on al jazeera america clinging to power. iraq's prime minister asks for a third term and deploys his special forces in baghdad. and thousands remain stranded in northern iraq with kurdish forces fighting the new rebels. hello, i'm laura kyle, you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also ahead - a 72 hour humanitarian truce in gaza. no talks on a durable solution. turkey's prime minister

promises a new era of reconciliation after winning the first ever popular vote. and... >> i'm wayne hay on the thai-myanmar border where the thai government is making plans to send tens of thousands of refugees back to myanmar. iraq's prime minister nouri al-maliki is not backing down on his bid for a third term despite huge pressure to resign. now he's threatening a legal challenge against the president, a kurd, for standing in his way. all this as kurdish forces battle against islamic state in the north. we have this report. >> reporter: an important victory in the fight against the islamic state group. fighters from the turkish region recapture an up to, holding up

the black flag as a trophy. islamic state fighters are in control of large parts of northern iraq. their gains since june put prime minister nouri al-maliki under intense pressure to quit. he's gone on the attack against the country's president. >> translation: i warned the iraqi parliament, the presidency and the constitutional course the president had no right to delay the election of a new prime minister based on the results of our last elections. and such a violation will lead to more security problems. this is why the government is planning to file a case against the president for violating the constitution twice. >> reporter: this man is a curd, and his election raised hopes of conciliation between the kurd, shi'a and sunnis. nouri al-maliki, a shia, has been accused of targetting his critiques, including top sunni

politicians and is looking isolated. >> nouri al-maliki's mindset is so much narrowed down that he is not seeing the country or the thousands of people killed by i.s.i.s. or not seeing the fact that he under his watch, all this happen. he was responsible for arming and guiding the iraqi army that collapsed in front of i.s.i.s. >> reporter: the us state department says: nouri al-maliki's own party spokesman defended the president, expressing hope that a new prime minister could be elected as early as monday. well, the advance of fighters from the islamic state group has left many without a home in northern iraq. large numbers of the yazidi religious minority are stranded on a desert mountain top in

sinjar. those who have been able to have crossed the border into syria, and from there they are crossing back into the kurdish controlled areas of northern iraq. it's taken a week for some of the refugees to cross back into iraq, and entire families have been walking. some are in cars, with little food and no medical supplies. they'll now live in tough conditions in a refugee camp that has been set up for them. many lost family members during the journey. >> translation: i put two of my sounds in the car that came to get us. then i went to grab the one i'm holding and went back to the car. it had left. that's why i had to walk here alone. i have three children. this one is with me. i have lost the others. i haven't seen the other children or my husband since then. we go to erbil, live from there.

it's a dire state for the yazidi people. what options are weighed to help them? >> it's particularly tough because it's not just a humanitarian issue, it's a military one. the problem is that they are trapped on sinjar mountain, thousands of them, with no way down. just a route with the kurdish rebels, and another with the kurdish peshmerga forces. we spoke to a yazidi doctor that's been dealing with the displaced and they said 1,000 have died. they have come down from the mountain and tell stories of women dying in childbirth, babies dying of thursday. an intense amount of suffering. it's not clear that anything can be done for all much them until the islamic state is back from there. that fight is ongoing. kurdish forces lost is town

north of baghdad, between baghdad and the kurdish territory, that they had gained back from islamic state fighters. that now is lost to the sunni fighters, and they are still fighting with the help of u.s. air strikes, more strikes overnight around erbil to defend the capital, but fierce fighting along the corridor, the de facto boarder between the kurdish territory. and central government-controlled iraq. >> it's extraordinary that among the human suffering there's a political stalemate in baghdad, and yet we are seeing prime minister nouri al-maliki digging in his heels. >> absolutely. that was really a political battle lines drawn, prime minister nouri al-maliki has long been afraid that there could be a coup to topple him. this is really the problem in lit call terms. it's -- political terms, it's

not just politics involved, it's tanks, guns and weapons. we are hearing reports that the fortified green zone has even more tanks stationed in key places. now, the prime minister remains the prime minister, and also the commander in chief, and he feels that he can use tanks and the army the way he sees fit, and he has been very concerned that there could be an attempt by fighters to take the green zone. at issue is when the deadline is to come up with a new prime minister. nouri al-maliki has gone to court to get the courts on his side as well. it does not bode well for a swift end to the political crisis. >> indeed. thank you jane for bringing us that update from erbil. israel and hamas enter a new ceasefire, now in the 11th hour.

