>> seeking help from the united states - ukraine's opposition leaders prepare for a meeting with john kerry. >> hello, welcome to al jazeera, live from doha. also ahead on the program - the final push. anti-government protesters are on the streets of bangkok on the eve of the election. >> an al jazeera team reach a remote village in nigeria, where

a village was massacred in a church. >> they need our help. >> protests in australia over proposals to cull sharks. >> ukraine's protesters have been out on the freezing streets for two months, hoping to get a boost from the world's most powerful nations. they are due to meet secretary of state john kerry in berlin. they want ukraine's president to step down because he's steering the country closer to russia, and because of moves he's made. the opposition activist said he was abducted and tortured. they say they were protecting him from being arrested. >> translation: police said they had an order to arrest mitchell.

there were many police cars. we spoke to the doctors, they con firm he was in worse condition and agreed with an investigate. he asked the officers to leave and organise a 24 hour duty to not break the law. >> the u.s. government condemns the attack. we were appalled by signs of torture inflicted on protest leaders, who were found after having been missing for a week. we are concerned by reports of protesters disappearing and being beaten and tortured as well as by attacks on journalists. it is urgent that the government use all available resources to investigate these horrific crimes and hold accountable those responsible. >> our correspondent is joining me live from kiev. what is the latest in the case?

>> a hospital where dnytro bulabov is recovering is the site of a stand off between interior ministry police. a handful remain. and groups of protesters, there first and foremost to make sure that he is not issued with an arrest warrant released yesterday as announced on the interior ministry website. bulatov is wanted for a host of allegations, including inciting riots, a strong charge azanes dmytro bulatov. after his horrific ordeal, in which he described himself as being crucified, there has been criticisms, as we heard there internationally from the e.u., from the americans, and from

other countries as well over viktor yanukovych's handling of the protest. but there has been pressure coming from within. the defence ministry are calling on viktor yanukovych to bring about peace and control here. to get people off the streets and to get the protesters out of the government buildings. maybe, says the former speaker of parliament, it's time for the protesters to take up an earlier offer, offered by president viktor yanukovych to make one of their own opposition leader prime minister. here is what the former speaker had to say. >> offering the position was difficult for the president. he should accept the offer. >> so meanwhile viktor yanukovych goes on sick leave. is this pressure that you mentioned - domestically, internationally - is it getting

too much for him? >> that's a good question. viktor yanukovych is away from the public statement, raising a host of questions amongst people like the members of the defense ministry, and mainly protesters here, here they feel the natural conclusion to all of this is to see viktor yanukovych step down, and for there to be new elections held a year early. all eyes are now op all-important talks taking place in munich, where the members of viktor yanukovych's inner circle, the foreign minister of ukraine will meet, together with the likes of u.s. secretary of state john kerry, along with peaders to work out a roadmap for the future of the country. what the people here really want is a roadmap for a future without viktor yanukovych.

>> thank you, that report from kiev. >> opposition supporters in thailand are holding a rally before sunday's election. the governor is pushing ahead, despite threats to disrupt the vote. >> prime minister yingluck shinawatra called for demonstrators to show restraint. veronica pedrosa is in the pro-government area. let's cross to veronica pedrosa. what are people there, in the pro-government area telling you? do they want the vote at all? >> just at this moment, as a matter of fact, elizabeth, about 20km from here, you are seeing a playing out of the essentials across the whole thai political landscape. at the strict office of the electoral commission,

anti-government protesters who don't want the elections to go ahead have been holding that office. there are police there. they are spiriting them from hundreds of from government supporters, pro-election support who want to vote on sunday. those hundred of protesters are carrying fix. we are looking at the situation where police are negotiating with those pro-government or pro-election demonstrators, and asking them to please stand their ground and hold the positions. it is not clear of course how this will development. it gives you an idea of what this is about. this is not just about the election results as you see in other countries. this is about how thais want

their country to be run, whether it is by electoral democracy or not. i should mention that anti-government protesters are clear, they are not against elections, but they want reforms, and those reforms involve getting rid of the shinawatra people from power, the prime minister and her brother. given how tense things are, the threat of disruption. can this be a credible result. can the result be viewed as credible. if not, what does it mean for the ongoing unrest across thailand? do you know, this may sound strange, but you have to understand the context that we are dealing with in thailand. it is not so much about the

results. everyone knows that the majority of thais want the government in place. this party, which represents thais has been voted in by a handy majority. but for the last few elections, they were the most popular party in thailand. so this election is more about, as i say, what kind of government people want. it is not going to be conclusive. you are going to have to see many, many constituencies re-running elections in case ballots are blocked, polling stations are blocked, as we are seeing - as we saw in some areas last sunday when advance voting took place. >> thank you for that. that's correspondent veronica pedrosa joining us from bangkok. thank you.

