>> hello, and welcome to this news hour, doha with the top stories, war on their doorstep. leaders in the biggest military come together for a crucial meeting. >> this is billed as nato's most important meeting since the end of the cold war, and i'll have the latest. >> plus, al qaeda in india, the group's leaders say that it's expanding into asia.

and we look at the drugs of the future that could offer hope. the leaders of nato have come together for what they describe as it's most crucial meeting since the end of the cold war. with 28 nations, nato is the world's powerful military alliance, and there's plenty to discuss, but it's the crisis in eastern ukraine that's the most pressing. russia is accused of waging a separatist war. we'll get to our correspondent, and russia and the summit in the uk. but first, jonah with the meeting in south wales. >> on a gloomy day in south wales, world leaders gathered in the face of multiple crises, from afghanistan to libya and

the middle east and russia's activities in ukraine. nato hasn't facing the this level of world disorder in decades. >> our nato summit here in wales will be one of the most important summits in the history of our lives. a crucial summit at a crucial time. we are faced with a dramatically changed security environment. >> u.s. president, barack obama, spent the morning with british prime minister, david cameron. both will be working hard on the sidelines to build a coalition and estrange. >> russian troops are illegally in ukraine. the extremist threat has risen in a new form in iraq and syria, these are just two of the threats that we face. nato is the anchor of our security. and over the next two days, we must reinvigorate and refocus this alliance to foste face new

threats around the world. >> outside, the anti-war protesters gathered, the message here that war begets war, and the only way out of conflict is dialogue. >> i think that people believe that nato should have solved it at the end of the cold war, and a lot of people in nato seem to be delighted with what's happening between russia and ukraine, and the chance to build up the cold war again. >> how do you speak about it. >> nothing in kosevo. if there's a will, there's a way. >> the nato summit was originally supposed to be about the end of one war in afghanistan, where nato will bring combat operations to an end this year, but it could be a lot more for anti-warp protesters like these.

the summit is also about nato itself, thrust back into the limelight, a cold war alliance that seemed to be losing it's relevance, and it now must prove it's worth. new port, wales. >> joining paul in ukraine and peter in moscow, russia, but first, back to new port where that nato summit is taking place, and there's plenty on the agenda there, dave. but ukraine is really dominating this meeting, isn't it? >> it's certainly dominating much of the meeting, and it's dominating the next couple of hours, because though they have had one preliminary meeting with some of the leaders and president poroshenko, the big meeting with ukraine starts in the next 45 minutes, and that's the meeting known as the nato-ukrainian commission.

that's a body that has been in place for a long time because nato and ukraine have had a relationship for a long time. they talked about possible ukrainian membership for a long time. and the nato troops have fought alongside of ukrainian troops. it's not clear what's going to come out of this meeting, but we know from nato, that they are going to set up a new rapid reaction force, and we have had one of those, but this will be a very rapid reaction force, known as the spearhead force, which could be formed in about two days, and also at the end of the meeting, we know there's a declaration from nato for ukraine, and i've seen a draft of that declaration, and i'm not saying that it's going to be the declaration. some of the nato leaders might want to change some of the language. it says we commend the people of ukraine for their commitment to freedom and democracy, and

their independence to decide their own future and foreign policy course, free from outside interference. and one of the things i'm hearing, laura, speaking to one western official, they tell me that there are 3,000 russian troops now inside of ukraine. the number keeps on rising. hundreds of tanks there as well. and they believe that puts the number of russian troop of ukra, actually more than the separatists fighting alongside. >> james, we'll be following the events there closely, and thank you for the update. in donetsk in eastern ukraine, we have the two sides, kiev, and moscow talking about this ceasefire proposal. and with that on the table, are we starting to see things calm down there? >> . >> far from it, and in fact the

exact opposite. in the last 25 minutes, we have heard and seen a sustained barrage of what could be artillery and what could be mortar fire from the north of the city here where i'm standing in donetsk. close to the airport, frankly, a pal of smoke rose above the buildings, just over the tree that's going that way, and i'm not sure which way it's going, but it sounded like it was coming from the airport, by a small contingent of ukrainian soldiers, but down in the south, a strategically vital city, the aljazeera teams have witnessed a big push by pro russian, and probably russian tanks, at least ten of them pushing from a town that they already captured a week ago, pushing forward, at least 30 kilometers closer to the town. and the problem is identifying which is russian, and which is pro russian, and the tanks that

have just been taken from the ukrainian military. and they fly the flag of convenience, the flag of donetsk republic, or the army down in this part of the world. it does seem that matters are coming to a head and it seems with hours to group before the contact group meets in minsk on friday, there's last territory gaining trying to take place. >> paul, thank you very much. that's the situation in eastern ukraine, but let's go over to moscow, and peter sharp, peter, this nato summit, with a strong reaction from moscow. and what are they saying about ukraine? >> well, basically, russia has come under condemnation from all sides at this nato summit, as we knew today. and all of the countries

