reform the way this law is used many more innocent people are likely to suffer. >> trying to find a diplomatic solution. president obama asks vladimir putin to withdraw his troops from the ukrainian border. >> hello, this is al jazeera, life from doha. also ahead. the syrian government is being criticised by the u.n. for delays in letting aid in to the people. >> i want to go to school. >> too terrified to learn. attacks on nigerian schools are

forcing children out of the classroom. >> celebrating a peace deal in the southern philippines. some could be forced from their homes as a result. >> those stories in a hotel. first we begin in afghanistan where armed men attacked a building close to the election offices in kabul. we'll go straight to your correspondent in kabul. what more do we know about the attack? >> what we know is a number of attackers. taliban attackers have taken position in a building in front of the election, and they are firing from that building to the compound of the election office. eyewitnesss from the scene are telling us that these attackers are equipped with ak-47 and

rocket grenades. it is still going on. afghan forces rushed to the scene, and they are trying to engage with the attackers, and taliban's spocks men have -- spokesman have taken responsibility, and they said target is election commission office. >> this is a number of attacks that have taken place in kabul over the past week, close to the elections. >> i have raised the question this morning to one of the afghan ministerial commission officers. they were not surprised and said taliban are disturbing the upcoming election, now the big question will be answered six days from now, on saturday the day of the election. after all the attacks - if afghan comes and participates. >> that report from kabul on that latest attack in the afghan

capital. >> vladimir putin telephoned president obama in what's believed to be their first contact over the annexation of crimea. vladimir putin wanted to discuss a u.s. proposal for a diplomatic solution. president obama urged him to take soldiers back from a border, echoing comments he made earlier on u.s. television. >> it's well-known and acknowledged that you've seen a range of troops massing along the border under the guise of military exercises, but these are not what russia would normally be doing, and it may simply be an effort to intimidate ukraine, or it may be that they've got additional plans.

and in either case what we need right now is to escalate the situation and for russia to move back those troops, and begin negotiations directly with the ukrainian government and the international community. >> peter sharp has more on this now from moscow. vladimir putin's call to president obama gave the russian leader an opportunity to comment on written proposals that were handed from secretary of state john kerry to his foreign minister sergei lavrov, and have been examined in the kremlin. we don't know what his drelent response was to the negotiations -- direct response was to the negotiation, but it gave president obama a chance to voice growing concern about the escalating number of russian troops, poised along the border with ukraine. u.s. military put the estimated number of troops there up from 30,000 to over 40,000. they come from a wide variety of military units.

some, we hear, are wearing uniforms with no insignia on them. these will be special forces, and the real concern that the president obama has voiced is they don't seem to appear to be a spring-time exercise. that's what he's told by his security experts. they are poised on the border and he made it clear to president putin that the troops must move out and be the start of a dialogue between russia, ukraine and the west. >> the u.n.'s humanitarian chief criticised the syrian's government lack of progress in allowing aid to reach people that need it. kath turner has more from new york. >> last month the u.n. security council passed a resolution to allow aid to reach civilians. the resolution called for a report back to the united nations security council every

30 days, and friday was the first of those reports. now, according to the report by the united nations secretary-general , there has been little compliance. there were examples given of opposition groups blocking the aid, but mostly the blame was placed at the feet of the syrian government. >> the asaad regime's app diet for deploying -- appetite for deploying aerial bombs, despite the call for these teens of attack 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 amount of aid. the report detailed the government's use of artillery and air strike. the ambassador to the u.n. was asked about this by a report, and he was adamant that the

government was not attacking civilians. >> we are using this against terrorist groups. >> they are landing on civilians. >> no, we are not killing civilians. >> it is clear you are killing civilians. >> no, what you see on the tv is publicity prost cast we are not killing our own people. those who are killing the civilians - those who are sponsored by qatar, coming from saudi arabia and turkey. >> we are talking about what other measures, what strongers steps might be made, if they believe aid will be blocked getting into the country. they'll have trouble getting consensus as long as russia resides with asaad. >> western gulf nations were

promised $2.5 million aid, to give to syria. figures suggest that a mere 1% of the money has been paid. james bays reports. hosting the conference. >> the seize is big they are than when the con flight started. u.n. figures show 6.6 million people, the number is higher with 1 million syrians living in lebanon. inside syria nine million people are in need of aid. >> in january kuwait hosted a donor conference needed to fund the response. countries pledged millions. how much of that money has been received. >> the amount requested was a record for humanitarian

emergency. 6.5 billion. there are, in fact, two separate appeals for those needing aid. inside syria they wanted 2.2 million. of that so far the u.n. received 230 million. the separate appeal is for the regional countries, 4.3 billion. the u.n. says it has got from that appeal 674 million. >> in total 1% of syrians in desperate need is being deposited with the u.n. it's two months, and some countries give money to aid agencies, but it's a cause of concern. 70% of the money promised was given. >> if we don't give them food, they don't eat. if they don't get medicine from us, they die from whatever was their illness.

