>> >> >> trying to find a diplomatic solution. barack obama asks russia to pull out its troops from the ukrainian border. >> hello, you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also ahead - five people die. security forces open fire on anti-coup protesters in egypt. >> armed standoff at a guest house - a fight between the taliban and security forces leave seven dead in afghanistan.

>> celebrating a peace deal with muslim rebels in the philippines. some could be forced from their homes as a result. >> hello, vladimir putin has telephoned president obama in what's believed to be their first direct contact since the u.s. and europe imposed sanctions against moscow. putin wanted to discuss a u.s. proposal for a diplomatic solution to the ukraine crisis. president obama urged him to pull russia's soldiers back from the ukraine border, echoing comments made earlier on television. >> it's well-known and common that you have seen a range of troops massing along the border under the guise of military exercise, but at least are not

what russia would normally be doing. and, you know, it may be an effort to intimidate ukraine, or it may be that they have got additional plans. and in either case, what we need right now to resolve and de-escalate the situation is for russia to move back those troops, and to begin negotiations directly with the ukrainian government and the international community. >> and the united nations secretary ban ki-moon assess the issue of crimea's -- says the issue of crimea's annexation by russia has to be resolved. >> at this time of heightened intentions small flashings can ignite large flames. i'm concerned that about the international community, over the situation, how it could harm our ability to impress concerns

conflict and humanitarian emergencies. >> peter sharp is in moscow. what more do we know about the phone call and what the two leaders discussed. >> before the phone call secretary of state john kerry was presented - presented the russian foreign minister with written proposals for a u.s. suggestion for some sort of end to the crisis. this was vladimir putin responding to that message from john kerry. it gave president obama an opportunity to voice a growing concern at the escalating number of russian troops now poised on the border with ukraine. the u.s. intelligence - and putting up the estimation from 30,000 troops to over 40,000. as the president said, they don't appear to be there as part

of a spring-time exercise, which is what the kremlin was explaining. they seemed to be there en masse with military units and weapons, and a long supply line back into russia. great concern by president obama, who basically is calling on russia to pull the troops back, get them off the border and begin talks with ukraine and the international community. >> interesting that the russians and the americans are giving completely different spins on this phone call. i mean, as you were saying, president obama reiterating his call for some sort of diplomatic solution here, and for russia to pull back. the emphasis they are getting is it's all about what is happening in ukraine, and what they see as unhealthy nationalism there. >> that's right.

it's a familiar message coming from vladimir putin at this telephone conversation. he was talking about the raging extremism that is taking place in eastern ukraine with many russian people suffering intimidation from what he would scribe as rite-wing national ists. vladimir putin is pretty confident. his opinionings ratings have gone up 20%. 80% of the people polled in independent and government opinion polls back their president. the sanctions that have been place the are regarded by vladimir putin and the kremlin as poouny and meaningless. the only concern is an outward

flow of cash, investment capital. it was a couple of weeks ago i reported it was $50 billion, and has gone up to $70 billion. if it continues it will have a dire effect on the country's economy. >> peter sharp reporting from moscow. thanks for that. >> our 23-year-old female journalist has been shot dead in egypt between battles between press and anti-coup protesters. four others were killed. there has been demonstrations following the former army chief abdul fatah al-sisi's announcement that he will run for president. charles stratford reports. >> 23-year-old journalist was reportedly killed by a live round in a suburb in a cairo suburb. a newsagent she worked for posted this. >> she was working as a freelance.

[ inaudible ] a witness said that [ inaudible ] police surrounded demonstrators. >> protests began early friday in various locations across egypt, and are focussed on a man who led the coup and announced he was resigning as military chief. the former defence minister's abdul fatah al-sisi's announcement came as no surprise to most egyptians. i think his ascendency to the presidency is all but assured. the real question is not whether he can well the president, but can he govern, given the oppressive tactics of the

military government. it doesn't seem likely to bring in stability. >> egypt's military-backed government ordered the prosecution of more than 900 people accused of being supporters or members the brotherhood. this after 52 # people were sentenced -- 528 people were sentenced to death in a separate case. human rights groups accused security forces of committing wide-spread abuses since the coup. thousands of members or supporters of the muslim brotherhood government have been arrested. the deposed president and others are on trial. >> state media ran pictures of a pro-abdul fatah al-sisi rally. abdul fatah al-sisi has considerable support. but this event drew smaller crowds than expected. one politician said he'd stand against abdul fatah al-sisi in the election. the date has not been set. some candidates said running agains the former military chief

will be futile in a rigged race. >> three al jazeera journalists have been detained for 91 days in a prison in cairo. mohamed fadel fahmy, mohammed badr, and peter greste are accused of having links with a terrorism organization and spreading false news. abdullah al-shami from al jazeera ara bike channel -- arabic channel has been in custody since august. al jazeera relates commands and demands their release. >> one of osama bin laden's sons apologised from prison. saadi faces charges for upholding corruption. >> i extend my apologies to the libyan people and the government, disturbing the

