hi expectations in myanmar that elections could change the political landscape of the country. the united states has ordered enhanced skirt fo security frome flights arriving from the middle east, after fears a bomb downed an airliner in the sinai. britain has started to bring home thousands of its citizens stranded at the airport at sharm el sheikh. >> 40,000 russian tourists, question is what changed kremlin's mind. the british said their decision was based on intelligence which made it more likely than not that a bomb was responsible. the head of russia's fsb gave no details saying it was only expedient to suspend flights until the real reasons for the downed flight are known. >> translator: until we know what happened, i believe it is reasonable to suspend flights to egypt. on the one hand we believe it is necessary to actively cooperate with the egyptian authorities to continue joint work on investigating the reasons for this air crash. just a visual examination of the metro jet gives intriguing clues. it is suggested that these pock marks could be the results of shrapnel originating inside the hull. peeling outwards perhaps indicating the force came from inside the plane. the only ways to put the pieces back together again, the good news it is not underwater so you have got all the pieces. you put the jigsaw back together, and that will tell you if the explosion was outside the fuselage or inside the fuse lal, that means it was a missile or a bomb inside. >> there is concerns on egyptian security and over baggage handling. the italian civilian authority is advising all authorities to carry out their own security checks in addition to those done by the airport, and those repate repatriated, will only be allowed to bring hand luggage with them. >> we're moving up the number of flights expected on a day like this by quite a lot. so our aspiration is to get as many people home as soon as possible. >> reporter: but that is a significant challenge. the u.k. airlines, monarch and easy jet had hoped to operate 15 flights out of sharm el sheikh on saturday, but just five departed. egypt said it simply couldn't cope with more than that. >> egypt will cooperate to bring back those tourists but we want to make sure that they come back safely. and that the planes are dealt with in a professional way. >> reporter: the search of the sinai desert is continuing. children's books, a jooumary clain, what hasn't been found is definitive blame for the crash. the range of possible options the narrowing. paul brennan, al jazeera. >> douglas laird is the former head of security for northwest airlines. he says if there was an explosive device to take down the plane it is likely an employee got it on board. >> it is more important, probably the easiest avenue would be an inside, an employee of an airline or the airport. that basically bypasses, they don't go through security like passengers do. that is problem pretty much throughout the world. i've heard all the media reports that various countries are going to upgrade their security for flights leaving certain airports in egypt and the mid east. there's only so much you can do. the real effect of things take years to implement and part of the problem is, if it's not -- if the device was not put there by an insider then the issue is, what technology do you give to the screeners to give them the ability to find what it is they're looking for? >> the operator from a mine in brafs says brazil says an earthy have caused two dams to burst. raraphael marioni reports. >> this is bento rodriguez, those who used to live here, can hardly believe what happened. >> translator: i heard a strange noise. and when i went out to see what it was, it looked like a volcano. i don't know how i managed to escape. i saw a lot of people running. >> translator: what passed through our house was worse than a tsunami. everyone was shouting. families shouting. >> reporter: hundreds of people have been rescued. many are now sheltering in emergency accommodations. 12-year-old victor can't put the horror of his experience into words. his family spent the night in the forest waiting to be rescued the next morning. >> i saw my grandson, my brother, i started screaming, it was really hard, i want to wake up from this nightmare. >> environment groups are claiming that the flood is spread police workary and arsenic all the way along its path however the company is denying there is any toxic contamination in the area. >> it is important to note that the being fluids burst outside the dam is basically inert materials. >> the company says a small earthquake may have caused the dams to burst. rescue teams are flying over the region but as every hour passes hopes that they will find any more survivors are fading. al jazeera, marriana. >> talks with xi jinping and leader of taiwan, first time leaders are meeting since 1949. china views taiwan as a break away province not an independent nation. sahil raman, just tell us what we expect to happen at this meeting expected in the next few hours. >> we are less than an hour away from the president arriving in singapore. to greet them the assembled press corps. large delegations from taiwan and china, over 500 media outlets have been registered to take this broadcast. what you're seeing now is a queue for journalists who are hoping to get into the pressroom. whether they get in or not is another thing. while they wait for the president it is a much anticipated meeting. you did say there are leaders, the two political parties the last time they met ws i was in . but the first time the leaders have complete since 1945, after the second world war, china went into a civil war and routed the nationalists, the commune it's formed theirs in beijing. few interesting comments from the chinese president relating to south china sea. now of course taiwan is within that area. xi jinping is saying that countries are welcome to participate in the peaceful development there is free passage of vessels in the south china sea and that isn't a problem for them. but maintaining the sovereignty and maritime rights is a chinese government responsibility