we cannot overstate the gravity of humanitarian assistance for the people in syria, or the urgency of humanitarian assistance. there is real urgency, he says, to make sure the money promised in a place reaches those at the other end of the spectrum, syrians that are trucking to survive. >> a journalist is among five people killed in fighting between egyptian police and anti-coup protesters. she was shot dead while covering the violence in a cairo suburb. protests began on friday, with anger focussed on former army chief abdul fatah al-sisi, who is running for president. >> three al jazeera english journalists have been dise tained for 91 days in a prison in cairo. mohamed fadel fahmy, bard r and peter greste are accused of

having -- mohammed badr, and peter greste are accused of having links with a terrorist organization and spreading false news. abdullah al-shami has been in custody for more than seven months. al jazeera rejects the charges and demands their release. >> one of the muammar gaddafi's sons has been shown on television apologising. saadi faces charges linked to his role in trying to suppress the uprising in 2011. he fled but was returned to libya this month. >> translation: i extend my apology to the libyan people and the government, because of what i have done, durk stability. i say it was wrong. i should not have done it. i call on all people to drop their guns, people should work for reconciliation. a. >> this is al jazeera, more ahead when we come back.

another body recovered from the rubble of the u.s. disaster. the search conditions in waist-high mud. and empty shelves - can venezuela re-establish its struggling economy.

>> hello again. the top stories on al jazeera america. armed men have attacked a building next to the afghan's election office in eastern kabul. it's the fourth attack in eight day, a week before the

presidential election. u.s. president obama urged russian leader vladimir putin to pull his soldiers back from the boarder. white house called obama to discuss a proposal to end the crisis in ukraine. >> the syrian government's lack of progress has been criticised in allowing aid to reach people who need it. rebel groups have been accused of denying humanitarian access. >> several are confirmed dead in the washington state mudslide. more than 80 people are missing. rescue workers say it's unlikely they'll find anyone under the rubble. we have this report from john hendren. >> marvin was a few feet from

oblivion. she stopped just short of a 20 foot wall of earth. in a few minutes we would have been underneath it. in his 49 years as a teacher he got to know many vick tips. he came to the town for work for a breath taking view of the mountains and the close-knit neighbourhood. >> i said after i left "i'm going to die in derrington", it's getting close to the time, but that's how much it impressed me, to be part of this community. it's a loving community. >> studies found the mountain above steelhead drive was at risk of a landslide. >> the politicians, two members of congress, and the mayor say it's too soon to say why that didn't change anything. >> what are you suggesting. >> there was a landslide risk. is there reason to believe that

something should have been done. >> you have to take a moment at some point and look back and say could we have prevented this so we know in the future. that moment will come with a disaster. right now we need every resource focussed on the recovering. >> on any disaster you do that. >> people knew there was a risk of landslide. it happened before. many say despite warnings, they had no idea how bad it could be. this is a logging community, and they are accustomed to a high level of risk. we have lost all kinds of people. >> he agrees with the people. i don't own it if you tell me what to do on my property. >> many are beginning to realise

living where they want to, despite the known risks, was a mistake. >> the pentagon is to triple staff working on cyber security, the u.s. secretary chuck hagel says the new recruits will help to combat internet attacks. they plan to have 6,000 cyber professionals by 2015. >> venezuela's government brought in a series of measures to stablilize the economy. the country suffered rising prices and shortages of essential items. it fuelled weeks of protests. from caracas we have this report. >> most venezuelans have been focussed on the turmoil in the streets. the socialist government has been doing something that was unthinkable. raising prices and other goods.

>> translation: there was no announcement, bol vars, doubled from last month. flour went up 50%. rice, basic products are expensive. it's one of a series of measures, and curbed the shortages and fuelled the process. we found empty shields. we visited two supermarkets. president nicolas maduro blamed contraband and announced the introduction of a new card. we are introducing the digitised electronic card from which you'll be able to access services and products. it will give you access to products. >> the purpose is to keep electronic records of what people are buying in government stores and reselling when

products are scars. but the measure that promises relief. it offers dollars eight times the official price. a move nicolas maduro hopes will contain the out of the control black market which has seen as a pain. but necessary evaluation. >> the thing that is being done is to make more flexible everything. to leak absence. and this will help to solve some of the problems of the city, and the known priority that is being offered. >> with no end in site to venezuela political unrest, the question remains if these efforts are enough to increase the violence and polarization in the country. >> 10 suspected cases of the deadly virus ebola has been