stability in the past. i say it was wrong, i should not have tup it. i -- done it. i call on all people to drop their guns. the government should hold weapons, people should work for reckon sill ration. >> the the lack of process to reach people by the syrian government has been criticised. >> last month the u.n. security council passed a resolution that aid rape millio-- reach million the country. a report was ordered, friday was the first. according to the report pi the secretary-general , there has been little compliance. examples were given the opposition groups blocking aid getting into the country. mostly the blame was placed at the feet of the government. >> the asaad's regime murderous

appetite deployed against civilians in syria, despite the council's call that they say types of attacks stop, is the number one factor driving displacement and the broader humanitarian crisis. >> some help reached civilians in an area along the turkish border, it's a tiny fraction of aid needed for the country. it detailed the government's use. the syrian ambassador to the u.n. was asked about this by a report are, and he was adamant that the government is not killing civilians. >> we drop weapons against terrorist groups. >> you don't deny it. >> no, but we use it against terrorist groups. >> it's landing on civilians. >> no, it's not landing on civilians. snow it's clear that they are civilians. >> what you sigh on the tv is

publicity broadcast by adhaves ris. we are not killing our open people. these are our own people, we do not kill our own people. those killing the syrian civilians are sponsored by the dirty petrol dollars from saudi arabia, and turkey. >> western diplomats are talking about what stronger steps may be taken by the security council, if they believe aid is blocked getting into the trouble. they have trouble getting consensus as long as russia sides with asaad. >> we were and gulf arab nations promised $2.5 billion of aid during a donor conference. a mere 1% of that money has been paid. al jazeera's diplomatic editor james bays reports from kuwait. >> the size of the humanitarian emergency is bigger than anyone could have imagined when the

conflict started three years ago. u.n. figures show more than 2 wow 6 million as refugees. the real number is higher, with more than 1 million syrians living in one of those countries, lebanon. >> inside syria, 9 million people are in need of aid. >> in january, kuwait hosted a donor conference to raise money needed to fund the international response. count rits pledged millions. how much of that has been received? >> the amount requested by the u.n. in january was a record for a humanitarian emergency. 6.5 billion, there are, in fact, two separate appeals for those needing aid. inside syria, they wanted 2.2 billion. the u.n. has only received $237 million. a separate appeal is for the regional countries, 4.3 billion. the u.n. says it has got from

that appeal $674 million. >> in total, about 1% for syrians in need has actually been deposited with the u.n. it's only just two months since the conference and some countries give money to aid agencies. it's a cause of concern. last year 70%. money promised was given. >> if we don't give them food, we don't eat. if we don't get medicine from us, they die from whatever was their illness. one cannot overstate the gravity of the necessity for humanitarian assistance. one cannot overstate the urgency of humanitarian assistance for the people in syria. >> there is real urgency, he says, to make sure the money promised in a world palace in january reaches those at the other end of the spectrum,

syrians struggling to survive. >> more ahead when we come back, including a media and military offensive. we show you how iraq's government is fighting a feared enemy on two fronts.

>> hello again. the top stories on al jazeera. the u.s. president has urged russia to pull out troops from the ukrainian border. vladimir putin and barack obama held their first direct contact

since the u.s. and europe imposed sanctions against moscow over the annexation of crimea. a journalist is among five people that have been killed as egyptian police fought with anti-coup protesters. a journalist was shot dead whilst covering the violence. >> iraq's government has launched a media campaign to accompany a media offensive against an armed group known as the i.s.i.l. it's seen as the most dangerous of all the fighter groups at war with the government, which is trying to create a secure deposit for upcoming elections. imran khan reports from baghdad. >> the government in iran has declared war. it's being fought on two fronts. one of militarily, and one through the media. these tv spots paid for by the government and created by state

television single out the group as an enemy of the state and highlight the operations against them. it's not just television, huge billboards got to the streets of baghdad. during the height of iraq's violence, when a similar campaign singled out al qaeda. it's telling that the i.s.i.l. has been singled out. in doing so, the iraqi authorities is crediting the group with power. we are not giving them power. some media organizations are focussing on them. they have been fighting a war on terror. now we are fighting the offspring, using all means at our disposal. this campaign is one of them. >> given the problems, is this campaign distracting from other issues? >> the campaign seems to have divided public opinion.

there are those that say it's a distraction, and the government should be concentrating on electricity shortages, crumb bling infrastructure, and others have welcomed the initiative. >> it's a waste of time and doesn't help at all. >> it adds a positive message that the government so doing something. by singing out, you hope to turn the group of iraqis against them. by doing that the government thinks it can defeat the group and get rid of all two groups. >> a lebanese policeman has been killed in the northern city of tripoli. shot on friday by two armed men on a motorbike, he worked for the internal community service. violence stemming from the war has worsened in tripoli.

