♪ welcome to the news hour live from doha, these are our top stories here. no ceasefire yet, fighting continues in eastern ukraine. nato says it is time to ramp up its forces. >> today we agreed to create what i would call a spear head within our response force. a very high readiness force able to deploy at very short notice. >> also hundreds of thousands of indians jailed without trial now have hopes of being released

thanks to the supreme court. kurdish and iraqi forces push forward in tikrit. i'm phil lavelle at tvenice film festival where a wedding is taking place. in a moment we'll be looking at that major announcement by nato. high on its priority list is of course ukraine. there are peace talks in the belarus capitol minsk. a ceasefire was supposed to have been implemented now, but there is still fighting going on in mariupol. and the advance from russia into that country, appears still to be going on. harry there is talk of this

possible ceasefire deal, but it seems the fighting is still going on there in mariupol. >> it is, yeah, if you saw me looking around, that's because we just heard system of the closest artillery shelling that we have heard all day here. you can see overmy left shoulder, there is a pretty large column of heavy artillery, two howitzers that have just arrived. the ukrainian forces say they have been up for the last 48 hours, they have been firing, and they have encircled the town. we have seen some of the russian artillery, or rather i should see some of the separatists forces artillery, but it looks extremely russian. there have been very serious engagements all around this town. out there we have heard small

arms fire from not too far away. we're just being told something by one of these soldiers here. he seems to be happy for us to stay put. but there is information coming off from minsk, about the potential ceasefire. the dpr had just tweeted a few minutes ago that they had agreed to a ceasefire in a couple of hour's time. no confirmation of that yet from the ukrainian side, but for now things are very much live around the city of mariupol. >> there are bits and pieces of information coming out of minsk, how hopeful are people where you are, that some kind of deal will be reached in the fighting? >> reporter: well it very much depends who you speak to. certainly there are a lot of people -- we should go? we'll being told we should go.

so we're going to get in the van and get out of here. >> all right. harry fawcett stay safe. thank you for that. some residents in donetsk are skeptical. >> translator: i don't believe in a truce. they will not reach any agreement in any case. the truth is, the only thing i can say is that even the word truce does not calm us down, because this is not the first time and it ended with nothing. every day there is shooting, there is damage, every day people die. >> translator: the agreement should be made because of the civilians. if the ukrainian army belongs to the people, and they ask our opinion, then let poroshenko come here and see what he has made. why do we need this war? no one even understands, not the separatists or the ukrainian army. who are they fighting? brother fighting brother, father fights son, son fights father.

for what? >> ukraine still featuring high on the nato agenda, but they are also looking at the rise of the islamic state group which has taken large parts of iraq. the crisis in syria is also on their minds, and we're learning new details about the rapid action force named at deterring russian aggression. let's talk to james bayes in newport. this has been a packed agenda for nato. so what has come out of the summit so far? >> well, there is still discussions -- they are still talking about some elements, but i think the main thing as you say is the idea of this force, this spear head force that can respond very, very quickly. they'll be on a notice of just 48 hours. what we're told is between 4 to

5,000 troops that will be there. but they will need many more than that, because if you are on a 48-hour notice period, you obviously can't keep that readiness up for very long, so i think now they are try to get more commitments of troops for this force. they are also talking about constant and persistent rotations of troops in eastern europe. they are not going to have any permanent basis there, but they say there will be permanent reception areas to look after these troops that will go around the east to reassure nato allies that live in the east very close to russia. we have details of the new spearhead force early on. let's listen to what some of nato's leaders said. >> today we agreed to create what i could call a spearhead within our response force, a

very high readiness force able to deploy at very short notice. this spearhead will include several thousand land troops ready to deploy within a few days with air, sea, and special forces support. to facilitate reinforcement, we will also establish an appropriate command and control presence in the east of allied territory. >> the other big topic at the nato summit is the rise of the islamic state group. david cameron says only unified response will defeat the group. >> all of the pressure needs to be applied, and yes, of course there is a role that countries like britain and america and others can play, we are arming the kurds, we're helping the

iraqi government, we're supplying humanitarian aid. the americans have been take part in air strikes which we support. all of those things need to go together. >> james stay with us for a minute. we're going to cross over to bagdad and talk to jane. jane, nato says it is willing to help iraq in its fight against i.s. if they are asked. how is that assurance likely to go down in bagdad? >> well, saying no is not a luxury this new iraq can afford given the fact that a third of the country is under control of the islamic state group. they are still trying to come up with a cabinet in the next few days, but certainly they have plead clear that they need help. as long as it's not soldiers on the ground, a heavy troop presence or a presence that most iraqis will see, they welcome

the training, the equipment, they welcome pretty much all of the help they can get right now. >> jane and what about kurdish forces, they say they are frustrated that weapons promised to them haven't been delivered or reached them in the north. >> reporter: it is a huge problem because when they went to face islamic state fighters along 1,000 kilometers of territory, they were basically out gunned. they do need weapons and feel they are not getting them fast enough, but the backdrop is an ongoing dispute between bagdad and the kurdish region. and some of the kurdish units melted away as well in the face of the islamic state on slot, and they are asking themselves some tough questions about how they can fix that. >> and jane there has been fierce fighting in and around

