army commandingers say they have repelled a rebel attack on iraq's biggest oil refinery. and the prime says the fight back has begun against sunni muslim fighters. ♪ >> hello, welcome to al jazeera, i'm martine in doha, and these are our top stories. humanitarian crisis worsens in eastern ukraine and the president calls for a ceasefire so pro-russia separatist can lay down their weapons.

souvenir shops are well stocked in madrid. and spanish football fans are hoping for a change of fortune as the world cup depending champions play chile in a must-win match. ♪ >> the iraqi government is formally asked the united states to launch air strikes to put down the rebellion against its rule. sunni muslim fighters have been battling for control of the biggest oil refinery. the prime minister is suggesting the anti-government rebel i don't know in the north has been concerned. and they are warning that the uprising against malky is putting the entire region at risk of war. >> reporter: when the rebels captured the second city, the

world woke up. iraq's crisis has been festering for years, and isil could count on the support of a wide range of sunni tribal leaders. >> he has learned out to be a sectarian, proshiite leader, marginallizing the kurds and sunnis, and having a very centralized government in bagdad. >> reporter: maliki has been prime minister for eight years. fighting he says to preserve iraq's unity against supporters of the old regime and terrorists, many of whom now have a safe haven over the border in syria. but mr. maliki is coming under unprecedented criticism not just at home but also abroad. in london oil executives gather

to discussion the situation. people have come to this conference because of the huge profits to be made in iraqi oil. most of the people here want a peaceful united iraq. many are worried that the country in danger of breaking up. this man sat down with maliki many times in the past. if he could do so again, what would he say? >> act immediately to repair relations to the kurds and each out to the sunnis. >> reporter: is iraq salvageable? >> reporter: iraq is in serious trouble right now. >> reporter: do you think it will break up irretrievably? >> every day we should take a look at the situation and form our opinions based on what happened in the last 24 hours.

>> reporter: with a history of violence between sunnis, shiites and curds, and little compromise. outside intervention has rarely been helpful. maliki may well succeed in keeping the sunni rebels out of bagdad, but convincing all iraqis that will he govern in the national interest will prove difficult. >> saudi arabia has said iraq is on the verge of civil war, and has denied it is fuelling the fighting. >> translator: the grave situation that is storming iraq carries with it signs of civil war. who's implications for the region we cannot fathom. >> iran says it will do whatever it takes to protect holy muslim shiite sites in iraq. many men are ready to take up

arms to defend their cities. thousands of shiite volunteers have registered to fight. >> reporter: iraq's war is just over a week old, and already families like these mourn their dead. this man's family is shiite, his job was to deliver food to soldiers. last week he was delivering breakfast when he came under attack and was killed. his brother says the people who killed him aren't muslims. >> translator: according to the profit mohammed, no muslim can kill another muslim. my brother was so generous, e exceptional and kind, he didn't deserve to die. >> reporter: a large number of people are registering their interest in defending their

community. officially they are not giving out exact numbers but they hundreds of thousands want to be recruited. the vast number are shiites. it's not just the young. this is a grandfather. he answered the call and registered. his grandsons are too young to join, but say they want to fight. after giving his details to the army, he waits and says he is willing to do anything. >> translator: this is our duty. it's our jihad to fight. i will do anything they ask of me. my sons the same. if i lose them, it is a blessing, i onlying wish i had more sons to give. >> reporter: many are framing

this as a sectarian war, and that means sunnis in predominant shiite bagdad are worried. getting people to talk to us here has been a real challenge. both sides say they are fighting for sunni islam, and that's a real issue for people here. they are nervous speaking about it. they don't want to speak out, because it is seen as dangerous. let's get the latest life from bagdad, from our correspondent. there has been a lot of speculation, hasn't there, but finally we have a formal request from the iraqi government to the u.s. for air strikes? >> yes, that's correct. they were holding a press conference, and said that iraq has requested help from the

united states to launch air strikes against rebels in the country. now there were reports in -- in the last week or so that their -- iraq has requested quietly, unofficially help from the americans. now the unofficial request has turned into an official one. this is not the first time iraq has asked for help, in fact since january when the military launched a big campaign to root out fighters from the islamic state in iraq and the levant as well as other tribal fighters in western iran, those fighters were coming from syria, the americans stepped up help and provided iraq with hell fire missiles and some gun ships, so this is not the first time. now it remains to be seen if the americans will answer the call, because president obama has made

it clear that iraqi leaders need to take police call steps to reach out to opponents to try to solve this crisis politically before the americans decide to do anything. >> thank you. now ukraine's president outlined a peace plan to stop the ongoing crisis in the east. he says he wants a unilateral peace fire. this comes just as the un reports about the worsening human rights situation in the country. paul brennan reports. >> reporter: ukraine's new president first floated the idea of a ceasefire on monday, but the prospect of a unilateral gesture came as a surprise. >> translator: i can say that the period of ceasefire will be

