tonight on "worldfocus" -- president obama gets the israeli and palestinian leaders to meet. but beyond the photo op, why the middle east peace process is being so frustrating. a major united nations meeting on climate change the president warns there isn't much time left to act. we will go to the australian island of tasmania to show you why. in france, the latest battle in the immigration debate. as hundreds are evicted from a makeshift camp known as the jungle. and in our "signature story," we take a look at a side of life in jamaica they don't want you to see.

the aids epidemic and why it has been so hard to fight. from the world's leading reporters and analysts, here's what's happening from around the world. this is "worldfocus." made possible in part by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. good evening. i'm daljit dhaliwal. if progress can be measured by a meeting and a handshake, then there was some today on the middle east as president obama brought together the israeli and palestinian leaders here in new york. did the meeting between prime minister benjamin netanyahu of israel and palestinian president mahmoud abbas produce a breakthrough?

no, but that wasn't the expectation on this day. after so many months of deadlock mainly on the issue of jewish settlements. the meeting is our "lead focus" tonight. and as netanyahu put it, the importance of the meeting was actually its existence. it was a moment deep in symbolism. the beginnings, perhaps, of a new and more productive phase in the struggle for peace in the middle east. for his part, president obama had a strong message for the leaders after meeting with them individually. get moving again on a comprehensive peace agreement. >> simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. it is time to move forward. it is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that's necessary to achieve our goals. >> after the meeting netanyahu said that there was general agreement that the peace process has to be resumed as soon as possible with no preconditions.

and to take a closer look at today's middle east meeting, we're joined by ghassan shabaneh a palestinian american who is an assistant professor of international studies at marymount manhattan college. thank you very much for joining us on the program. >> thank you for having me. >> what do you think is the most that we can expect from today's meeting? >> i would say probably putting the peace process back on track. and it is a good beginning for the three sides where the american president is engaging himself for the first time with the two parties. and the two parties will be meeting face-to-face for the first time since the netanyahu administration assumed power. >> one of the big issues, of course, is settlements, putting a freeze on settlements. do you think that prime minister netanyahu is going to be able to do that? is he in a position to do that? >> he is in a position, but he also has a lot of difficulties with his own coalition government, especially with israel and the religious parties because they believe that they are part of the historical and religious land of the state of israel.

for them to freeze settlements there is a huge issue. but at the same time i believe that the netanyahu administration is being pressured by the europeans and the americans. so netanyahu is not in the easiest position ever, but he can, he can, i believe, bridge the gap between the two sides by having the americans talk to the arabs about maybe normalization at this stage but also the palestinians and especially the palestinians has to have some incentives to show to his people that he got from the netanyahu administration something. >> if he doesn't freeze settlements, what will happen? >> i believe the peace process will be derailed. i believe the american vision for a two-state solution will be in danger. and i believe also the end result will be a binational state. something israel doesn't want. >> how important -- give us some context -- is the issue of settlements compared to all the other issues that we are yet to face further down the road, like the return of palestinian refugees, for example? >> i believe the freeze of settlements is more or less

symbolic. i think there are more contentious issues for the two sides to tackle. why it is symbolic, if israel budges on the issue of settlements, i believe the peace process -- one can feel that israel will compromise on other issues. but if israel drags its heels on the issue of settlements and the palestinians and the americans deconstruct the issue of palestine only to settlements not to the larger issue of ending the occupation, i think the three parties are in trouble, the americans, the palestinians and the israelis, because the question of palestine is not a question of settlements only. we have a lot of major issues to tackle beside that. >> ghassan shabaneh, thank you very much for your insights. >> thank you. to the global environment now, and a hundred world leaders were at the united nations today for a day-long meeting on the issue. the aim, to generate new momentum ahead of talks this

december in copenhagen where nations will try to agree on a new treaty to reduce greenhouse gases. secretary-general ban ki-moon said failure to reach broad agreement would be morally inexcusable. president obama said that the threat is urgent and growing. and china's president said his country will continue to take determined action. >> translator: in the years ahead, china will further integrate our actions on climate change into our economic and social development plan. we will intensify our effort to conserve energy and improve energy efficiency. >> to hear them talk about climate change behind the walls of the united nations is one thing. to actually see how it is affecting the environment is quite another. and that is what we want to show you tonight. with a striking look at what is going on in tasmania, the australian island off the