>> a taliban fighter stormed a guest house used by a foreign aid group in kabul. seven people, including a child were killed in the firefight. it happened a week ahead of the presidential elections. bernard smith has more. >> the taliban fighters, armed with grenades and assault rifles shot their way into the kabul headquarters of a foreign charity working in afghanistan. one attack ir blew himself up to blow a hole in the gait of the building. there was a gun battle with security forces surrounding the building. the house is in the district not far from afghanistan's parliament. it's occupied by staff from roots of peace, a charity that clears land mines. people were evacuated from

neighbouring properties. one woman was carrying a chimed. they were forced to take shelter as the battle continued. there's more than 100 nonprofit groups. many housed in similar properties to the one used by roots of peace. they are un easy targets and unlikely to have offenses that can withstand the suicide bomber. in comparison, they have concrete blast walls and in arse that sealed off streets and 24 hour application. this is the third attack in kabul in the last seven days. it follows a taliban assault on a luxury hotel and an attack on the building. all connected to the taliban's promise to do its best to disrupt presidential elections on april the 5th. >> another body has been found after the mudslide in the united states a week ago. 18 people are thought to have died in the disaster in

washington state. that number is expected to rise. 90 people are listed as missing. emergency teams are searching through waste-deep mud near oso. >> russ cue workers say -- rescue workers say their primary mission it to find people alive in the mountain of mud. it's been seven days, and the chances of finding people are increasingly unlikely. this mission is likely to turn soon into a recovering mission and identification has become a problem. medical workers are not releasing new numbers of dead until they have identified those people, and you can imagine the difficulty of doing that when these victims have been inside ohms crushed by -- homes crushed by a sea of mud. family members are having difficulty identifying some victims, it presented problems, slow-going work for rescue

workers is being made slower going because of the weather. there's a 100% chance of rain in the coming hours. it's inspected to rain through saturday and sunday, presenting electrical storm problems. mud that is difficult to work in is slicker, and there's a chance of continued mudslides because it was the saturation of the hill contributing to the land slide that started this. slow going for workers, and that means the chances of finding someone alive deceased as the time goes on. >> the pentagon is going to triple staff working on cyber security. the new recruits will help to combat internet attacks that threaten national security. they plan to have 6,000 cyber professionals by 2016. the announcement was made as he prepared to visit china, which the u.s. long accused of

launching attacks. >> during the course of my remarks today, dod systems would have been scanned by adversaries around 50,000 times. our nation confronts the proliferation of malware and reality of steady and ongoing aggressive efforts to probe, and disrupt public and private networks and the industrial control systems that mag our water and energy and food supplies. >> three weeks since the disappearance of malaysia airlines flight mh370 better weather conditions are helping search crews scour the southern indian ocean. military aircrafts and ships are looking for debris, spotted by satellites off australia west coast coast. the australian maritime safety authority says various items are spotted, none from the missing jet. the search area covers 319,000 square kilometres.

teams have been looking for more than 1,000km away this week. >> australia prime minister says crews are doing the best they can in difficult circumstances. >> yesterday was a better day for searching. today i understand is a good day for searching. weather conditions are benign for that inhospitable part of the world. yesterday, as i understand it, there were visuals from five aircraft of debris in the o. unfortunately, despite the appearance of some six vessels in and around the search area, we have not yet been able to recover debris. so that task conditions. >> a filipino - they are celebrating a peace deal between fighters from the moro islamic liberation front and the government. the creation of an autonomous

region is aimed at ending decades of fighting. some believe it will result in the loss of anassessmenteral homes. -- ancestral homes. >> here in a remote village in the southern philippines, these people are in the mood to celebrate. >> now, lame,... >> the philippine government signed a pact with a powerful group, the moro islamic front. by ending the rebellion, peace has come. >> these... >> for generations they have been displaced. they've been caught up in a conflict they had little to do with. >> there's about 200 families in the village. most have been here for generations. basic services are non-existent. there's no electricity, no running water, no medical clinic

and no proper school. they hope the signing of the police agreement may mean life will get better. lij dij nous tribes -- like indigenous tribes they live like this. many are in the region laying claim to 300 hectares of ancestral land. the peace deal agrees that the moro region, that it addresses the grievances of the moro people. most are filipinos mistreated by the government. >> but they are skeptical. muslims are claiming her family home too. >> what we would like is that they respect the traditions and cultures that we have. so, too, are farms and

properties. we don't have anywhereless to go, but here. that's why our needs have to be met. >> the chairman of the moro islamic front indicates that the new region will be inclusive. >> it will be likened to a gatekeeper. where after such period, the keys to the gait will be willingly handed over to the democratic wheel. many people say the agreement looks good on paper, but are worried about the difficulty of implementing it. >> we are concerned to ensure that our rites as indigenous people are protected. the peace agreement should be implemented before the president substance down in 2016. >> for now it is supported, but they are worried and oneder whether grievances will be

addressed. >> as always, lots more on the website aljazeera.com. get the latest on all the stories we are coughing covering including the standoff between crimea and ukraine. aljazeera.com. >> the president is in saudi arabia meeting with the king at a time of strained relations and different conclusion of what to do in world trouble spots. it's the inside story. >> hello, i'm ray suarez. the american president and the