but what china regards its area and responsibility isn't necessarily what its regional neighbors think. the separatel sprailt spratley s right in the middle of that so it will be interesting to see if this particular subject is broached in those are talks. there will be closed door pleeghts for a couplmeetings fos we have a spokesperson for chinese president speaking and then the president of taiwan. we'll wait to see what those meetings result in. the first meeting of leaders for nearly six decades. >> thank you sahil. let's spee t speak to rob mcbri, rob in reality what change will it make between relations for two sides? >> it is being treated very positively here there are high hopes for this summit. it is thought that after this xi jinping has agreed to this summit because it will change the dynamic in the cross-state relations. we have elections coming up in taiwan in jan, when it is expected that m my en jo's party will not be reelected. it does put pressure on the democratic progressive party who are expected to win that election. they are not so in favor of these closer ties with mainland china even mentioning at times independence. this puts pressure on them, it is very difficult for any future leader of taiwan to refuse a meeting with the leader of such a powerful neighbor, one which is growing in power year by year, so it really does put pressure on the future relationship between china and taiwan, so although we understand that no significant agreements will come out of this meeting, it is symbolic, certainly that symbolism can't be understated, though i think if people look bat at this at years to come, this is one of those watershed diplomats, the time before the meeting and the time after it, it does change the dynamic in cross-state relations. thank you. >> thank you from beijing. indian administered kashmir ahead of prime minister modi's visit. >> on the greek island of lesbos, a refugee who lost his son at sea and wants to give him a proper burial. burial. >> this is our home. >> nobody should have to live like this. >> we made a promise to these heroes... this is one promise americans need to keep. burial. >> hello again, the top stories on al jazeera. russia has suspended all flights to egypt and the u.s. has stepped up security at airports for some inbound flights. it's in response to intelligence that suggests a russian jet that crashed in egypt was brought down by a bomb. violence has flared in the occupied west bank as a 72-year-old palestinian woman has been shot dead by israeli forces in hebron. chinese president xi jinping will hold talks with the leader of taiwan. on saturday, first time since 1449. myanmar elections, first step in transforming the country from military doimghts t dominay to a full democratic society. scott heidler reports. >> over the past two months, most of the cities and towns have seen extensive campaigning. something the 50 million people have not witnessed here in a quarter of a century. a general election with all political parties running. especially the national league for democracy, the party of the nobel laureate aung san suu kyi. the boycott of the 2010 election, a year before the current somewhat civilian government. but da continu did participate as a founding member of the democracy party, one of the 91 parties participating in these elections. her fatherunu was the first and last democratically elected prime minister. he was removed by a military coup in 1962. >> nearly 50 years we were under the military rule so not within five years, within five months we want to have changes, not soft changes we wanted to see. as for my father he was a seasoned politician so i might not have this kind of you know frustration. >> she feels the nation needs to channel some of her father's patience. as the ruling party wraps up its campaigning, there is their last rally, some feel that despite predictions of a big win for the opposition and aung san suu kyi this is just a part of the process for full democracy. that destination is still far away. and they also think this election is neither free nor fair. >> this is a very important step on the road to democracy for ploirmmyanmar but it is only a l step. even if opposition were to win 100% of the seats elected that are available to them the military has a constitution in place that is stacked in their favor. >> reporter: and that includes barring aung san suu kyi from becoming president and giving military the power to appoint 25% of the parliament. with so many factors and possibilities at play and in uncharted territory exact positions of myanmar's political future is probably about as accurate as the famous yangon fortune tellers. scott heidler, al jazeera al ja, yangon. >> the military backed party may preserve the status quo. >> the parliament system they put in place was designed by them. the reforms that have happened since 2011 have been significant but nonetheless there was a great long battle ahead. but i think having the chance to get more than the current 7% of the national league for democracy and other very small civilian parties in the parliament as opposed to the military backed proxy, the usdp, i think that gives the country a much better chance to moving towards a real democracy. lifting sanctions and to open up to myanmar as of the past three years since political reforms started happening, so i think that's already happened. but i think yes the international community is watching very closely to see how free and fair these elections will be or at least credible and transparent. i think it's understood there are a lot of problems with this election. >> ahead of a visit by prime minister narendra modi, the police have put up barricades and told many to stay inside in muca great part of srinigar. fez jamal reports. >> this is how it looked a year ago. locals clearing away rubble, salvaging what they could. this is when we met tarek who lost everything in the flood. now he has rebuilt part of his house. >> all the money we got in compensation from the government went in just cleaning up the rubble. i had to take obank loan and borrow from