criticizing it. it's involvement in the support, and the help given to the rebel forces, and sergei lavrov, russia's foreign minister, who has not stopped talking today, he condemned thisanti russian rhetoric, and he accused washington of supporting the party of war. and that's how he described the ukraine government. and he urged and warned nato, do not offer ukraine membership of the alliance. it would immediately derail the peace process, and $28 mean an end to the possible talks on the ceasefire. this is what he had to say. [ speaking russian ] >> interpreter: exactly when the approach is starting to emerge to resolve problems between the rebels, exactly at this time, the demands from kiev to start the process of

joining nato. this is an open attempt to disrupt all of the efforts to launch a dialogue. >> we mentioned the meeting on friday in minsk on the two sides, and what do you think is going to come out of that. >> i think the growing sense of optimism, that something will come out of that. we have had the first signs from the rebels basically, that they have been very quiet on all of this. up until now, and now they're actually speaking out. and saying look, we feel that we are prepared to sign a ceasefire document that would begin at 11:00 gmt. and we are prepared for donetsk to be divided into five separate regions, and that sounds very very encouraging, and they will all be working off of the documents prepared by president putin on thursday.

and there's i think a feeling april both sides, from all sides really that this could really be the first positive chance for an end to the fighting that we have seen in the last four months. and just a few moments ago, lavrov urged all sides in this to refrain from further violates and sign the papers tomorrow. >> thank you, peter. and away from ukraine, the next major concern for nato is the rise of the islamic state in syria and iraq. now, tikrit was captured by islamic state fighters in june, and now iraqi forces are trying to retake the former hometown of saddam hussein. these pictures were shot in tikrit on thursday, with the aftermath of the attack on government soldiers wants.

meanwhile, fighters in northern iraq have captured at least 50 men in a village, 65 kilometers southwest of kirkuk, and fighters also stole 15 vehicles, in the same village on tuesday. more now from erbil. >> they are stopping them from moving from one area to another. and they can keep them obtained, in mosul, tir ac, trying to cut them off. but what the airstrikes cannot do is fight the urban battle that you have seen in tikrit. we have seen leaflets literally dropped in mosul, warning them to leave, and that's before

airstrikes with an air ground operation in mows ill, and you can't do that with just airstrikes. to give you the latest on the car bomb, a truck filled with explosives, north of tikrit. the latest example of a very bloody war going on here. >> and from syria to iraq, the biggest challenge t. in the largest ever mission. nato wants to hand over responsibility to the security forces by the end of this year, but are the afghans ready? >> every day, they hone their skills, on high alert. and the forces say they were almost overrun by 300 taliban

fighters, trying to capture the 16 soldiers manning it. >> the rocket-propelled again aid was over this, and another soldier and i were sleeping, and they hit us and they tried to attack, but we opened fire. >> this is the valley, when the mountainous terrain works against the afghan forces and for the taliban fighters. it's easier to see when particular planes overhead. >> they didn't run away, and they didn't go far. people called us with their phones to tell us that the taliban were still around. >> the local commander learns that the taliban are trying to take control of the major road. if 24 artillery isn't enough to hold back a resurgent taliban. the best that the forces can hope for here is to keep the roads open. they don't have enough for the

patrols, so they rely on the local checkpoints. the locals say that it's not working, the taliban control 90% of the district. >> the government owns all of the roads in towns. and the rest are controlled by the taliban. >> the food budget has been cut in half, to 2 u.s. dollars a day per soldier, not enough spare parts for their vehicles, and most cars are filled with bullet holes. yet the morale among the men is high. it's one the steadiest jobs in afghanistan. and they are proud to be serving their country, but they need more than painttism to fight off an increasingly aggressive enemy. >> people have been killed in a taliban attack in central afghanistan. targeted with car bombs. most of the victims are police

and intelligence officers. and more than 60 were also wounded. 19 taliban fighters were also killed. still ahead on this program, the ebola outbreak in nigeria may be spreading. the world health organization says it needs $600 million to fight the disease. and a report from mileageer, where refugees are fighting. the u.s. open. who booked their place in the semifinals. >> announcing plans to expand the groups that work into india and south asia. the statement was made as the influence of the islamic state continues to grow in the middle east. looking at the contest between

is and al qaeda. >> since 2013, the islamic state has enjoyed a dizzying ride to power. winning huge territory and thousands of new recruits, and leaving al qaeda to stand in the shadow of their success. so in june, when the is group declared itself a state all eyes were on al qaeda, and al zawahiri to see how he would react. and he remained silent until now. his 55 minute video said that he put al qaeda back into the contest, rejecting the islamic state's sears of supremacy. >> especially the indian continent, the founding of a new brand. this is to raise the flag of jihad and return to islamic rule in the continent. >> al qaeda's aging leadership

has struggled to compete as the islamic state has gained momentum. in 2013, the group was known as isil, the islamic state group in iraq. and they even accused them of going into syria. with the acquisition of military assets, and territory in iraq and syria, it has made it one of the wealthiest group of its kind. and public executions to generate widespread fear. that success and display of power, seemingly with impunity, have been tied to thousands of new recruits in a way that al qaeda's leadership has not. >> i think feeling the heat, al qaeda, losing credibility and other organizations, losing credibility, and recrutes, and this is an attempt to revival

kid by creating a new territory. >> the declaration in june included a demand that the muslims swear allegiance to the isil leader, but in a statement, he renewed a long-standing vow of loyalty to the taliban leader, who has grown for years for safe haven for al qaeda. >> al qaeda is around the corner, and i think its more dangerous than ever, because now they need to organize some sort of activity to prove that the flame is not taken away from them, and they're a legitimate organization. >> zawahiri is fighting bax, with the islamic state's challenge to al qaeda.

