for a great conversation. until next time woj an waj and i will see you online. >> protesters charge police barricades in kiev's central square. [ ♪ music ] >> it's the world news from al jazeera live from doha. >> libya elects a constitutional assembly. the democratic process under threat from militia. >> the trial of journalists in egypt is set to start soon. >> the government strikes a deal to end uprising in jonglei

state. it still has an uprising on its hands. >> within the last few hours protesters in kiev have retaken a ground lose to security forces who have taken control of most of independence square. a truce is not holding. there's reports of gun fire. emergency services have been taking bodies out the camps. foreign minister ris are due to arriving in kiev in the coming hours. let's go back to the unrest. barnaby phillips is on the line. bring us up to date with developments in the past few hours. >> what happened, it was an hour ago, actually. it seems to me that the protesters in independence square had a plan, a successfully implemented plan. they launched an offensive -

there's no other word for it. they drove the police out of that portion of the square that they captured during the fighting of tuesday and wednesday night. there were hectic scenes as the police were driven back. both sides accused the other, within the last hour, of using live ammunition. having been down on the ground i did hear what sounded like gunshots. the advantage point, the hotel where i am now is under protestor control. if i can put it like that, rather than police control, and i have been seeing a steady stream of injured people being taken out of the reception in the last 15 minutes. by medics, who are working with the protesters. that is the extremely fluid and

dangerous situation around independence square right now. >> so shots have been fired. we believe there has been explosions, fires burn in kiev today. how is the government reacting to their security forces pushed out of independence square. >> this happened within the last hour or so. they'll have to see what reaction that will be. my impression was that the police were caught napping this morning by the protesters. they had a plan and were able to enforce it. they reerected barricades once they had pushed the police back a considerable distance. it was the government on the back foot. i would expect viktor yanukovych to tell his european counterparts, and indeed the ukrainian people that this is

proof he would probably say that the protesters acted in bad faith because a truce had been agreed late last night in ukraine, and that this was meant to give the chance - give a time frame during which thinks could calm down and negotiations could take place. things have not cooled down at all, unfortunately. >> barnaby phillips reporting live from kiev. thank you. >> let's go vienna now. our diplomatic editor james bays is there. we'll wait for the pictures to finish of the injured being taken from independence square. this is not an isolated case. there has been a number of people removed from independence square in ambulances. so to james bays in vienna.

what are the diplomatic options. the pictures are being watched closely in western and european capitals, as they try to decide the next move. i'll tell you what is under way, and that is two things, three foreign ministers are the foreign ministers of germany, france and poland. they are on their way to kiev. they'll have meetings to express the outrage and concern of the european union. separately all of the foreign ministers of the european union will be gathered in brussels to discuss the way forward. it will be chaired by katherine ashton, she's chairing the iran talks, then she'll fly to brussels. they don't have a huge range of

options. the one most likely option is some sort of sanctions. possibly some targeted sanctions with named individuals mentioned in the sanctions. there are nations that are uneasy about this. all of this is seen through the lense of relations between the west and russia and the e.u. and russia and the e.u. states close to russia, a concern about what it means for them. exactly right. that is the question. if these sanctions are indeed imposed not just by the e.u., they'll target individuals, more than the state. they could damage relations between the west and east, with ukraine in the middle. >> absolutely, some see ukraine as a proxy.

the real problem is the west and russia. so many issues are important, working in vienna, the u.s. and russia, part of the international community, negotiating with iran. the west and russia different views on the peace protest that is taking place in geneva. key, their relationship on chemical weapons in syria. what is going on in ukraine could have bigger ramifications on the global stage. >> the trial of three al jazeera journalists, the case is due to be heard at the police academy complex. six other staff will be tried in absentia. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy, and mohammed badr have

been in prison for 54 days, accused of having links to a terrorist organization and spreading false news. >> peter greste is an australian national and their prime minister has been acting to the trial. >> the tension of al jazeera's journalists has attention in australia. one of those, peter greste, is an australian citizen. the protest has been organised by amnesty international. politicians, too, have spoken out about the detention of al jazeera staff. i caught up with australia's prime minister on thursday. >> my job, though, is not to make a difficult situation worse. and it's my practice not to comment on particular court cases involving australians overseas. but i do want to make this point and make it very strongly. a free press is in everyone's interests. a free press is in the interests of all countries, will hep every

country, including egypt to be better in the months and years ahead. a free press is not compatible with harassing journalists going about his business. >> in australia peter greste's family have been vocal calling for his release. his parents are familiar faces on australian media. to coincide with the start of peter and his colleague's trial they spoke out once again. >> we have no particular expectations, we clearly want the bail application to be accepted and granted. but, of course, as far as we are concerned he is entirely and completely incident, and you should be either back home here or at his usual job. >> prominent figures from around the world have been adds to the