southeast corner of the continent. here's tony birtley of al jazeera english with that story. >> reporter: moody and magnificent tasmania. it has a dna trail that stretches back to antarctica and 200 million years. here nature is awesome and humbling. eco tours are a specialty of this australian island where sight-seers are given a unique glimpse into how our planet evolved in the past and where a stark warning about where it's heading in the future. >> i've seen small changes in what's happening in the environment. and i feel like there's a fair chance that i'll be a part of a generation of people that will be the last to see and experience what some aspects this continent has to offer. >> reporter: and for good reason. there's nothing between tasmania and the cold waters of the south pole. >> the sea temperature around tasmania has risen by about 3 degrees last 30 years. which doesn't sound very much but enough to change the marine ecosystem here.

with temperatures predicted to rise further, it poses serious questions about what the future holds. >> reporter: tasmania is renowned for its nature and richness of marine life, home to a variety of species including seals, dolphins and whales. but nature and man are facing serious challenges. at sunrise fisheries near st. helens in the northeast of the island, they have processed lobsters for more than 20 years. and the industry is facing one of those challenges. tasmania is one of the biggest producers of crayfish and the sought-after abalone fish. it's a business worth more than $17 million a year. but catches are decreasing dramatically. thousands of fishermen have invested up to half a million dollars each for licenses and boats to fish lobster. reduced catches means the price has shot up, too expensive for locals, only affordable for rich markets like japan. and this is the reason -- the long spine sea urchin brought here by the warmer currents. it feeds on the rich kelp beds on the bottom of the ocean which provides nutrients for the marine life and prey for

lobsters. below the surface, you can witness the disturbing effect when tens of thousands of urchins swarm over the sea bed. in a relatively short time, they create an underwater desert, stripped of all the goodness, a barren wasteland. without the kelp, the lobsters and marine life disappear. tasmania is on the front line of climate change and is feeling the effects more than most. it's experiencing a wide range of weather fronts from droughts to record rainfall. its treasure and livelihood is its nature and people are all too well aware of what they can lose. that process is starting. the question is how to stop it. here, like the rest of the world, they are still grappling with the answer to that question. tony birtley, al jazeera, tasmania, australia. so let's get some additional perspective on this issue, and for that we turn to kumi naidoo, chairman of tck tck tck, a global alliance promoting a new climate change agreement. he's about to become executive

director of greenpeace international. thank you for joining us on the program. >> thank you. >> as we look ahead to copenhagen, what do you think are some of the key issues, challenges, obstacles? >> finding that ambition, especially in terms of how governments agree to reduce emissions by 40% by 2020. they've agreed on 80% in 2050, but none of these leaders are going to be around in 2050, so we need short-term commitments. also clear commitment on financial support for developing countries who have not b responsible for the climate catastrophe that we've had, but the ones that are paying the biggest price and ensuring that there's resources for them to be able to adapt to climate change. >> what about the responsibility of developing countries, countries like china and india, who, yes, of course, want to protect their economies and forge ahead, but at the same time have a responsibility because they are also a part of the global environment? >> developing countries cannot dodge their own

responsibilities. they have to pass domestic legislation that begins to reduce the carbon emissions. they are actually doing it much more than people are generally aware of. but they have to recognize that this is an issue where we are either as rich and poor countries together succeed or if we fail, we all sink together. there's no point in saying that just because rich countries we're more responsible for the situation they find themselves in. therefore they must also take responsibility. but the burden of responsibility needs to obviously be with countries that have been more responsible. >> what role should the united states be playing? >> the united states has to play a leadership role. under the bush administration, because of climate denialism, we actually lost some really important time. president obama in broad terms is on a positive message and it sounds encouraging, but the devil is in the detail.