a 72 hour ceasefire began with egypt negotiating separately with the palestinians and the israelis, andrew simmonds joins us from gaza. he is at rafah. what is happening at the border there. is there a sign of that crossing into egypt, opening up today? >> yes, we understand the border is open. this is the on border in the gaza strip not controlled by israel. it borders egypt. there's a large number, crowds arriving since down, convinced that this ceasefire is sticking. let's look at the numbers here. we have here people who have visas and people who have foreign passports, who are able to cross to egypt. and, of course, with the ceasefire now in place, the roads are safer, and people are getting here in large numbers. also, a large number - more than 1,000 in the past few weeks of

medical cases, certified mead medical case, where they need specialist treatment in egypt have been allowed through, more to come. there has been a number of trucks going through empty, across the - into egypt, which will return loaded with supplies. we have not seen humanitarian supplies coming this way yet, but colossal need for a variety of materials, medical supplies, food supply, and the infrastructure - a massive problem there still with water shortages, catastrophic problems with power not being available for people, and not only that, the sewerage system is in need of repair, and there's vast amounts of garbage in places - a real health issue across gaza. the needs are great. everywhere is banking on this lasting more than three days,

because there's so much to do. >> absolutely, thank you very much for joining us there from rafah. let's talk more about the needs in gaza, with a consultant for christian aid u.k. he joins us live from gaza city. once again, gazans getting a break from the violence. what canape achieved in the -- can be achieved in the next 72 hours? >> actually, there's a ceasefire in place now, but it doesn't mean that people's life has improved. it only means that air strikes and shelling stopped. at the practical level. like hundreds of thousands of people are displaced. people have no access to water and electricity, and the health system is collapsing. crossings are closed, which, like everything, the ability of aid organizations to respond to the humanitarian crisis will - until we have a political process, and like a long-term

political solution, people's lives will worsen, and the situation will be catastrophic as it is at the moment. >> now aid organizations are trying their best to scale up the humanitarian organization, to respond to the needs of people at the moment. there's little to do, because, like, as of today, like 175 facilities have been damaged. 1.4 million population have no or limited access to water. like, the situation is, like, really not really improving in terms of improving people's quality of life. >> as our correspondent at the rafah border crossing was saying, there's plenty of people leaving, but nothing is coming into gaza. way are the urgent needs for reconstruction there? >> yes.

just like at the moment the urgently needed items are medical supplies. there are thousands of wounded people. they didn't have, like, access to emergency health care services. because of the lack of essential drug items and medical disposal. thousands need access to water. the u.n. reported that there is an outbreak of disease, and they need medical supplies and drugs to be able to control like the health situation. people - displaced people need blankets, medicine, persons with disability who lost their houses, lost their assistive devices, medications - basically everything. what not to mention is rafah crossing is usually moved for the movement of people. the only crossing that is used to bring, like, commercial items and humanitarian assistance is

controlled by israel, and it's been closed, like, for the past two days. >> just one more point in, you have lived in gaza all your life, living through the israeli operations. how long does it take for the people to get back on their feet? >> how long - line, does it take people to get, what -. >> to get back on the feet and rebuild. >> i'm not exaggerating if i said forever. people who lost their lives during the matter in 2008 have not been compensated yet. people who lost their homes in 2012 offensive, like haven't been compensated until now. and this escalation and the war on gaza is adding more insult to injury. it has been living under tight blockade. and it doesn't allow building materials into gaza.

hundreds of thousands who lost their homes will be homeless until a political solution is reached. >> thank you very much for taking the time today from gaza city. still to come here on the programme - the battle for donetsk - ukraine's forces pound pro-russian separatists. plus, a larger and brighter satellite. the super moon lights up our skies.

