coalition dependency what happens between lavrov. >> and kerry. >> and kerry in zurich. this is a very funny thing. some of us who have been following this for the last few years, as they say in the middle east, kerry and lavrov is like the pot that found its cover. they kind of work together rather well against the backdrop of different style of leadership of their own penalties. putin and obama don't work well together.

there are two different style of leadership, two different people, one a bit overly pragmatic one a big cynical, but the two foreign ministers are working together. they will set the tone as to how the coalition against terrorism will work against isil because kerry said last month, december 15 in moscow that the beyond and russia looks in a similar way to syria, they have certain similarity in position, but they don't really have the same position on the future of assad in the country. >> right, speaking of kerry and lavrov, then, let me ask you whether the talks are going to go ahead next week when it comes to peace talks for syria. >> the head of the syrian delegation was here in doha. he certainly refuses any russian intervention in the setting up of the opposition delegation,

which i guess of course, it's natural for him to say that. it's kind of bizarre for moscow to be asking to set up or to work or to cooperate or be part of the setting up of the syrian opposition that they or the regime, it's really unacceptable for are the syrians. every dave that passes, it seems that we are getting farther and farther from the possibility of that meeting taking place, because of of the differences over the delegations and because of the differences over well you know what it's going to take in terms of the seals fire and in terms of release of prisoners. >> we'll leave it there for the time being, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> forgiving us your thoughts on that. the falling oil price has dragged the russian currency to a record low against the dollar. the ruble now trading around 80 to the dollar. russian's economy suffering because of the country's

dependence on oil. russian economy will contract by 20% in 2016. we have this report. >> oil is the life blood of rush's economy, the epitome of a pepetrol state. 70% of revenues come from oil and gas and the money the government makes goes to contribute some 50% or more of the federal budget. there are other factors at play, rush is ahead at the moment with western sanctions because which its role in the conflict in ukraine. even with no western sanctions, the ruble would still be taking a hammering. what are russian leaders doing about this? at the tail end of 2014, the central bank basically held up

its hands and said look, trying to spend the ruble by foreign currency reserves is too expensive. they tried to stem the slide by hitting the country with punishing interest rate hikes. a group of analysts just polled by bloomberg say if the ruble gets much worse than it is at the moment towards 90 rubles to the dollar, then the central bank will probably have to start spending foreign currency reserves once more. now, looking further than that, the government is also at the moment in the middle of a painful readjustment of 2016's budget. the agreed bucket assumed ail would be trading about $50 a barrel, now at the $28 a barrel mark. ministries and other government agencies are asked to come up

with budget cuts. this is likely going to be passed on to ordinary russian who are looking at a very powerful 2016 now. police in kenya shot and killed four men planning to carry out attacks. a house was raided in the coastal town following a tip off. grenades, guns and handwritten maps were recovered. one man killed was on kenya's most wanted list. the coastal region has been targeted by the armed group al shabab. kenyan troops have been attacking southern somalia after friday's attack by al shabab. they raided a kenyan military base and killed soldiers, criticized for revealing new details about the number of soldiers killed. catherine soy has more. >> the remains of some of the soldiers killed by al shabab fighters in somalia's get toe region are brought back home. the fighters overran a military

base on friday, killing many soldiers and abducting several others. these soldiers had only been there for a fortnight following a routine troop rotation of the african peacekeeping mission. two other deadly attacks on troops happened last year during similar rotations. >> most tactical errors caused by the massive complete changeover of a battalion or company occupying a business captured by al shabab. this tactical error happens because there isn't a smooth handledover and transition from the previous battalion into the new one. >> the attack appears well timed to take advantage of the troop rotation when fresh troops arrive. >> military commanders are not revealing details of the attack. we don't know how many soldiers were killed, abducted or may still be missing. families are not receiving much