my friends to rebuild. we keep being promised help but never get it. >> reporter: some are still out of their homes. one of the expectations of prime minister modi's rally here on saturday is announcement of a large aid package to help with flood damage and bring development to the region. but some believe that is not the answer to the problems they are facing. they say their demands are month political. parts of srinagar have been shut down, in response to a rally by a group, we tried to speak to police protesters but were denied by police. this independent group is planning another rally for the prime minister's visit on saturday. >> the peace cannot be created in vac up a. issues cannot take issue to the one. >> modi's arrival has been given an official welcome. although not winning any seats in the muslim majority area here, parties say having the power in the local and central government means better recognition by governing parties. >> they want to follow modi's far-sighted vision. >> back the emid's neighborhood, all he and his neighbors can see is the start of another winter without a proper home. finally fulfilling their promise of a easier future. fez jamal, srinagar, india. >> say she was trying to fill up her car with gas, israeli forces say she tried to run o over soldiers. more than 3,000 refugees landed on greek islands. alexis tsipras called an emergency meeting with several of the governors of those islands to discuss emergency planning. mohammed jamjoom met one refugee on the island of lesbos who's struggling to deal with the loss of his son. >> deepened the suffering, exacerbated the guilt. fahad simply can't bear the pa pain. >> translator: it's been one torture after another after another after another. how can i possibly explain it? it was a horrible accident, absolutely horrible. >> reporter: he tells me how he'd only wanted to give his family a better life. >> translator: when i left syria i didn't leave for me. i left to try make a safer future for my children. i had no idea i would leave the flower of my life, my son. >> his son drown when their boat capsized. men and women clinging for their lives as children fought for theirs. here at pikpa on lesbos that offers shelter to bereaved refugees, volunteer psychologists say these families need far more help than they're getting. >> there's a normal process of grief. these people get traumatized by the lack of respect and the lack of real humanitarian support. >> yanis says that some of the bigger international aid agencies currently on the island aren't doing fleerl enough. >> at the end of the day i think they don't leave something behind as infrastructure, they don't educate the locals, the volunteers, they come from all over the world to support the refugees and yeah. like i think people should know this. >> reporter: sadly, the refugee crisis seems incorporate near over. and many aid workers only expect it to worsen. farhad's sense is similar to many of the families we've spoken with here who lost loved ones as they crossed into greece who are still waiting on the return of their bodies. for now he wants only one thing. >> translator: we're simply asking greece's prime minister to find a piece of land where we can bury our dead. it's been a week and they still haven't released his body. how long do we have to wait? there are so many families who are still waiting. our souls can never rest until they are buried. >> but with cemeteries in lesbos too full of bodies right now burials are on lolled. as he continues to plot a way out of greece for his wife and two children even though he knows they will never really be able to leave this island behind. mohammed jamjoom, al jazeera, lesbos, greece. >> cuban president raul castro's in mexico for his first state visit, he's meeting with his mexican counterpart enrique pena nieto. there have been protests over the streets of haiti's capital porport-au-prince. there u.s. majority president has rejected a canadian bid to build a pipeline across the heart of the united states. attempting seven years to get the pipeline built. rosiland jordan has the story. >> transcanada's bid to build the keystone xp pipeline has loss. the reason, economics. >> if congress is serious about wanting to create jobs, this was not the way to do it. >> reporter: the other reason the u.s.'s credibility on ending global warming. the u.s. is meeting with other countries at a major climate change conference in paris in december. >> america's a global leader when taking serious action to fight climate change and frankly, approving this project with have undercut that relationship. >> transcanada has been trying to build a pipeline across the u.s. heart land since 2008. finally with refineries on the gulf of mexico. it was projected to move 127 million liters of crude oil a day. despite opposition from environmental groups obama hinted he might approve the plan back in 2012. >> today i'm directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles and make this project a priority to go ahead and get it done. >> reporter: but the state department which was in charge of the review finally decided that keystone xp doesn't serve the national interest. disappointed and considering next steps. >> today misstep was chosen over merit and science. rhetoric won out over reason. >> we've helped him on the keystone pipeline, we're going to help him keep fossil fuels underground on tribal lands. this is not just what the president does in a vacuum, this is what he has been pushed to do. >> building a legacy on climate change, looking ahead to who replaces him in the white house. rosiland jordan, al jazeera. >> much on the website, aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com. >> on "america tonight": a survivor's story. >> why would you as a rape victim be concerned about bringing shame to your family? >> in my plong community i hmong community, a daughter who doesn't get married to the man who raped her is seen as less than clean. >> good morning and thanks for joining us, i'm adam may, sitting in for joie chen who is on assignment. victims of child sex tourism. for s