rather short. we expect the illegaled armed groups will immediately disarm. then order will be achieved. >> reporter: that instability and the worsening human rights crisis in east ukraine is starkly described in the latest un report. its says the presence of armed people and weapons has increased. the escalation is no longer limited to targeting journalists and activists. they are now affecting the broader population. protestant pastor was one of them. leading his congregation in a prayer a month ago he was seized and beaten continuously for three hours by the pro-russia militia. >> translator: unfortunately human rights are not observed here. here the right goes to those who

hold the guns. if they think that somebody is a threat to them, they arrest him. they think he's an enemy, they beat him. >> reporter: what is most striking about the un report is page after page details the chronic effect on the non-combatants here in eastern ukraine. it talks about how the delivery of supplies is becoming more complicated by the day. humanitarian deliveries help, but they are frankly just a drop in the ocean. these bags of essentials have been collected by pro-russian activists and are headed to slaviansk, a town under regular bombardment. >> translator: people there can't buy food or hygiene supplies. the stuff we send is absolutely essential. >> reporter: the hope is a

ceasefire could create a window of opportunity, a pause for thought in the conflict. but there is no guarantee at all that the separatist leaders will agree to take part. live now to the spanish capitol madrid. this is the ceremony taking place right now, a momentous occasion for the spanish people. there you see the king perhaps for the last time as king, he is finalizing the process of handing over to his son who will become king philippe. let's have this report from our correspondent jonah hull. >> reporter: mentionel facts and the king in the same sentence, and you get an instant reaction. >> maybe if our monarchy were closer to the scandinavian monarchy, and [ inaudible ]

hunting ehhel -- elephants in africa, where people here claim for food, maybe i would like my monarchy. >> reporter: people were appalled by the king's hunting exploits in africa, some question whether the monarchy still has a role to play. when juan carlos announced his intention to step down, thousands demonstrated in favorite for a republic. activists who have launched their own informal referendum say spaniards should be allowed to choose. when the king steps out on that balcony on thursday, he'll do so fairly certain that there isn't about to an official referendum

on the monarchy, but he'll stand there knowing there's little room for error. they inherit a kingdom reduced in wealth and public tolerance. he will need to be transparent, discreet, and one more thing -- >> he has to be lucky, i think. because there's a matter of luck. a lot will depend on how the economic and political situation evolve in the coming months. if he is lucky enough to see some improvement, people will be happy, with the monarchy as well. >> reporter: back in the taxi it's clear there are weighty expectations of the new king. >> and i expect for the new king to -- to develop an equal society. >> reporter: the king is the head of state, but doesn't run the state. he'll have to manage the expectations of those who hope for better things.

jonah hull, al jazeera, madrid. lots more to come including calls for cultural change in malaui, and an end to child sex initiation ceremonies involving six year olds. and rousing words of inspiration for chile's football team ahead of their challenge with spain.

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sunni rebels have been overpowered, the army says, as they try to take control of the largest oil refinery. ukraine's president has set out proposals for a peace plan to stop the ongoing crisis in the east. he says he wants a unilateral ceasefire by the ukrainian army so that pro-russian separatists will lay down their weapons. and spain's king jean carlos will allow his son to be sworn in as the new monarch on thursday. now the syrian observatory for human rights says an army helicopter has fired on a refugee camp. 12 people have reportedly been killed, many were children who had earlier fled fighting in nearby areas, where rebels have

been advancing recently. israeli troops have rearrested former palestinian prisoners in their search for three missing teenagers. more than 400 palestinians have been detained since the israeli students vanished six days ago on their way home from classes in the occupied west bank. hamas has denied all involvement. a court in egypt has sentenced 12 people to death for the killing of a police officer. 11 others were acquitted. the police officer was shot dead in september last year during a raid near cairo. the judge has referred the death sentences to egypt's grand [ inaudible ] for review. now to afghanistan where the presidential candidate says there has been election fraud and is calling for vote counting to be stopped. he says he has no confidence

after saturday's runoff vote. the election is the first democratic transfer of power in afghanistan's history. final results are due on july 22nd. >> the counting process should be stopped immediately. that's one. and in regards to the legitimacy, all we're asking for is the legitimacy of the process. regardless of who has more or less votes. let's get more now from jennifer glass. >> presidential candidate in a live press conference calling for the vote counting to be stopped. he says he has no confidence in the election commission, and he says he has no choice but to stop cooperation with it. he says the counting has to be stopped. for several days now he has been calling on a senior election official to step down, he says

the voting system has been systematically rigged against him. and the turnout numbers that came out were exaggerated including the numbers in the rural areas. we're waiting to here what the election commission has to say, but this could throw into doubt the presidential election who process, we were expecting results in late jewel and a new president was supposed to be inaugurated in early august. at least five people have died and their bodies brought ashore from a wooden boat that sank. the migrant workers were traveling home to malaysia. child protection laws are set to criminalize sex abuse.