tikrit, what more do we know about the battle there? >> that one is going to be an ongoing battle. it is not going to be easy either. islamic state fighters are dug in there, and they are quite close to the site of a massacre of up to a thousand iraqi soldiers. tikrit is the hometown of saadam hussein, and has the potential to be a sectarian tinderbox. but in ancation of what iraqi troops are founding there was a mass grave that was discovered today. so as islamic state fighters withdraw or rooted out, people are finding more and more mass graves as the iraqi troops advance. >> jane, thank you. let's cross back now to our diplomatic editor, james bayes there in newport in south whales. james what else is happening now

on the last day of the nato summit? >> well, quite an important thing is happening, and that is a discussion about how to pay for all of this for what they will do with regard to this new spearhead unit, with regard to the ukraine, with regard to the situation in iraq. all of this realignment of what nato is going to do requires money and there is criticism from some nato allies, notably the u.s., which pays most of the bills, that other countries need to increase their defense spending. i'm told there will be a commitment to enhance defense budget, and certainly they are going to sign up to a commitment not to cut their defense budgets any further, but i don't think we are going to see a huge spending increase, and i'm sure the russians are watching every detail very closely. they are looking at all of the tough words coming from nato, but they are also looking to see

if nato is really prepared to put its money where its mouth is. >> james, thank you. a lot more still to come from the news hour. health officials are bracing themselves from the outbreak of ebola. and we'll take a look at the u.s. manufacturing industry as its economy recovers. and in sport, roger federer reaches the semifinals. we'll show you how he did it later on in the sport. ♪ india's highest court has ordered the release of hundreds of thousands of prisoners languishing in prison without trial. they have all been in custody awaiting trial in india's notoriously slow justice system. the landmark ruling orders judicial officers to uphold an existing but long ignored lay.

doing so could give many people their freedom. >> translator: [ inaudible ] indefinitely, especially when they [ inaudible ] without even having their trial, so i think it is something very welcome, it's a in [ inaudible ] with the human right's agenda. the international criminal court prosecutor has asked for the trial of kenya's president to be adjourned indefinitely. the president is accused of crimes against humanity following deadly post election violence in 2007. the heard of mozambique's main opposition party has signed a peace agreement he went into hiding after accusing the go of

reneging on the terms of an earlier peace deal. he will now start campaigning ahead of the presidential poll. outworkers are preparing for an outbreak of malaria. here is mohammed. >> reporter: it's the rainy season, a lesson without which the people here cannot survive. the majority of people here live off of the land as farmers, but with the rain comes this. malaria quickly spreads among humans and animals here during the wet season, and signs of an epidemic this year are already seen across the country. >> translator: malaria reaches a peak during august, september, and october. it may start with a fever, but can lead to coma and death.

[ sobbing ] >> reporter: every year 24% of malaria-infected children die. the rate among pregnant women infected is as high as 35%. >> translator: malaria is the number one cause of sickness and death in this country. last year we registered over 3 million cases. we have had over 4,000 deaths and lots of pregnant women have lost their babies. the government has done its best, but it's obvious, considering the vastness of the country, and the size of the population, that our available means aren't enough. >> reporter: private and international relief organizations are trying to help. >> translator: we're now at the stage of what we call big malaria. at the early stages we check the patients. if positive we give them basic medications, but if they start

to have seizures we consider it severe and hospitalize the people. >> translator: the built this medical center for patients who can't afford to pay for treatments. >> reporter: among those are these refugees from neighboring mali. some are already affected. but medical service is clearly basic. they were able to escape the violence in their country. it's not certain for many of them, however, that they can survive a malaria epidemic if it breaks out here. a third american missionary who contracted ebola is on his way to the u.s. for treatment. he will be taken to a medical center in nebraska. but officials say there are no more doses of the experimental serum, zmapp. >> rick is clearly sick, but he

was in very good spirits and he was -- and he walked on to the plane, so we are really encouraged by that news, and looking forward to reuniting with him. meanwhile italian scientists say a vaccine they are developing for the ebola virus is showing promise. it is now being tested on 20 volunteers in the us. 10,000 doses have been produced ready to be sent to the world health organization if the vaccine is deemed safe. more than 450 fast-food workers protesting against low wages have been arrested in the united states. on thursday 150 cities protested in the walkout. kristin reports from new york. >> reporter: from new york to los angeles, and at least 150

cities in between. fast-food workers literally stopped traffic, dozens were arrested. they are demanding $15 an hour, twice the federal minimum wage, latoya walker says she makes 8, as a cashier, not nearly enough to support her children. >> i think they should hear us and make some changes, and give us higher wages, and get the union, because i'm pretty sure their family is well-taken care of, and that's the only thing we're trying to do is have our family taken care of as well. >> reporter: some chains argue they can't afford such an increase. the national restaurant association said in a statement: mcdonald's and other fast-food restaurants have refused to sit down with the unions, arguing that they don't set the wages,