information and the continued presence of kenyan troops in somalia is once again the focus of debate. >> a satirical cartoonist who once worked for amazon in somalia draws a sketch of the silence from the military. he said a current exit strategy should focus on why the troops were sent in the first place. >> we went in unilaterally to defend ourselves or start setting up a buffer zone in order to defend our borders. that was the reason we went across, to defend our own tourist industry. by that measure, the operation was a failure. tourist industry is a mess because of the attacks by al shabab. they actually increase after we went across. >> we may never know how many soldiers died or what exactly happened but the president vowed

that the government will avenge their dearths ands that kenyan forces in somalia will not withdraw, at least not yet. al jazeera, nairobi. >> several suspects are being questioned following friday's hotel attack in burkina faso. security's been stepped up after gunmen killed 30 people. police still searching for three attackers. we have this report. >> the people of burkina faso are slowly coming to terms with the attack last weekend in their capital. one of the poorest countries in the world, burkina faso has just emerged from a political crisis. citizens hope for in proving the economy. the new government is in crisis mode. its initiatives are stalled for now. >> the people are burkina faso

have a history of struggle. we are fighting against colonialism. >> an assault an a luxury hotel and coffee shop with aid workers. >> medical workers say that treating dozen was people who are unable to pros the attack on this relatively peaceful country. >> discussions on a burial date for those killed has begun. officials held talks with their friends and relatives. this man was injured in the attack. >> people had different demand and requests to make of the government, but it was finally agreed that discussions for now

be confined to when and how to bury the dead. >> a french photographer died on tuesday after seriously injured in the attack. tension is high in the suburb, home to most of the cities muslim population. burkina faso's muslim and christian communities have lived together in harm kneel for long. people here fear that that might change. >> there is no country where the muslim and christian population are as integrated as we are here. we live together at brothers and sisters. those attackers do not represent us or our faith. >> that i guess the message many muslims here have been conveying to their christian neighbors, along with their deep dismay at the attack. al jazeera, burkina faso. orthodox christians around the world are celebrating he pitch they've, the time they believe jesus was revealed as

the son of god. it's one of the biggest festivals of the year in ethiopia. we have this report from addis ababa. >> this this is one of the biggest days in the calendar, the day people believe jesus christ was baptized and thousands gather at churches like this one and then walk a few kilometers to an area that is supposed to symbol i'll the river jordan. >> the women play an instrument. ethiopa orthodox christians believe king david played it in praise of god. police carry replicas of the arc of the covenant, symbolizing jesus. the patriarch follows them. >> for me and all the people who follow the ethiopian orthodox church, it's a very special day,

as you can see. >> i love the celebration. it's part of our history. >> tens of thousands of people gathered here now, they've come from their respective churches and waiting for the patriarch's arrival. the culmination of this ceremony happens in the morning. >> the patriarch blesses water symbolizing the river jordan. priest use hoses to spray the crowd. >> i'm very excited to have been covered by the holy water. a ceremony practiced for

more than a thousand years, a celebration for the young and the old. charles stratford, al jazeera, addis ababa. a report produced by the ellen mcarthur foundation interviewed 80 experts and analyzed findings of 200 research papers. their conclusion, the amount of plastic produced has increased 20 times in the past 50 years and in the next 20 years, that's expected to double again. a quarter of all plastic i guess used for packaging, and most i also used only once then discarded. currently, 8 million tons of this ends up in the ocean each year, the equivalent of a dump truck of practice rubbish every minute. at current rates, that will grow to two trucks a minute by 2030

and four by 2050 by which time by weight, there will be as much plastic in the observations as fish. still to come, the search for a president, a palestinian reality show like no other. details in just a moment.

