at the top of this hour, we're taking you straight to newport in wales, where we have the secretary general addressing the commission. let's listen in to what he has got to say. >> we call on russia to end its illegal and self declared annexation of crimea, which we do not recognize. we call on russia to pull back its troops from ukraine, to stop the flow of arms fighters and

funds to the separatists. we call on russia to step back from confrontation, and take the path of peace. the ukrainian people has shown its strong commitment to freedom and democracy. ukraine has been an active and reliable partner for nato over many years. with us, in our operations, and in the nato response force, we highly value our partnership. our meeting sends a clear message that nato stands with ukraine. we support ukraine's democratic reforms. and we will be working even closer together to help reform ukraine's defense sector and build a strong modern army. and continue to improve the ability of ukrainian and nato

forces to operate together. so the partnership between nato and ukraine is strong, and we are determined to make it even stronger today and in the future. this concludes the public part of our meeting, and i would like to thank the members of the media who have joined us. and there we were listening to the opening remarks of the nato, ukraine commission meeting being held there live in whales. let's go live to our correspondent james bayes. he was also listening in. james some very strong words there from rasmussen, and he was sitting right to poroshenko, really showing that nato is

standing by ukraine in this conflict. >> absolutely, and this is the idea of this, is to send a strong message to russia, a strong message to moscow, a strong message to president putin. but there is a fine line. you send a message of support for the ukrainian government, but try not to further antagonize president putin, because it is clear that, according to nato, the russian forces are heavily engaged in ukraine. the latest inn tell against shows there are now about 3,000 russian troops inside ukraine's border, hundreds of tanks there. in fact they are almost -- according to this official -- means there are more russian troops fighting in ukraine, than there are separatists, actual ukrainians who would like to separate from the rest of ukraine in that'sern region. >> so what links do you think,

james is nato prepared to go to support ukraine militarily? >> very tough language. we'll see new announcements. we heard there about trying to further improve the relations between the ukrainian military and nato army. there is a long relationship here, ukrainian soldiers have fought and served in kosovo, in bosnia, and in afghanistan alongside their nato counterparts. clearly the one thing they are not doing is fast tracking the idea of nato membership for ukraine, but i expect that that is something that mr. poroshenko, who will be speaking any minute now, he will be again be calling for that. the other thing i don't think you are going to see any time soon is across eastern europe, permanent basis of nato. that's because there is an old

treaty between nato and russia, which says that nato agreed not to do that. i'll told rather than the word permanent basis there will be persistence, both to deter moscow and reassure those members of nato that live on russia's border. >> thanks very much, james we'll be keeping in contact with that conference has it goes on today. thanks very much. well the president of ukraine has said that he is ready to declare a ceasefire. on friday scheduled peace talks are launched in laboring belarus. rebels say they would submit to a truce if the meeting is successful. paul brennan has more. >> reporter: in the last 25 minutes, we have seen -- actually we have heard and seen a sustained barrage of what could be artillery or mortar fire from the north of the city here where i'm standing

in donetsk that way -- close to the airport frankly, a big poll of smoke rose above the billings. we're not sure which way it is going. it sounds almost as though it is outcoming from the airport which is held by a small contingent of ukrainian soldiers. but in mariupol, which is a strategically vital city, al jazeera teams have witnessed a big push by pro-russian -- in fact probably russian tanks, at least ten of them. pushing from a town they already captured a week ago, pushing forward at least 30 kilometers closer to that town of mariupol. the problem in identifying which is russian and which is pro-russian, and tanks which have been taken from the ukrainian military. is of course they fly flag of convenience. they fly the red flag of the russian orthodox army, it does

seem that matters are coming to a head. it's a almost as though with just hours to go before the contact group meets in minsk on friday there is one last territory gaining trying to take place. >> sergei lavrov has accused the u.s. to undermine diplomatic efforts in eastern ukraine. peter sharpe has the later. >> reporter: russia has been accused of supporting, aiding and arming the rebels in eastern ukraine, and sergei lavrov, the russian foreign minister was bitterly angry at this, and complained about the anti-russian rhetoric they had to put up with, and he accused washington of backing what he called the party of war, the ukrainian government, and he urged very strongly, in fact he warned nato, do not extend membership to ukraine. he said that would mean an

immediate end, derail the peace process and possible talks over the ceasefire. >> translator: exactly when approaches have started to emerge towards resolving specific problems between kiev and the rebels, exactly at this time, demands have been heard from kiev about the need to give up the no block status and start the process of joining nato. this is an open attempt to disrupt all attempts at a dialogue. >> reporter: the contact group meet in minsk on friday, and there is a growing sense of optimism that something may come of this. the rebels have announced they have agreed to sign a ceasefire if the ukraine government is also prepared to settle and sign a ceasefire document. the rebels are agreeing to segregate into five separate operational areas that will be

monitored by the osce. lavrov just a few minutes ago was talking about urging all parties to refrain from violence and sign the ceasefire. so this is possibly the best chance we have had to a political settlement to four long months of bloody violence. the other major concern for nato is the rise of the islamic state group. tikrit was captured by i.s. fighters in june. now iraqi forces reportedly trying to retake the home of former leader saadam hussein by attacking by three sides. these pictures were apparently shot in tikrit on tuesday. they claim it's an aftermath of an attack on government soldiers. a truckloaded with explosives was blown up at the base of an iraqi army base. meanwhile the iraqi air force has launched air strikes on i.s.