and the u.s. needs to recognize that if they delay action any further than they've already done, the costs of delaying action will be much, much more if they're attacked now. >> what do you think will be the biggest bottleneck? >> the biggest bottleneck will be short-term political interests because of election cycles and politicians making choices that, in fact, this is not that important. but i think that the role of citizens movements to put pressure on our governments to act is critically important to ensure that they act with courage that delivers a fair, ambitious and binding treaty in copenhagen. >> kumi naidoo, thank you very much. >> thank you. in central america, the situation in honduras is tense after manuel zelaya, the leftist

president who was ousted in a coup three months ago, sneaked back into the country yesterday. zelaya took refuge in the brazilian embassy in teg tegucigalpa. today police used tear gas and water cannon to chase away thousands of zelaya supporters who violated a curfew. zelaya says he wants to meet with the de facto president robert micheletti, who isn't recognized by any other government. >> translator: my presence here is a new opportunity to open the possibilities of dialogue. to turn honduras into what hondurans want, that is a society with peace and dialogue and consensus, and dissent and debate when it's needed. from europe tonight, a follow-up to a story that we first told you about last week. the immigration debate in france, where hundreds of illegal immigrants, many from afghanistan, are trying to find their way to a better life in great britain. well, today in the northern french port city of calais, the authorities made good on their

threat to shut down a camp where the migrants were waiting to make their journey. we lear in this report from rags martel from itn. >> reporter: the police came at dawn. 700 officers descended on the illegal migrant camp known as the jungle. some were led by force. others were carried away. officials say 280 were rounded up. half were minors. aid workers accused the police of being heavy handed. the day began more peacefully. the jungle was home to as many as a thousand migrants. many had left knowing the police were on their way. those who stayed stood quietly behind banners asking for shel. france's northern coast has been a bottleneck for illegal migrants traveling to britain

for years. the jungle is located outside calais' main ferry terminal. it's just eight miles from another camp which was closed in 2002. since then the number of foiled attempts to enter the uk has more than doubled, from 7,500 in 2004 to almost 20,000 last year. >> the conditions in the camp according to colleagues who have been there only this week are amongst the worst they've ever seen. and that's people who have been to camps in rwanda and the middle east. >> reporter: today's operation lasted just an hour. bulldozers have already been moved in to clear the scene. [ sobbing ] the illegal migrants have already traveled far. this is just another stage in their journey.

for the next two nights in our "signature story," we're going to take you to the caribb tell you about a side of life that gets very little attention. it's an issue that exists in the shadows of the country where tourism drives the economy. that issue is the spread of aids, especially among young gay men. "worldfocus" correspondent lisa biagiotti recently went to jamaica. our story was produced in collaboration with the pulitzer center on crisis reporting. >> reporter: jamaica, for most americans, is a tropical vacation paradise, a land of sun and sandy beaches. what they don't know is that jamaica is also battling the aids epidemic. a battle it may be on the verge of losing because of deeply entrenched anti-gay attitudes and laws. the ministry of health recently

reported to the u.n. that nearly one in three young gay men in jamaica is hiv positive. this is 20 times higr than in the rest of the population. >> it's a very serious number because we have had really a latent epidemic in this population untouched, unresponded to and we've created a situation that has been lethal for the general population. >> reporter: miram maluaw is the head of the united nations aids program in jamaica. she's been closely monitoring the government's response to the epidemic. >> does jamaica have its epidemic under control? my honest response would be no. >> it is clear to us that whatever work we've been doing among men who have sex with men has not been working in jamaica. >> reporter: dr. figueroa ran jamaica's national aids program for more than two decades until he retired last year. he now admits that the program has failed the gay community.

>> a national program needs to face up to this. and the organizations working with men who have sex with men and gay men in jamaica themselves all have to accept responsibility for the failure to reduce the high hiv prevalence among men who have sex with men. >> a lot of people are working on hiv know very well the realities of how infections are higher in the gay community. however, the fuel and a lot of pressure, political for sure, religious, cultural, to ignore the facts. >> reporter: she also believes that jamaica's sodomy law which criminalizes anal sex is driving the epidemic underground. >> men who have sex with men, for fear of being criminalized and being prosecuted and being found guilty under the sodomy

law, pretend that they're not gay, simply put. they marry fairly rapidly. they have children fairly rapidly to regularize themselves. and that is really a ticking bomb. >> reporter: many of the gay men we met admitted to leading double lives. like this man who agreed to go on camera if we concealed his identity. >> my girlfriend does not know that i am gay. because i don't act gay, i don't look gay. i don't act gay around her. so i practice safe sex with my girlfriend at all times. my boyfriend, i have unprotected sex with my boyfriend. >> bisexual men act as a bridge between the high rate of hiv in the gay community into the general heterosexual population through men. >> reporter: a recent government study found that nearly