>> let's go to nigeria, where 47 people are now thought to have been killed while attending church on sunday. fighters suspected of belonging to boko haram set off explosives and took hostages during a 5-hour scene. we have this report from the scope of 9 finals in northern nigeria. >> this is one of the few people who survived when armed men raided st. paul's catholic church on sunday. >> he tells me how the men got into the church. he was sitting at the back in the corner and crawled out when the violence started. they circled the church, came in and foyered. people were running. women and children. they kept firing. some of us went into the bushes, and they followed us and killed us like dogs.

they didn't say anything. they did not tell us who they were or why. they opened fire, and some dressed like law enforcement agents. >> no one claimed responsibility, but it looks like the work of boko haram, a group that wants a strict form of islamic law imposed across the country. they have been behind hundreds of similar attacks. after attacking the church, the militants raided the village and began to burn and lute and destroy homes. villages fled from their homes into the bush. some fled. those that did escape without injuries fled to the nearby village. they are homeless and living on handouts. >> like this woman, she was in the church during the attack. her husband and son were killed. >> i had to run and leave some

of my children behind. the attackers got one of my kids. they chased my husband into the bush. for three days people were looking for his body. they found him on the fourth day. thousands of soldiers were deployed no the region to stop the attacks. for several months there was a decrease in attacks. the last few months have seen an increase. the villagers told us that the soldiers do not come into the veil iments, they patrol the -- veil igements, they patrol the highways. they were promised that the boko haram insurgency would end by april. if it doesn't happen, there may be more attacks on villages, and more killed, injured and displaced.

>> syrian army helicopters are dropping explosive barrels on the largest city aleppo. fighters from the brigade are using tanks to stop president bashar al-assad's forces to advance on rebel held areas. these youtube videos, which we cannot independently ver vi, show villages destroyed. >> egypt's ousted president mohamed morsi arrived in cairo. he and 14 other muslim brotherhood members are accused of inciting people to murder protesters in 2012. at a number of trials, he shouted that he was the legitimate president. he was removed from power.

>> still ahead --. >> i will tell you why dozens of refugees returned to this camp from their homes. >> and the battle over spain's abortion laws. protests are planned against a new bill.

>> good to have you with us. these are the top stories on al jazeera. opposition activists in ukraine have been protecting an activist who was severely beaten. police tried to arrest him in

hospital. ukraine's opposition leaders are about to meet u.s. secretary of state john kerry in germany. opposition demonstrators in thailand are holding a rally before sunday's elections. the prime minister urged protesters to not disrupt the poll and avoid violence. >> sunday marks the start of campaigning in afghanistan's elections, to be held in april. many afghan refugees who fled will not vote. over 1.5 million of them are in pakistan. a large number of afghans are living in refugee camps and sips 2002 a u.n. effort to bring them back led to near 4 million afghans returning home. we have more. >> this man is original from afghanistan. this is his counter home, a rev gee camp in the pakistani city. he has been living here for 35

years, but struggles to feed his family. >> i earn $1 or $2 a day. many days i don't earn anything. i'm a farmer. i earned $180. i owe the growser $200 for buying flour to feed my family. >> the government wants them to leave 81 refugee villages. this camp was set up. the population that is grown to hundreds of thousands of people. many have come back. fighting makes conditions desperate. >> translation: three years ago h hundreds of families return. >> there are limited

opportunities. they say aid agencies have abandoned them. villages are cash-strapped. >> translation: they are a burden on us. many are involved in crimes. they have brought in crimes. we ask for immigration checks. >> some were afraid to say on camera that they are rounded up when there's a security issue. they are accused of mistreatment. they have gone through difficult times all their lives and want to go home. >> translation: there are many problems. foreigners. they are creating problems for the locals. people are migrating to the area. as the parents dream, another generation is growing up as

refugees, waiting for peace in their homeland. >> we are joined live from a refugee camp. the u.n. program, the biggest repatriation of some 3.8 million refugees - how is that going? >> when we spoke to the u.n. and they told us because of apprehensions about the security situation in afghanistan, and the fact that there are suspicions that security situation is likely to deteriorate, especially given the fact that foreign forces will leave, the repatriation is slowing down. people that voluntarily agreed to repatriate stayed back in pakistan, watching the situation carefully. >> is the situation, if it

deteriorates further, would that withdrawal by the end of the year by foreign force, what does it mean for the refugees in pakistan? >> first of all, to give you an idea, there were 64 refugee camps in the distribute of peshawar. today there are about a dozen, and so there are apprehensions that with the deterioration of the security situation in afghanistan, there'll be an influx of more refugees. according to the u.n., they anticipate anything from 50,000 to 100,000 people to come across the border if the situation in afghanistan turns violent, and there's an anticipation that with the foreign forces that i mentioned leaving the country and with the taliban making a comeback, there's a likelihood that more will fall across the