voices calling for the release of al jazeera staff. we have more detail about the journalists. for nelson mandela. the idea of turning the number into a brand was not about raising money. >> peter greste is an award-winning journalist. he worked for the bbc for more than a decade, reporting across latin america, the middle east and america. >> peter is scrupulous. he wants to nail down a story, get both sides of the story covered. he'll take risks, go where others won't, and spend a lot of time on the story. that determination to tell it fairly marks it out. >> peter greste joined al jazeera in 2011, the same year he won the prestigious award. peter greste is an old friend and colleague, a good map, a

great journalist. we work together. i found him to be very careful, considerate and good company. then he went to africa and fell in love. even after he joined another network he kept in touch with all of us at bbc, and we marvelled how he found the stories no one else did. we watched him. free peter greste, we miss his work. >> friends and colleagues regard him highly for his compassion, adventurous personality and strong belief in social justice. >> he is fun-loving. he is a very loyal person. he has a high sense of social justice. >> i have to say the ultimate

outdoors' man, but very nearly. >> peter greste is not only an acclaimed journalist, he's a published author. >> peter is someone that would want to travel around the world. he's inaniesive, curious with a great - he finds points of view that are interesting, and he's looking for the truth. sometimes it is not easy to find. >> the family, the journalist joins al jazeera last september. he worked for cnn and the international committee of the red cross. he won the tom rehner award for a documentary airing on cnf called "death in the desert", in 2012, he's an accomplished author. >> i met mohamed fadel fahmy after the moment us events began in egypt in 2011. i noticed immediately they were on the screen, in the crowd, on

his phone. committed, connected. i had a running job with an egyption colleague. we tried to keep ahead. then he came to work with us. we saw close up the contacts he had across the spectrum. and how he would trace the interviews, and the stories. but now he has been stopped from doing his job, journalism, by his detention. free mohamed fadel fahmy, we need him. >> he began his career as a researcher and producer for the japanese channel. he joined the team in 2013. he is married with two children and a third on the way. >> this is quite disturbing and unset lipping. perhaps that's what some of the authorities want, they want a chill among journalists both egyptian and foreign journalists

that is unfortunate, trajjic. >> the arrest triggered an outcry, condemnation by journalists, politicians and film makers, who have not been spared the crackdown. >> they are respected internationally, they are senior journalists in egypt, doing their job. it is important to defend and protect. everyone is calling on egypt to release them, respect freedom of press, their rights and dismiss these ludicrous charges. >> the al jazeera network continues to insist on the release of these men. >> the people of libya are photoing to elect a special assembly that will draft a new

consit use, the process is designed to speed up democracy and break a political stalemate. it comes three years after the beginning of the uprising. john hendren choins me now. tell us what is at stake? >> what is at stake is who will right the constitution. it is important, because it determines whether they'll have a strong leader or prime minister. now the prime minister is appointed to the congress. if the congress were to appoint the leader in the future, there's more of a chance it will be an islamist leader. if it was elected by the people, more likely it would be a secular leader. now it's high, but the polling station is opened not long ago. turn out is low.

>> turn out is low, why do you think turn out is low, john? >> there is a couple of reasons for that, one is that people are disappointed in the general national congress, there's widespread unhappiness. the congress was elected and the firm expired on february. they decided to extend their term. people were unhappy. a couple of militias threatened to arrest them all. that confrontation did not happen. people are unhappy. they are coming out because they don't want people who defer different kinds of canada to vote instead of them. there's another reason, because here is the ballot. this is like electing judges. there are 33 names of males. five of females. basically don't know who these people are and it's difficult to shoos. other than the name itself.

there's no more information in the ballot. you have to have done your homework, and a lot of people haven't done that. the thing we are hearing most are people that are disappointed in the government. there has been boycott of elections. to the east on the border there has been polling places attacked. >> the big question, too, we won't know the answer is whether or not the militias will acknowledge a new constitution. >> one of the problems with the country is there's a weak government, a weak army. the militias are strong. in the eastern town of misrata, it has more tanks than the libyan army. they have a lot of authority. many of them, here in tripoli and to the west have been subsumed into the official security forces. that has not happened

nationwide. it's a threat. we have had multiple plots in the last week, and there's no sign of that ending soon. >> john hendren in tripoli, thanks, john. >> pakistani jets are continuing a sustained aerial assault on taliban positions in the north-west tribal districts. the air strikes, a troubled area of waziristan, came after the taliban said it was ready to observe a ceasefire. we have more. tell us what happened, what details are you getting? >> first of all, we can confirm that there have been fresh strikes in the daylight hours as well. first of all, last night there was a series of strikes in north waziristan, including three districts. interestingly, according to the

military a number of targets were hit, ammunition dumps and fighters were found on the ground. we have no way of independently confirming that. we can confirm that in the daylight hour, the aircraft has been busy. this time they hit an area where the militants who attacked the cinema on the 13th. they killed the fitry officer. they had an improvised explosive pactry that -- factory was hit. that confirms that the aircraft have been busy. >> a group of elderly south koreans travelled to the north where they've been reunited with family members.