one-third of gay men reported having sex with at least two female partners in the last year. while it's impossible to know how many women are being infected by gay men, about 40% of people infected here are female, which is nearly twice the percentage of women infected in the united states. >> i think it would be good if we could repeal the sodomy law in jamaica, because that would send a signal to the gay community that they're part of this society. >> reporter: political sensitivities make it difficult for the ministry of health to openly address the needs of the gay community. instead, it quietly subcontracts most of the work to independent organizations. >> homophobia makes our work difficult because these gay men are terrified of seeking health services. when they come in to us, it's usually at a point where they're almost dying. >> reporter: this is head of

jamaica's aids support for life, the main group dealing with hiv and the gay community. but even here the work must be done covertly. >> we most definitely cannot reveal our location or even the type of work that we do with the gay community in jamaica to the general public. we can't print brochures or posters and put them anywhere. we have had one of our program coordinators abducted and killed. this is a real fear for all the people that work in these communities, that work specifically with the gay community. because we ourself will come under the same kind of discrimination that they fear. >> reporter: here in jamaica, the effort to protect the gay community from aids is being carried out in the shadows. until this epidemic is faced openly and directly, the virus will continue to spread. >> the reality is we cannot isolate the gay community from the general population and wish them away.

i think with the data that we have now, we know that if we're really to reduce infection rates in the general population in jamaica, we have to address the infections that are occurring in the gay community. >> if the rate remains high among men who have sex with men in jamaica, we're not going to effectively control the hiv epidemic in jamaica, and everybody in jamaica needs to wake up to that point. >> reporter: for "worldfocus," lisa biagiotti, kingston, jamaica. and tomorrow we're going to look at efforts to reduce the stigma of aids and homosexuality in jamaica. for more on this issue go to worldfocus.org. and finally tonight, you've heard us mention the muslim holy month of ramadan in recent days

and the festival of eid that marks the end of that month. but what exactly are these observances all about? tonight we want to show you how the holidays are observed in pakistan. our report is from amna navaz, a fellow with the international reporting project at johns hopkins university. >> reporter: it's ramadan in pakistan. a holy month of religious reflection and dusk-to-dawn fast, no food, no water and absolutely no indulgences while the sun is up. city streets, usually teeming with traffic and a cacophony of car horns, are quiet. for an entire month each year during the daylight hours, the he country's mind-set also changes and becomes slightly more religious. even if people aren't religious, they pretend to be religious. >> reporter: just before the sun goes down, the city wakes up. families rushing to buy fresh

food and drink with which they'll end their day of fasting. the streets and food stalls are suddenly alive with activity. an exhausting month-long pattern of long, slow days and short, quick meals, that ends with a country ready to rejoice. tonight is known as the night of the moon. it means the new moon has been sighted. the month of fasting is over. and everyone's asked to celebrate. the sighting of the new moon signifies the beginning of eid, the holiday marking the end of the month of ramadan. in cities like lahore, that means neon-lit and food-fueled street fairs long into the night. families flock to the stores stocking up on jewelry and decorations for the eid holiday the next day. and that very next day the focus shifts again. this time back to the home base. in my family, the eid holiday is a reason to gather, for babies to be fawned over and food to be eaten, lots of food.

despite indulging in the plentiful provisions, not everyone is impressed with the day's significance like my 14-year-old cousin. >> it seems really like exotic or whatever to an outsider, but it's really just another day. >> reporter: nor is everyone clear as to exactly what they're celebrating. >> they're supposed to be grateful to god, and that's why you sacrifice. >> reporter: that's his 19-year-old sister. but for their mother, the meaning is clear. >> my focus is on spending time, good quality time with my family, because it's a holiday. and if you have children who are also grown up and are all doing their own thing, you don't get that much time to get together with them. so on a holiday like this, then you tend to all get together and you have a great time. >> reporter: after a month of duty and discipline, something everyone can celebrate. amna navaz reporting from lahore, pakistan.

that report from pakistan tonight. and that is "worldfocus" for this tuesday evening. but for much more global news and perspective, be sure to check out our website at worldfocus.org. i'm daljit dhaliwal in new york. thank you so much for your company. we hope to see you back here at the same time tomorrow. good night. "worldfocus" is made possible in part by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future.

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