detected in guinea. workers have been sent there to contain the outbreak. it began in rural areas where 70 died. ebola is highly infectious. there's no cure or vaccine. >> students are opting to stay at home after a series of attacks on school. boko haram fighters, who reject western education are blamed for killing several hundred since the start of the year. 85 schools have been closed. the recent school attack is in a neighbouring state. >> it's been a month since this family's 14-year-old was killed. they find comfort going through his homework, looking at good marks. hamid wanted to be a doctor. boko haram stormed his school and killed him and 30 others. >> translation: i can't get over what his body looked like. he was shot five times in the

stomach, arm and leg. it wakes me up at night and i can't sleep again. >> hamid's cousins, a classmate, describes how female students were scared. >> we start crying. some are crying. some scream. they said we should get married, and not do school again. i don't want to go to school again. >> it's a feeling shared by many students across one of three states. nigerian forces are battling. the group's name roughly means western education is sinful. four attacks have killed 100 students in eight months. officials say the latest attack in the remote town killed 32 students. some people say more than 50 died here.

every building in the school compound was burnt down. >> this is where the worst part of the attack took place. boko haram fighters locked you have children. those that tried to escape from windows were shot or had their throats slicked. >> federal ministry of education shut down their other school and transferred students out of the state. school attendance has dropped, depending how dangerous the area is. local government has re-elected children to safer areas. 85 schools have not officially been closed. >> that means giving in. it's a challenge to all of us. let us face it. we'll give our children the education. parents are being encouraged to send children back to school with promises of better security.

the family is not sure the time is right. such is the burden of a generation making a choice between living and striving for a better tomorrow. >> local elections are being held in the southern and western provinces of sri lanka. the ballots could be a test of popularity. the president criticised an investigation into the civil war. >> over 3,500 candidates vying for 155 seats in the two provincial administrations going to the polls today. the government has held provincial council elections in the western province, colombo and surrounding areas and the southern province, which is the government's rural vote fest. now polling booths as you see behind me, there's more than

4,000 here in these areas. we have a total of 6 million voters. they are on the register and eligible to vote. the whole issue at the u.n. conducts an international inquiry into allegations of war crimes. it used that as a campaign platform. urging voters to end the war, and fighting to stave off international intervention. voters have been urged, in terms - to use that as a gate to show that support for the government. there has been a steady trickle, and we have seen a lot of people coming up, bringing their voting card. it is interested in this election, which is pretty much local or provincial.

however, it has taken on a different flavour, giving the timing coming just after geneva, and the keenness to use it as a beige pore pointer. >> tens of thousands have been out on the streets of the thai battle. they are demanding that prime minister yingluck shinawatra step down. three weeks since the disappearance of malaysia airlines flight mh370 better weather conditions are helping crews scour the southern indian ocean. military aircrafts are looking for debris spotted for satellites. the australian maritime safety authority says varies items have been spotted. none confirmed from the missing jet. >> filipinos are signing a deal

between the moro front and the government. it is aimed at ending decades of fighting. some indigenous tribes feel it will result in the loss of ancestral homes. in the remote village, the people are in the mood to celebrate. >> ladies and gentlemen, the feel peen government signed a pact with the south-east asian powerful rebel group. the moro. peace has finally come. >> for generations they have been displaced, caught up in a conflict with little to deal with. there are 200 families in the prison. most have been here for

generations. basic services are non-existent. there's no electricity, no running water, no proper schools. they are hoping that the signing of the peace agreement may mean that life for them will get better. like other indigenous tribes, they live like this. around 100,000 ted, rrk ise are in the region. they struggle the to preserve their identity and culture. >> the peace deal creates the region and addresses the region. most are filipinos who felt mistreated by the government. they are skeptical. this woman says the mus limits took away their home. >> what we would like went the

moro comes is they respect traditions and culture. we don't have anywhere else to go but here. that's why the needs have to be met. >> the new autonomous region would be inclusive. >> translation: this transition, the keys to the gate will be willingly handed obvious to the democrat democratic will of the people >> many say the agreement lookings good on paper, but they are worried about the difficulty of implementing it. >> translation: we are concerned that the peace agreement be fully implement it. >> for now they will fully support the government, and they

wonder whether their ob grievances will be addressed. >> a reminder as always, there's more on the website, aljazeera.com. get the latest on all the store which is we are covering. next. . >> they come to america from all over the world seeking a better life. we will look at a controversial program. and how an undocumented immigrant could be your boss and it's all perfectly legal. did you say put up a fence and deport them all? but get ready to pay more for your family at the grocery store. i'll explain why. i'm ali velshi in phoenix.