the u.s. steps up its air strikes against islamic state fighters. it's accused of carrying out more widespread killing. hello, you're watching al jazeera live from doha. i'm jane dutton. also coming up, police fire tear gas in ferguson, missouri, despite a curfew imposed after days of protest. foreign workers leave libya as attempts are launched to stop the violence. thousands of opposition forces remain on the streets of pakistan's capital. will they get what they want?

the united states has been carrying out air strikes in iraq. u.s. central command says it's been targetting islamic state group fighters around the northern city of erbil, and iraq's largest dam near mosul. nine attacks have been carried out by fighter jets and drones. they damaged and destroyed around one dozen armed groups. people in the yazidi say the u.s. and kurdish forces didn't stop them being attacked by the islamic state group in the village of korchel. 80 are said to have been killed there. >> translation: they separated men and women from the men. they took the women and children in a hall. they took gold, id and property.

they took the men group by group out in cars and killed them. they took the women in cars towards sinjar. i don't know where they took them. at least five have been wounded in fallujah after shelling by the army. res dep shall neighbour -- residential neighbourhoods suffered the most damaged. they are targetting fighters from the islamic state. wet talk about what is being done it retake the dam. i here there has been developments in the last couple of minutes, the mosul dam. >> kurdish security officials say their forces managed to push through towards the mosul dam after the u.s. air strikes, and they took back one town. it's the up to of telscope, been 15km east of the dam.

it's significant. it's part of the damns seized from the groups, with launches from fighter jets and drones. they managed to push back some of the islamic state fighters so that the kurdish forces on the ground can push through. the dam is under control of the islamic state group fighters. >> tell us about the u.s. air strikes. they've been conducted in order to help minorities. (technical difficulties) . >> there are severe limits to the strikes as we have seen, in fallujah and here in the fight in the north of iraq. to target the islamic state group fighters' weapons and the armoured vehicles seized from the iraqi army. american weaponry and heavy

arms. whilst they take out the major targets, they are not able to do things like get rid of the fighters around the facility. most importantly for the people here, they are not able to do yet what the u.s. said it aimed to do in launching the air strikes, which is to help prevent genocide. the yazidi are a tiny minority, and said essentially that all kurdish force, the american air strikes, everyone in the villages, and that is not the only village where there has been massacres na are just not -- that are just - that are essentially immune to air strikes, indicating that there's a wider, complicated and difficult effort needed here. >> thank you jane arraf. we are seeing brutality as far as the islamic state fighters are concerned. they are accused of killing 700 in syria the syrian observatory for human rights said the victims were from the sunni

muslim tribe. it's reported some of the victims were beheaded. >> protests condition in the u.s. town of ferguson, despite a curfew. it was hoped that it would calm anger. it took place after policeman killed an unarmed teenager. >> a curfew was enacted to allow us to provide safety for the citizens of ferguson, and maintained by the people. that curfew will start today. it will run from 12 midnight, when the curfew will start. we will enforce that curfew in an effort... >> we speak to ashar quraishi, who joins us on the line from ferguson. i believe you to be close to the front line. can you tell us what you saw?

>> yes. there was a large number of people lining the streets of ferguson. police came out in stronger forces in the last few days. (technical difficulties) again

the officers will allow this to simmer down. we have seen the way things have been handled. the police discontinued and now they are trying to see the curfew. the kerrify will go out. for the moment, thinks have calmed. >> thank you.

fighting between rival groups and the capital is brokering a ceasefire. [ gunfire ] >> reporter:. >> reporter: rival groups fight. the men want to be tape to the capital. former rebels stepped into the gap. they represent misrata and are loyal to different groups. >> translation: this is the balle. this is what is left. >> violence has been getting worse in libya in recent months, putting the lives of foreigners in danger. filipinos are among those who returned home after being evacuated. many embassies and international organizations closed. civil society initiatives are springing up to encourage peaceful solutions. the gathering in benghazi

brought key leaders and elders together, creating a council that will push for an end to the fighting. >> translation: we condemn fighting and the use of arms, and express the importance of power and reject oppression and military coups much libya's parliament requested assistance from the united nations. a new special envoy is due to arrive next week to help negotiate a ceasefire between the rebel groups. >> but on friday thousands of people protested against the decision, what they see as international intervention. >> they think the fighters should be given a chons to sit and talk on hair own. within hours, violence returned to the capital once again. over 10,000 israelis have taken to the streets of tel aviv demanding the governmentened its assault on gaza, the

demonstrators called for a diplomatic solution. protesters demanded that israelened its occupation of the gaza strip. israel and palestinian groups are observing a ceasefire due to finish on monday. egypt's role in negotiating a truce has been supported. they were addressing the delegation travelling to cairo for the indirect talks. >> translation: i want to confirm they were adhering to the egyptian initiatives. egypt is not a mediator, it's a party. there has been anti-government protests in cairo. demonstrators blocked the road in ramsay. it follows the first anniversary of the death of hundreds of muslim brotherhood by security forces. they protest what they say is the government's failure to carry out an investigation.