hello again, a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. iraq's prime minister nouri al-maliki is not backing down from his bid for a third term despite pressure to resign. he's threatening a legal challenge against the president, a kurd, for getting in his way. >> the battle against islamic state continues in the north. fisher men in gaza return to the seas as a humanitarian ceasefire continues. the latest respite was brokered in cairo, with egypt negotiating separately with palestinians and israel. turkey's prime minister won the country's first direct presidential election. recep tayyip erdogan wants to increase the powers of the president, and is offering his critics an alive branch. this report from ankara. >> reporter: joy and jubilation on the streets of ankara as

supporters of recep tayyip erdogan celebrated his victory assist turkey's first ever elected president. they were ecstatic as they gathered outside the headquarters to hear the man so many idolized. unlike the fiery statements, recep tayyip erdogan struck a conciliatory tone in his victory speech, insisting that this was a win for democracy, before it was a victory for himself. we'll have a new constitution, and see the differences, we put forward not our differences but the values that we share. >> recep tayyip erdogan's main contender was backed by a diversion range of parties, ekmeleddin ihsanoglu. they were not able to stop recep tayyip erdogan winning a ninth

consecutive election. >> i hope the results will be good for our democracy. i congratulate our prime minister and wish her good luck. >> despite the party not losing an election for 12 years, the president elect fails to convince some turks that he was the right man for the job. >> i voted for ekmeleddin ihsanoglu, primarily because he's the candidate that would unite the country, unlike recep tayyip erdogan, who claims to represent the people who vote for him. many of those who oppose recep tayyip erdogan, accuse him and his government of becoming more authoritarian, an accusation they deny. >> during the time we'll hear about the criticism, the government and recep tayyip erdogan declares one of the largest programs in the republic. and, second, he has been the soul power behind the peace process in turkey, one of the biggest issues that have been

sources of turkish authoritarianism in our geography. >> the election nor the celebrations were issues of foreign policy. recep tayyip erdogan telling his supporters some of whom wave the flags that this was a victory for the free-loving people of the world. >> a new era for recep tayyip erdogan, and turkey has a whole. recep tayyip erdogan indicated that he wishes to be in pour in 2023 when turkey will celebrate 100 years since the founding of the republic, for him to do that and achievement other goals, like modernizing the constitution he'll need to build on the support base, winning over more sections of turkish society. al jazeera is demanding theers of its three journalists who have been in prison in egypt for 226 days. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed were accused of helping the outlawed

muslim brotherhood. in june mohamed fadel fahmy and peter greste were given seven years sentences, baher mohamed got an extra three because he had a spent bullet in his possession, which he picked up at a protest. ukranian government says its forces crowned the city of donetsk and surrounds the rebels surrender. the pro-russian fighters want a ceasefire and warn without one there'll humanitarian catastrophe. we have more. >> reporter: a day after a ceasefire from the separatist, the main telekom area was on fire, hit by a shell, under fire from ukranian forces. >> translation: the ukranian telekom building is on fire. that's what it is. the shell exploded and set it on fire. they are firing mortars. >> reporter: almost half of the city's one million strong

population has left. unable to cope with this, many people are still trying to get out. others are seeking shelter. even the maternity unit at the hospital has been forced to under ground to scope the violence. >> ukraine's military appears to have the upper hand, pushing forward and cutting off their enemy's supply routes, saying they will not stop fighting until the separatists have been driven out of the strong hold in the east. >> if there's an initiative, if they come up and lay down their arms, no one will shoot at them. we've not seen practical steps yet. just a statement. >> reporter: the ukranian forces are trying to build on successes they have meat in the last knew days. even in areas under their controls, they are leaving nothing to chance. >> all this for the people that live in the ease, trying to find

safety where they can. >> now, lib earians have been -- lib earians have had warnings from their president to not attend gatherings, people filled the churches in mon rovia on sunday. we have been to the latest african country to bring in health checks and border controls. the world health organisation classified the ebola epidemic as an international health emergency. 3,000 died. the outbreak having an impact on border economies. we have this report from lagos. >> reporter: as with africa's largest economy fighting an ebola outbreak, businesses feel the pinch. a market in laguo, the nigerian capital serves locals and