some of whom they haven't seen for decades. millions of families have been kept apart. the reunion program began in 2000 but was suspended four years ago. north korea was going to cancel the event if planned drills went ahead. >> an analyst that worked in south korea told me there's several reasons pyongyang allowed the reunions to go ahead. >> at one point it was possible to think north korea would do it as a bargaining chip. it's possible that they could pull out at the last minute as happened. we are beyond that stage now. it may be that north korea decided it's tactically to their advantage to show a kinder,

gentler face. they showed a report that was critical of human rites and other abuses. >> it could be that china encouraged north korea to be more cooperative. they don't want hostel visit or to come into the country. for the country as a whole, they'll watch with interest because there is a great emotional bond between north and south korea. even though the political divide could not be deeper. >> residents of guinea's call pap, where many were left for dead, and many had taken to the streets. security forces tried to break up the crowds. the situation was violent.

>> 100 tonnes of water was leaked. an official for the electrical company said the radioactive water could have been directed to the tanks because valves that should have been closed were opened, causing the container to maybe overflow. >> translation: regarding the extent of the leakage, there's no drain nearby. we have ascertained the position of the leak im, and the position is far from the ocean and we think there's no leakage. >> a 3-month default lead by the former vice president is struggling to be contained. the president signed a deal to end violence in jonglei. we have this exclusive report. >> he emerged from the bush surrounded by koeb ra fighters.

he is the leader of a rebellion. they demand their own land in newly independent south sudan. he was the most wanted man in the country. >> based on all the atrocities that have been committed, in the jeong lease state. they wanted to have their own state together with communities. developments, school - we have no facilities or roads. we have lost everything. we are not within the consideration. that's why we need our own estate. >> a call that resonates amongst the youth of the koeb ras. this 16-year-old became a fighter after his mother and brother were killed by forces during a violent disarmour. campaign. >> i am a soldier because

there's no school for me to learn in, this is why i have a gun, to fight for my freedom and stay alive. >> these are marginalised people in earn jonglei, the least-developed area of south sudan. people are left to depend on what nature is on offer. there has been no food distribution since a rebellion two months ago, led by former vice president riek machar. the struggle here is telling of south sudan itself. people feel that armed rebellion is the only way to make voices heard. it's the message given to the presidential envoy at a heated meeting. people want to see progress before leaving in peace. >> we need to pay tapes. we need -- attention it it and address it. >> we are concentrating on a total look. these are our country. we are new generations and

address our own problems. >> for now they say they are willing to lay down his weapons. time is of the essence. >> to the government of south sudan we need to remain calm. >> they will not be happy. you don't give food. when you gave dog food, it will be happy for you. >> the challenge for the government of south sudan is to rides above tribal and ethnic differences for the sake of national ethnic unity. >> let's go back to the unrest in kiev, al jazeera's barnaby phillips is on the line. bring us up to date. >> the ukraine hotel at the top end of independence square has

been taken over by protesters. i have seen one man with a gun run through the lobby, and the lobby has become a makeshift hospital. i'm seeing injured people all over the lobby. the floor is covered in blood, in some places, and medics are transicly attending to these injured protesters. i'm told one of them has a gunshot wound. i was not able to confirm that. but it's a very frantic scene, if you like, and people are being wheeled out of the hotel right now on stretches. >> so that's the scene at the hotel. the scene in independence square and around the hotel? >> well, what happened about an hour and a half ago is the protesters fought the police back from a large area around

independence square, an area which the police captured the night before last. it appeared to be a planned offensive. and they successfully pushed the police back and reerected barricades, re-establishing earlier positions, if you like. >> barnaby phillips. thanks, barnaby. >> finally a $19 billion deal, the world's largest social network is expanding its reach again. facebook announced it would buy what's app in its biggest acquisition to date. >> the planet is increasingly connected on facebook. more than $1.2 billion people actively use the site each month on the web and mobile devices.

it's this market that facebook is tapping with its latest purchase. what's app allows users to send text messages and phones for free, make it it popular. $450 million people country using what's app and it's growing rapidly by one million new users each day. facebook agreed to pay $16 billion, a quarter of which in cash, and the rest in stock. what's it founders will receive a further $3 billion of restrictive stocks, bringing the deal to $19 billion. this dwarfs previous acquisitions, and the face recognition platform. >> where i am, there's a lot of smart entrepreneurs doing exciting things. they don't always come from...

date

and for others it means bringing skilled workers in. it we'll tell you why some weak housing numbers shouldn't worry you too much. i'm ali velshi, and this is real money. >> libyans are voting to elect a special assembly. the process is designed to speed up... if you like facebook,