border into pakistan. >> thank you for that. our correspondent joining us from peshawar. >> south sudan's rebel leader says government threats to try him for treason are attempts to damage peace talks. violence conditioned with each side blaming the other. thousands of displaced people are without food or shelter. >> chris christie is seen as a front runner for the republican nomination in the next u.s. presidential race, but he is being accused of knowing some of his aides orchestrated a traffic jam as part of a political vendetta against a local mayor. >> the us government is a step closer to approving an oil pipeline between canada and the united states. the keystone project would not

have a significant environmental impact says an environmental report. it's not the final word. there's another report and a public consultation period. the canadian government says it reaffirms canada's position on the benefits of the keystone pipeline. >> we welcome the report and are encouraged that it concludes that keystone xl will not have a significant environmental impact. the keystone xl project is expected to support 42,000 jobs, and billions in economic activity in canada and the united states, and revenues for the government to contribute to social programs like health care, education and housing. >> thousands of people are expected to protest in spain this weekend against plans to restrict abortion access.

under spanish law, a woman can abort a faeces or 22 weects if the foetus is destroyed. it was said: >> we have this report from madrid. >> this woman is a 30-year-old singl single mother of one child in spain. she found out she was pregnant. >> translation: when i discovered i was pregnant. i knew what i wanted or didn't want. >> she spoke to us after having a posterior to terminate her pregnancy, something she's able to do under spanish law. that right is under threat. >> translation: it's not right that the government takes the decisions for us. we are not talking about a car or short-term job. it is something that affects your

life. >> spain's association of gynecologists fear it will be a backward step for women. >> abortions are going down. we'll still have the same cases of abortions. what changes is if it's legal or illegal, is if you have safe abortions or not. >> the draft rule radically restricts current terms for abortion. if passed only women who are raped or whose lives are in danger would qualify for a termination. even then they net permission from two doctors. a woman's right to determine whether she can have an abortion is at stake. it's just as much about the rules of law, that it is ain constitutional. while changes may apiece the right wing, it's so controversial that members of

the people's party are voices opposition. political voices are divided. pro-life activists are campaigning for the law to go ahead. we'll demonstrate, rally, write letters to the prime minister. it will make sure that the prime minister understands there is a major city of spaniards who voted for him and want him to fulfil his commitment. >> while spain is a secular country, the roman catholic church casts a shadow over such issues, it's a strong presence. recent polls showed most spaniards to be against changes to the law. the majority of the parliament condemns the move and after years of supporting a woman's right to choose, it will not be an easy issue to convince the country of. >> the ex-boyfriend of amanda

knox has been detained by italian police near the border of raffaele sollecito and amanda knox have been reconvicted of murdering british student in 2007. raffaele sollecito left the hearing and travelled hours before the verdict. >> costa rica is getting ready for presidential elections on sunday. the ruling candidate is leading the polls despite outrage. they promised supporters that he would follow the correct path to democracy. >> thousands of bikers in vens vented anger. they gathered after a series of motorbikes were used in a series of crimes. >> there has been protests in australia over a plan to cull sharks.

the government and the state of western australia will capture and kill sharks. more than 3 metres long, coming within a kilometre of the coast, following a series of fatal attacks in the past three years. andrew thomas has more from sydney. the latest poll is happening off a few beaches in sydney. the rehabilitation is ferocious. even after seven days and fully years, protesters say if people enter a shark's stert tri -- territory they should be prepared for the consequences. >> if you go in the water you take a risk. it's minimal. you are more likely to be killed by a vending machine or coconut or lightening. >> there's between 1,000 and 2,000 on the beach in sydney. more are expected in perth.

not everyone is on the same page. in western australia there's support for the cull. the number of people using perth beaches, swimmers and surfers are down. those going in the sea stay close to shore. there's genuine fear. and a degree of hypocrisy. the beaches in sydney have shark nets, killing other wildlife and sharks. likewise up in queensland there has been drum lines attaching and killing sharks. >> people don't know the reality of the nets and drum lines in queensland. this issue is happening now. we cap get in on the ground to prevent it being established and educate the people who were unaware of these issues. >> it's been a successful issues. there are now big sharks in

australia seas, and more people than ever are using the ocean for recreation. conservations say it's inevitable a few tragedies would occur, but a cull of sharks is a massive overrehabilitation. >> you can find that report and the rest of the news on the website aljazeera.com. >> goodbye january, and good riddance, your investments took a beating. i'll tell you what is could mean for 2014. and the reality of living pay check to pay check, a year-long conversation about rebuilding the american dream for the middle class, and the college football player tired of sweaty shirts and created a multi billion business. i'm ali velshi, and this is "real money."