positions in the city of mosul. john hendry has more. >> reporter: the air strikes are effective in blocking troops from moving from one area to another. they can keep troops contained essentially, which is what those air strikes are trying to do around the area of mosul here in northern iraq, trying to cut the islamic state off from their supply lines in syria. but what air strikes cannot do is fight the kind of urban battle you have in tikrit. we have seen leaflets warning people to leave, that is likely before air strikes and a possible larger ground strike, but you cannot do that strictly with air strikes. and on the car bomb i referenced, it sounds like a truck filled with explosives exploded at the gate of camp spiker, north of tikrit, just

the latest example of -- of a very bloody war going on here. >> meanwhile fighters from the islamic state group in northern iraq have kidnapped at least 50 men. those abductions happened in a city village southwest of kurkurk. the i.s. fighters fought with armed tribesmen in the same village on tuesday. >> al-qaeda leader has announced plans to expand the group's network in the india sub continent. here is more from new delhi. >> reporter: he says he represents a community that wants to live peacefully in a modern multi-cultural india. he tells me that the vision of groups like al-qaeda is not

representative of the beliefs of more than 200 million muslims across the country. >> translator: these groups want to make us very conservative. but they won't be successful in doing this, because indian muslims are a totally different muslim. >> reporter: it's the misrepresentation of previous trouble between hindus and muslims that some community leaders want to stop. >> al-qaeda has been focusing towards india. it's nothing new about that they are -- they have been training people -- in fact the videos claims that. that since two years they have been training, you know, to launches operations on our state. >> reporter: the government is well aware of the attraction of groups like al-qaeda particularly among young indian

muslims. but it's important to understand that it's not just the community's poor that are reacting to such calls to action. the rich and educated are also listening. >> what is best required is engaging with them, and trying to sort of, you know, have a system where we can cut across the [ inaudible ] of radicalism. unfortunately even today although the concern is there, but complete steps haven't been taken. >> reporter: india is the second most populous muslim country in the world, and while the prime minister's government can try to deal with home grown trouble, india's vast borders make it vulnerable to threats from abroad. the government here will be counting on its neighbors to be just as committed to controlling any potential threat to regional security and stability.

still to come here on al jazeera -- >> i'm on the floor of the grand canyon, where the aqua marine waters still run freely. but for how long? ♪

♪ hello again the top stories here on al jazeera. nato's secretary general is calling on russia to pull back its troops and stop supporting rebels in eastern ukraine.

ukrainian president says he is ready to declare a ceasefire on friday if scheduled peace talks are launched in neighboring belarus. rebels say they would also agree to a truce. and al-qaeda leader has announced plans to expand the group's network in the indian sub continent. one of the other big challenges being discussed at the nato summit is the situation in avenue gan stan. nato wants to stand over responsibility for security to afghan forces by the end of this year, but are the afghans ready? jennifer glasse reports. >> reporter: every day in eastern afghanistan, the these -- soldiers hone their shooting skills. they are on constant alert

because this base was attacked by almost 300 taliban fighters. >> translator: the taliban fighter armed with a rocket-propelled grenade was over there. another soldier and i were sleeping in here. they hit us. they tried to attack, but we opened fire. >> reporter: this mountainous terrain makes it difficult for the fighters. >> translator: if we had air cover not even one of the enemy would be alive. because they didn't run away. people called us to tell us the taliban were still around. >> reporter: the taliban are trying to take control of a major road. but this artillery isn't enough. the best the forces can hope for here is to keep the roads open.

they don't have enough surveillance or demining equipment to protect them. the locals say the taliban control 90% of the district. >> translator: the government is only on the paved roads and in cities and towns, the rest of the area is controlled by the taliban. >> reporter: afghan forces face other challenges too. their food budget has been cut in half to about 2 usd a day per soldier, not enough spare parts for their vehicles. and yet morale among the men is high. it is one of the steadiest jobs in afghanistan, and they say they are proud to be serving their country, but they know they need more than patriotism to fight off an aggressive enemy. a police building an and intelligence in afghanistan were targeted with car bombs. most of the victims are police and intelligence officers.