>> with the australia-india institute, he says that al qaeda will find it difficult to radicalize indian muslims. >> indians have had faith based violence for some time. and there of been small incidents in the past what i would say significant independent. but the thing is that the indian muslims have not been radicalized as have the muslims in pakistan or the arab world. the indian muslims are in the category of generous, and that's why you never found a muslim in guantanemo bay in 2001 when the united states army made war in afghanistan. and so i would say that radicalizing the muslims, they have not been successful, and there are after all 175 million

muslims. in comparison to that, thank you see very few traces of radicalism. >> the central bank has cut interest rates to a new low. the president said the bank sees more weakness in the country's currency. it could hurt business and consumer confidence. more from berlin. >> the rate drop means that money for banks in europe is cheaper than ever, and the idea is they will more readily lend that money onwards to the small and medium sized enterprises that can create jobs in the stricken european economy. and another measure that the european central bank took was to penalize the central bank. it raised the negative interest rate it charges from .1 to .2%.

and that means if you move your money to the european central bank, the other reason to put the money out into the real economy, and a final measure, a significant one was the announcement that it will begin buying in october, the securities like credit card debts, mortgages, the bands that companies put out, non-financial companies, and that's one way for the european central bank to lighten the balance sheets of european central banks so they have more money to lend to the economy in hopes of getting it going again. >> three journalists who have been detained in egypt for 250 days, they have received long sentences after a trial that many say was parallelly motivated. their convictions are being appealed. in a conversation with the egyptian president. >> .

>> aljazeera's property was detained and he was on hunger strike in prison and calling for the release of his three colleagues. >> 450 days ago, they were taken away, and it has been over three weeks for them in jail. and they have to be let go. egypt, the world is washing. journalism is not a crime. >> the campaign to get aljazeera's journalists freed. can you join the talk on bitter, and it find out more by going to the special page on our website. that's aljazeera.com. fears that ebola may be spreading in nigeria. 400 people have been monitored after contact by the doctor

before he died of the disease. and he warned that $600 million a year will be needed to fight the ebola outbreak across west africa. 1,900 people have died. and they discussed ways of treating the disease. >> it's now very important to quickly find something to fight ebola, because there's a great worry for our population, and it has very important socioeconomic consequences that begin to be felt. the most important thing today, even if there are not enough drugs and vaccines to fight this disease, researchers must quickly face up to t. >> so what are the most promising drugs? well, the drug, zmapp, produces antibodies to keep the disease from producing.

it comes from specially pronounced tobacco plants. and it's a difficult process. and ebola kills the virus infected cells, it has been tested on monkeys and human trials this year. but this has been put on hold. it's being worked on by big drug companies. glaxosmithkline plans to conduct its tests this week. and johnson and johnson this year. discussing experimental therapies, they hope that they can help the outbreak of ebola in west africa. looking at one vaccine that could go into production soon in the italian city of naples. >> tucked away in the outskirts of naples is this lab. and yet this is one of the most promising vaccines against

ebola is being developed. started developing the vaccine five years ago. they didn't know that it would be ready just in time for the worst ebola epidemic in history. >> usually, we start developing our technology for vaccines like hiv and malaria and tuberculosis. but at the same time, ebola could be an important target for a vaccine. >> wanted vaccine acts as a carrier of benign genetic material from the strain of ebola that has killed 1500 people in west africa so far. that way, the immune system learns how to protect itself from the virus. the vaccine has proved effective on large animals. human testing in the u.s. was approved today, 20 american volunteers in the center in maryland were given the vaccine

this week. but time is running out. 10,000 doabses are already being produced by pharmaceutical giant, glaxosmithkline. ready to be dispatched to the world health organization if and when the vaccine is deemed safe. the first recipient will be front line health workers. already, at least 120 of them have died treating patients. >> we have to have a treatment as soon as possible. but we don't think that we'll be able to stop this outbreak now. it's very important for the future, but it will not be the solution right now. it's important to have a lot more treatment in isolation centers. >> two other vaccines will undergo human clinical trials by early next year. if all goes well, they will join the battle to contain the

world's worst ebola outbreak. aljazeera, naples. >> still ahead here on the program, we'll have more on the nato summit in wales, especially in the situation in ukraine. >> a rough collapses at a world event in vietnam.

>> while responding to one crisis russia's threats to ukraine, president obama talked about another, the growing power of the so-called islamic state. he said he'll degrade and destroy the islamic army, but how? it's the inside story.