japanese has long been a safe haven for child sex abuse. >> a saturday afternoon and a scene easy to find. dressed up, made up children, promoting schoolgirl clubs where massages and more are for sale. japan has long had a reputation for permissiveness when it comes to this sexual exploitation of children. simply possessing child pornography was perfectly legal until now. >> i think this is a very big step forward for japan, but now we are in 2014, and if you look at other countries they passed this law long time ago. we are the last nation to pass this law.

>> reporter: the new law bans possession of actual child abuse, but doesn't outlaw the pictures of young girls be they real or drawn. they have explicit depictions of sexual violence against young children. most of what we filmed is too extreme to be broadcast. still it is part of an industry wide campaign against any move to outlaw them. >> translator: i do want the artist and readers to rep managed themselves. but the law should not be playing that rule. there are those artists who cover darker themes. >> reporter: this girl was abducted and abused when she was

six. >> translator: what is common among those who actually commitment the crime is they were isolated and psychologically cornered and desperate. they were alone in their dilution and then crossed the line. >> reporter: some take the opposite view that the normalization of such images can make it easier for a man to take it further in real life. and fight -- while this man fights restriction on his art he urges other to control themselves. > > ebola continues to spread in afri africa. more than 500 cases have been confirmed in the path four

months. >> reporter: workers are calling for the end of child marriages and underage sex. a quarter of all girls were married before their 18th birthday and often drop out of school. >> reporter: this girl is 14 years old, and this is not her little sister, it's her two-year-old daughter. the young mother is the victim of a cultural practice that encourages young girls to have sex early in parts of molaii. it's a right of passage. >> there is rumored about six to seven years they were taken for [ inaudible ] where they were initiated. when they were initiated there, they were -- when they come back, they were told that they were supposed to be cleansed, which means they have to sleep with any adult person. that means that now she has

passed the initiation. >> reporter: she is back in school, but has fallen behind. she could be in secondary school, not primary, but she is determined to catch up. >> translator: when i had my baby, i was ashamed. i am happy to be back in school. >> reporter: change in old customs isn't easy. government officials don't have figures on how many girls are affected, but the dropout rate in rule schools is it. sometimes when a girl gets pregnant fact, she is immediately expelled from school. the humiliation can be so bad, young morts feel unwanted and abandoned. not all initiation practices encourage premarital sex, there are laws to protect girl, but some community workers feel more can be done. >> there is very little happening on the ground as far

as implementation is concerned. >> reporter: community leaders try to convince the girl to go back to school. they tell her dreams don't have to end just because she got pregnant so young. to the world cup, it's crunch time for the current cup holder spain. but they could face an early flight home if they don't beat chile. they are getting inspiration from an infamous episode in recent history. ♪ >> reporter: four years ago, 33 trapped minors made chile's national catch cry world famous, and now they are doing it again in a campaign ad to support their football team. >> translator: in this place we

were trapped for 70 days, the earth had swallowed us. we knew outside there were millions of chileans who believed on us. and that's where we are taking our dirt to brazil to where our team is based and to show the world that for a chile an nothing is impossible. spain, holland, we aren't afraid of the group of death, because we have looked death in the face and come out victorious. >> reporter: it's that determination that brought tens of thousands of chileans here to support their team and to show they aren't intimidated by the so-called group of death. the luck of the draw that has pitted chile against two of the toughest. >> reporter: chile has a great team, but it's the underdog complained to its main rivals, spain and holland.

that's why thousands of people have crossed the andies mountains. >> translator: we can do it with our strength! >> reporter: fans here skaf at suggestions that chile is the cinderella of the group. >> translator: no game ends after midnight, which means that cinderella can become a princess, and brazil's technical director says he is nervous about playing chile. don't underestimate us. >> reporter: on kulpa cabana teach, a unique breed of street musicians work up the fans, although they need no encouragement. >> translator: we have saved money. we took time off from work and for the kids to miss school to give our team courage. >> reporter: day and night they

wave their flag and cry a chant that almost everyone, no matter from what country, now knows by heart. now if you want anymore, don't forget you can go to the al jazeera website and get all of the facts and history. ♪ the ghosts of men and women fill the wards of government hospitals across india. they stare silently - suspended in limbo between the living and the dead. these patients are the infected - victims of a contagion so lethal it ki