>> they have of a few minutes to impress judges with ideas on solving unemployment, political in fighting and the conflict with israel. >> i'm focusing on palestinians being able to remain in the land, carry on and meet their

ambition. >> i would make an all inclusive national program that will gather all political parties under the umbrella of the p.l.o. to law participation and belonging as a culture. >> t.v. critics say the suction of the president has much to do with the growing frustration of the real life president. a recent opinion poll by the palestinian center for policy and survey found two thirds of palestinians want their 80-year-old leader to resign. the poll was conducted by this man. he said the refusal despite his term ending six years ago has hurt him far less than the little he's accomplished during his 11 years in power. >> i think most palestinians would view him as the status quo leader, his legacy will be that he chose to take small steps and to be very, very slow in

implementing them. >> the president popularity is not lost on most contestants. all say they would be a better leader. it's now up to the public to decide who will go on to win. >> although hundred was reality show competitors believe they can do a better job than president abbas, he of course remains the palestinian leader and with no elections in sight, he will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, despite the fact the vast majority of palestinians want him to resign. the backlash against this year's oscar is growing with more stars including george clune they've criticizing the ceremony, some artists calling for a boycott. >> afterolling out an all white roster of best actor and actress nominees for the second year in a row, the motion picture academy is under fire.

the academy overlooked performances, including michael b. jordan in creed, idris elba in beasts of no nation. >> what are you doing here? >> and the critically acclaimed straight out of compton, among others. activists called on african-americans to tune out of the awards broadcast, even the company producer of the broadcast, who is african-american said he is upset. >> what is especially frustrating is when movies like straight out of compton, like creed, you know, when the cast of star wars gets overlooked. you just go oh, man. >> many took to social immediate he i can't to vent anger with the hash tag oscars so white trending on twitter. >> so why are the oscars to white again this year?

some observers say hollywood just doesn't provide enough good roles for black actors, but many others cite the makeup of the academy itself, who's 6,200 members are overwhelmingly older, male and white. >> the president of the academy said she's trying to boost diversity. >> what is important is that this entire conversation of diversity is here and that we are talking about it, and i think we will not just talk, because people will say well don't just talk, you got to do. >> british actor elba says lack of diversity is not just a u.s. problem. >> i think i should mention america because i couldn't get parts. i went to america because i was running out of parts. >> we went to hollywood boulevard to ask the public what they thought. >> i don't think it's good. i don't think it's right. there's a lot of black talent in hollywood.

>> many of the upper potion are producers directors executive producers and up, it's very much still a white neighborhood. >> this is not performing, looks like when it comes down total oscars and everything, they give them the short end of the stick again. >> hollywood and the film industry world wild now being forced to take a hard look at itself. al jazeera, hollywood. the studio of the famous spanish artist juan miro is being recreated. it looks at london celebration. >> it's a painstaking pros recreating the world. hundred was items, tables, paintbrushes, and curiosities, even the floor and smears of paint have been faithfully copied. the reconstruction is based on the original studio on the spark issue island of majorca where he

worked more than 30 years. at the center of the studio is the famous rocking chair. >> myself, i was with move grandfather sitting in it when i was only 10 years old, and i have so many great memories of those days. >> the artist's grandson now looks after his legacy. >> all this reconstruction of the studio in majorca tell you about that methodical way to reconstruct a dream and also emotions, sensations, and feelings of the social and political turmoil that he was able to experience throughout his life. >> also on show, priceless works of art carefully shipped to london. one of his paintings recently sold for a record $37 million. >> he said that he wanted to assassinate painting. his work shouldn't be seen as a representation of reality but a journey into abstraction into fields of color.

my work should be a poem set to music by a painter, he said. >> in turn, his creations inspired more great art from jazz to the american artist jackson pollock. mira worked through years of political chaos, civil and world wars and general francisco training co's totalitarian regime. his work contains ideas of freedom important to the catalan painter, ideas that still resonate today as many descrive for independence from spain. he described his studio as a vegetable garden, artichokion over there, potatoes over here, i work like a gardner, he said. after london, the studio will travel to new york. the garden is on the move. al jazeera, london. back in just a moment right here on al jazeera. we'll have a full bulletin which news coming your way. stay with us.

>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour. i'm here with the top stories here on al jazeera. gunmen attack a university in pakistan. top diplomats from the u.s. and russia try to iron out their differences and keep the syria talks alive. we'll live in dabos, where everything is being discussed at the world economic