more than 70 others were also wounded. the governor says all 19 taliban fighters were also killed. fast-food workers in the united states are holding mass walkout demanding better wages and health care. police have arrested demonstrators in detroit for what they say are acts of civil disobedience. organizers say employees in 150 cities will be participating. gretchen joins us live now from new york. kristin what are the workers doing to try to rally support for these demands? >> reporter: well, laura, we have protests going on here in midtown manhattan in front of a mcdonalds. if you look behind me, you can see that there are still a few signs back in the area from a few of the hundreds of workers who were here just a few minutes

ago, demanding $15 an hour, and a union from their fast-food employers. some of the boycotters made their way into the intersection making their point. and about 15 were arrested for civil disobesence. while the national restaurant association, which represents a lot of the fast-food restaurant chains here in the united states says that raising the minimum wage that much would cost hours for workers, would force them to raise prices and cut into their profit margin, this complain which has been going on for almost two years now starting here in new york does seem to be picking up steam. the workers got a shout out for u.s. president barack obama on

monday in support of their cause. >> all across the country right now, there's a national movement going on, made up of fast-food workers, organizing to lift wages so they can provide for their families with pride and d dignity. there is no secret that america deserves a raise. give america a raise. >> what is it that is stopping these workers from joining a union? >> reporter: the issue seems to be that most of these fast-food restaurants are owned by individual franchise owners, and the corporations like mcdonald's have been arguing that they don't set the races, the franchise owners do that on a local and individual level. the workers don't want a union to represent them at the store

level, they want a national union. so far mcdonald's and others have refused to sit down at though table with them. but a recent decision by the national labor board here in the united states does find that the corporation is in fact a partner with these franchise owners, and that could help these workers as they push forward to get their demands met. many of these workers making on average $9 an hour, or $19,000 a year, which they say is not enough to take care of their families on. >> kristin thanks very much. there are fears that ebola may be spreading in nigeria. nearly 400 people have been monitored after coming into contact with a doctor before he himself died of the disease. at least $600 million is needed

to fight the ebola outbreak. experts are now meeting in geneva to discuss ways to treat the disease. >> translator: it's now very important to quickly find something to fight ebola, because it's a great worry for our population, and has very important socioeconomic consequences which are beginning to be felt. and even in there aren't enough drugs and vaccines to fight this disease, researchers must work quickly to face up to this epidemic, because after this epidemic, others could follow. >> the world health organization has been discussing experimental vaccines they hope could help. we take a look at one vaccine that could go into production soon. >> reporter: tucked away in the outskirts of naples is this

small and unassuming land. and yet this is where one of the most promising vaccines against ebola is being developed. this doctor and his team started developing the vaccine five years ago. they didn't know it would be ready just in time for the worst ebola epidemic in history. >> initially we thought of developing sour technology for diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. >> reporter: the vaccine acts as a carrier of non-genetic material from a strain of ebola that has skilled more than 1500 people in west africa so far. that way the new system learns how to protect itself from the virus. >> reporter: the vaccine has proved effective on lab animals. human testing in the u.s. was

approved in a record two days. 20 american volunteers at this center were given the vaccine this week, but time is running out. 10,000 doses are already being produced by pharmaceutical giant galaxosmithkline, ready to be dispatched the world health organization if and when the vaccine is deemed safe. the first recipients will be front line health workers. already at least 120 of them have died while treating patients. >> it's really key to have a treatment as soon as possible. we don't think it will serve this outbreak now. it is very important for the future, but the solution right now is really to have a lot more treatment and isolation centers, labs, to have more. >> reporter: two other vaccines will undergo human clinical

trials by early next year. if all goes well it will work to control the world's worth outbreak. al jazeera is demanding the release of three journalists who have been detained in egypt for 250 days. they received long sentences after a trial seen by many observers to be politically motivated. their convictions are being appealed. the grand canyon in the united states is one of the wonders of the world. and the first in the series on the water politics of the canyon, we report from its older community. >> reporter: there is no roads here. the tribe was shunted into a remote canyon, when the rest of their home, the grand canyon, was declared u.s. property. their name means the people of

the green blue water, and the water down here in the creek stills runs aqua marine. but they know threats remain on the plateau above. >> the white man divides every little thing into one cell. we don't do that. everything to us is connected, gives us life. >> reporter: from the silver mush of the 19th century to the expansion of the railroad, and the development of tourism, they have watched their world erode little by little. they battled in the courts and congress to reclaim their lands and to protect their most sacred resource, water. >> every spring that we have here, this little drip created the area. this water -- we are this water. the grand canyons original inhabitants fought the national park, but now the tribe and park

service have joined to fight development at the gates. the developers haven't explained how a projected increase in water demand will be met. >> currently with pumping of water that the town is using right now, it's decreased. the water source at this spring, specifically by 30% already and now they want to expand. >> reporter: if they expand, park officials fear all species that call the grand canyon home will suffer. >> it's all one resource to the tribes and to us. it's a system in that we then have different purposes within that system, but we'll be affected the same.

>> reporter: but they face a consortium that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over decades to retain the rights to the water supply. and a reminder that you can always keep up to date for all of the news on our website. that's at aljazeera.com. >> hi, i'm lisa fletcher and you are in the stream. are the high school graduates enlists to escape the status quo. hear what gets thousands to join active duty every year. >> separate and unequal education, why the department of education is investigating. what doing what you love might not be the best choice