al jazeera is depending the release of three journalists imprisoned in egypt for 232 days peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed were falsely accused of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. in june mohamed fadel fahmy and peter greste from given 7-year sentence, baher mohamed got an extra three because he had a spent bullet in his possession, which he'd picked up at a protest. pakistani opposition politician imran khan called on followers to show their disprengs as he tries -- strength as he tries to force the government to resign. they are demanding the resignation of sharif over corruption charges. >> many of the protesters on the streets of pakistan's capital. islamabad travelled for hundreds

of kilometres to get here. they are led by an anti-government cleric. he tells the vowed that sharif should resign and demonstrates that parliament be dissolved and replaced by a government of professionals that could oversee judicial reforms, calling the system flawed. he insists the protest is peaceful. quadri's supporters say he's the rite man to support their rights and fight corruption much. >> translation: we accompany him because he's one of the honest and sincere leaders, and the only hope for basic rites.

>> a short distance away imran khan tries to energize his crowd with tough talk and demands for the prime minister's resignation. he has not been able to bring the large crowd he has supporters. they are not dampened, even by heavy rain. >> translation: our intention of ga gathering is to get rid of the cruel rulers. we are here for as long as imran khan stays here. >> we'll talk to kamal more about what is going on. what will happen today, and is it significant that possibly there are not as many supporters on the streets as both sides expected. . >> that is true, they have not been able to muster the shore they wanted in islamabad. they made a strad eegeic move by

coming to the city, because it's been in a state of lockdown. everything is closed, the markets, schools, and it is likely the schools will be closed for another couple of days. they have achieved a directive. they knew he would get attention. definitely not the numbers. tahir ul-qadri issued app ultimatum, about 12 hours ago, saying the government has 48 hours to act, and wanted the arrest of the prime minister as well as the chief minister of the punjab for the killing of supporters. also importantly, imran said the final march is sunday, today, and if necessary his supporters would get into the red zone. that is the diplomatic enclave, the parliament, the senate, an important area. and what the government is saying is the red zone is the

red line. in the evening the prime minister will meet his cabinet members, the defence minister, the interior minister, to talk out a program on how to deal with this crisis. >> i was going to ask you more about where this is leaving nawaz sharif, and if he's made any overtures to put an end to or look into the allegations. he recommended - the government has written to the countries, the supreme court, to formulate a panel of judges, to probe into allegations of corruption, but imran khan on the other hand says the judiciary it highly politicized and doesn't see justice there. the other important thing is prime minister nawaz sharif overreacted, bringing in tens of thousands of security forces, personnel, from the punjab, cordoned off large sections of the city.

perhaps an overreaction from the government as well. >> thank you for that, kamal. still ahead on al jazeera - can shale oil be the answer to jordan's energy woes. international efforts are set to take michael jordjord jordan on energy. 100 years after the opening of the panama canal, we assess what is happening in nicaragua.

the top stories op al jazeera. kurdish peshmerga forces in iraq

are reported to have taken a town east of mosul dam from islamic state group fighters. the u.s. has been carrying out air strikes at the town and the northern city of erbil. protests continue in ferguson. despite a curfew violent demonstrations have taken place a policeman killed an unarmed black teenager. protestors demand nawaz sharif step down. they are accusing him of fraud. cleric tahir ul-qadri and cricketer turned politician imran khan are leading the protests. jordan is relying on vast shale oil reserves to meet part of its energy needs. the cost of extraction has been an impediment on capitalizing on the resource. several companies are trying to make the process feasible.