neighbouring countries. weak demand driven by consumer fears over the ebola crisis is taking its toll on businesses. the small traders selling vegetables, fish and other food feel the effort of the destruction caused by the ebola outbreak. some of the suppliers from the rural areas have been staying away. >> economies see mixed fortunes for major businesses. >> we lose the airline industry. nigeria has a huge population. the industry that we gained added san itry industries. the business is booming. people are looking for hygiene products. >> liberia, sierra leone and guinea are the worst hit. all three countries are managing internal conflicts. they are forced to revise the economic growth rate as they struggle against the virus.

in the nigeria capital. ebola and the fear it generated is affecting everything from food prices to transport fares. the trade between west african nations is where ebola felt the biggest blow. >> african countries cannot do without trading with each other. most products made in nigeria have been ex-forth other countries. yet despite the drastic slowdown in the economy, and falling revenues, ebola-affected countries have funded the fight against the virus on their own. indications are up to 12 million in government revenue has been lost in liberia. small money by international standards, a huge figure for liberia and its neighbours. >> hundreds of prisoners are on

the run in haiti after a mass gaol break near port awe prince. the pain gaol was i talked by an armed gang, part of a plot to free cliff ard brand. a $25,000 reward is offered to find him. 10 prisoners have been recaptured. now, two dozen peel have had a scare after riding a roller-coaster at a u.s. theme park. it was stuck at the top, and it halted 13 metres above the ground. they were stuck there for four hours. firefighters freed 24 people, and their injuries were reported. >> typhoon halong weakened to a tropical storm. they are issuing floods and landslides. rivers burst their banks.

flooding prompted evacuation orders for a million people across japan. halong killed one and injured a dozen more. >> thailand's military government is making plans to send tens of thousands of refugees back to myanmar. some have been living in camps and are afraid of going home. wayne hay reports from the myanmar border. >> reporter: it's been 30 years since the first people came across the border to this camp in western thailand, coming to escape the oppressive government in myanmar, or burma as it was known then. they were running away from separatist fighting between the army and government soldiers. >> my husband died and my children and i couldn't survive there. we supplied rice, but they didn't pay us. so many died there. >> reporter: since then, the number of people living in the

camps has grown to 120,000. ironically they are living in a country with a military government following the coup over 10 months ago. soldiers fightened security at the camps, following an announcement that they planned to send people back. most of the refugees come from over the mountains. the rebel as fought for ipp dependence or autonomy for 60 years, and signed a ceasefire deal with the myanmar government. sporadic fighting continues. negotiations are under way for a nation-wide ceasefire. talks are held with most of the rebel armies, including in the north, where fighting is intense in recent years. those working with refugees in thailand say it's too early to send them back. >> in the conflict area, there is no demanding that.

the second one is - they are still burma's military in some states, or in the area, in some area. and the third one is still fighting in some areas. there's no ceasefire. >> eth name minority groups continued to say they are treated like second-class citizens by the government. >> translation: everyone in the camp talks about being sent back. i will not go back, i will not be sent back. i have no home. myanmar is chaotic. >> despite the conditions they feel they have a better chance of a good life by staying here. a super moon lighting up the skies across the world on sunday night. this is when the moon is full as it makes its closest approach to earth. the moon appeared 14% bigger and

30% brighter than normal, and reached a point in its orbit closer to the earth, known as parody. the super moon is the second and biggest of a trio of supermoons to appear in the skies over summer. more news and information on the website aljazeera.com. afghanistan's future grows increasingly uncertain, as years of foreign aid and intervention come to an end. in the jostling for money and power, competing forces are fighting for the wealth buried deep in the hindu kush mountains. that wealth is precious rubies, which fetch a handsome sum, especially when smuggled across the border. i'm steve chow. on this edition of 101 east, we look at the lives of afghan ruby miners who are risking it all chasing crystal dreams.