we have this report. >> reporter: it's a resource that is globally abundant, but not appropriately utilized yet. oil shale is an organic rock that when heated, cooled and distilled yields oil in a process. in petroleum-poor jordan oil shale reserves are available in 28 locations. among the richest is a government in the southern province. the reserves were discovered around a century ago. no extraction took place. >> the main reason for not exploiting oil shale reserves in jordan and else were is the price of oil. over the years the price of oil dropped to levels with investing in oil shale is not feasible. nowadays at $100 per barrel. the conditions are ripe for

investing in oil shale. >> several international companies signed multi billion contracts to start capitalizing on jordan's oil shale. production could start as early as 2017. >> jordan's $70 billion tonnes of reserves are the fourth largest in the world. the country has been importing 96% of its energy needs at the cost of over one-fifth of its g.d.p. for decades. jordan used to rely on a supply of affordable natural gas for a decade before the egyptian resolution. of since the pipe line has been sabotaged. this put the government in a desperate situation to expedite oil shale agreements. each tonne of rock is estimated to contain 120 litres of oil. this is why interest by potential foreign investors is growing much. >> the jordan shale is famous

among the explorers. there's a lot of published information documenting the oil shale. only the is, china and russia has higher amounts. if extracted it could be larger than those of the u.s., and this country could produce 250,000 barrels of oil a day. the foreign ministers of ukraine, russia, france and germany are meeting in germie to discuss separatist fighting. tensions between moss key and kiev have increased after reports that ukranian forces destroyed part of a russian convoy. a rebel leader says tanks and reinforcement, including 1,000 fighters are training in russia. the prime minister of the

self-declared donetsk people's republic said the rebels would launch an attack against ukraine's army. >> government forces pushed the separatists out of the east surrounding donetsk and luhansk. kiev says it controls the road linking the two cities. this amateur video shows burning buildings and the damaged luhansk international airport. a group of victims from columbia's 50-year conflict has given testimony as part of peace stalks between the columbian government and f.a.r.c. rebels. >> reporter: sat at the statement table, victims of all sides of the conflict. this woman losing five members of her family in an attack by the rebel forces.

>> translation: our pain, feelings, tears and hopes as victims are one. >> this man's mother and two brothers were killed by f.a.r.c. rebels in 2000. >> translation: we'll do everything to honour the loved ones we have lost, to rebuild peace and rechion silliation. >> 12 people from all sides of the political spectrum who lost loved ones to the forces, the f.a.r.c. rebels and paramilitary groups. >> they are giving their testimonies to 50 years of violence, leaving tens of thousands dead, hundreds of thousands displaced. all sides are waiting nervously for peace. >> translation: the best tribute we can give the victims is an end to the violence. at the same time we are willing to reach agreement in compensation for the victims, we are willing to reach agreement

to ensure no repeat of the violence and agree on guaranteeing justice for the families, who are also victims. >> reporter: the newly elected president of columbia, is juan manuel santos, made the peace talks a plank of his election campaign. >> translation: my campaign motive has been with peace we do more, we have more jobs, housing for the poor. that's the way to build peace, not only by silencing the guns. >> reporter: two years of talk reached tentative agreement on land reform, and sparked participation in the political process, and ending involvement in the drug trafficking. like all the elements in the discussions, the issue of the victims is fraught with difficulties, riddled with suspicion and resentment. while all sides are at the table, there's hope here and in columbia of a negotiated settlement for the long-running and bitter dispute.

>> now, the running mate of a brazilian presidential candidate who died in a plane crash will stand in his mate. former environment minister marina silva has been chosen to replace eduardo campos on the socialist party ticket. he was killed when his plane crashed in the city of santos. his body has been flown to his home city for his funeral on sunday. >> nicaragua is planning to build a canal said to rival that of panama. it's hoped the chinese-backed government will boost the economy. critics warn of danger. >> reporter: with eyes on the future, these young nicaraguans are learning mandarin chinese. the classes are free, a government initiative ahead of the scrugz of a chinese -- construction of a chinese-backed canal. for the university students and

graduates, there are high expectations. >> translation: when we heard the news of the canal, the first thing the young people thought was i'm going to find a job. now we are preparing for work, for something that is to be big. >> at around 280km, it will be three times longer. it includes deep-water ports, trade zones and an international airport at the cost of $50 billion, the businessman behind the canal called it the biggest building project in the history of humanity. the government says the canal will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and transport the country. >> nicaragua's the poorest nation in america with the lowest per capita income. there has been effort to change this. for this development to happen, we need projects creating economic growth. >> reporter: some locals worry

about the impact of dredging a channel up to 27 metres deep through the largest lake, an important source of fresh water. dozens of ferries carry tourists across the port. many are afraid if the canal is built, the income could disappear. environmentalists warn that the canal's construction could have a devastating impact on the lake, rivers, rainforest and coastal areas. >> translation: this project puts the country's environment and natural resources at risk for the next 100 years. the concession has been approved in a record time of 15 working days. there hasn't been consultation and there's been a lack of transparency. >> construction is due to start in december, some question whether the canal will be built. >> with nearly half the population living under the poverty line, many here are

happy to dream. read more about that and other story by logging on to the website, updated 24 hours a day. the address aljazeera.com. >> nairobi is my city, well perhaps not exactly. i was born here an w