local franchise owners do. but a recent ruling supports the worker's point of view, and has given fresh momentum to their campaign. on monday, labor day in the united states, president obama expressed his support. >> 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 with their families with pride and dignity. there is no denying a simple truth, america deserves a raise! >> reporter: economists say that there is evidence that low wages are barrier to economic growth. >> when you leave the people at the bottom out of economic growth, that slows growth, and leads to political instability that can undermine financial performance as well. >> reporter: many americans can relate to what fast-food workers are going through, as they watch

rising corporate profits and lagging wages nationally. we'll stay with the u.s. labor market and in august fewer than 200,000 jobs were created. jobs in manufacturing are becoming more scarce and cities like detroit are struggling. but some entrepreneurs in the motor city is trying to turn things back around. here is tom akerman. >> reporter: in a quiet neighborhood, they are working to make detroit a heard in the bicycle business. they are turning out a one-size fits all model, prized at $700. the only mass produced bike made in america. >> consumers want to know who makes the products that they buy, so i see an emerging niche of people looking for domestically produced goods.

>> reporter: this man used to be a white collar worker until the financial service industry collapsed. >> this is my playground here. personally i think it's an advancement when i can come to work and enjoy what i do every day. >> reporter: he invested in this business with money he made from music clubs. companies like this one are riding a wave of american manufacturing with growth the fastest in four years and new orders at a ten-year high. and this company which makes industrial light poles things are looking brighter too. its ceo says his orders from clients all over the u.s. have allowed him to hire more employees, expand his physical plant and buy more equipment.

>> we have seen an up tick in the resurgence in the commercial building market. >> reporter: those detroit captures a much smaller share of the auto industry work force than in the past, the city is still seeing a growth in auto-related jobs. >> going into new areas with advanced manufacturing, more r&d coming into the city, including design and engineering. >> reporter: so while other sectors of the u.s. economy may have outpaced manufacturing in job creation, the slogan, made in america, is still far from obsole obsolete. the energy giant bp is facing more fines in the u.s. for the gulf of mexico oil spill in 2010. an american judge ordered that the company acted with gross negligence. it is already agreed to pay $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties, and more than

$27 billion in cleanup costs and compensation to those affected. at least 40 people have died in pakistan following monsoon rains collapse -- caused by collapsing buildings and broken power lines. they have warned of further flooding from rising water levels in river. and everton just how extensive the flooding and rain? >> well, bare in mind this is supposed to be the end of the rainy season in this part of the world. you see this large area of cloud just around the border, it pushes into the far north of india there. huge area of cloud and rainfall. we have seen some really big totals recently. some places have seen only 24 millimeters of rain in 24 hours. for the entire month of september 1, 'st, '8

september 1, '89 september 1, '89 -- millimeters of rain have come down. we have had landslides as well. i'm hoping that things won't be quite as heavy in terms of the rain, but of course, this is a hilly area, this is going to be runoff and that will continue to sink its way further southward, so don't be surprised if you hear about flooding in other parts of the region as well. as we go to saturday, the showers pushing a little further eastward, notice really wet weather in this area. i think that will be the next focus for very heavy rain, and don't be surprised, again, if we hear about flooding here. and then you can see the circulation, so some big rain to

come across this part. and showers last mumbi, and notice by this stage things started to turn a little dry around the eastern side of pakistan. but still a few showers in the forecast. everton thank you. now to bangladesh where a new trend has seen makeshift libraries springing up across the country. >> reporter: saadam hussein, that is his real name, used to spending a lot of time outside of school being bored. then the library came along. it's just a bunch of books in a small room of this man's house. but for many it has become a essential all right of life. >> translator: it's like an entertainment center for me. before i had so much time on my

hands. it just wouldn't seem to pass. now these books are like my friends. spending time with them the way people do with their friends. >> reporter: the library is part of the village library movement. the movement was started in a small room in this man's house. he would ask friends and family to donate books and then would share them with the youth in his village. today his once remote library is a college. where teenagers and children gather to read the books. >> translator: there is plenty of [ inaudible ] during elections, but in our village no such thing happened. all of the young people came together to vote. before there was violence, but thanks to this library, there is a sense of unity among the students. >> reporter: they say more villages need this kind of community to thrive.

>> translator: because people don't want to stay in the village, our social ties are falling apart. no one here wants to support each other as a community. >> reporter: as more people follow his example, it seems his message is being heard. >> for years young people have been moving to the cities. it is pattern that has repeated across the country, and devastated areas like this. this is part of a struggle to make villages strong communities once again. time for another short break. when we come back, we find the american dream live and kicking with the kids who made it into the country all alone. corruption, money, lies, and the future of the grand canyon. that's coming up. and in sport, find out how belgium are performing since losing to argentina in the world

cup quarter finals. that's coming up. stay with us. @j

♪ welcome back. nato has agreed to set up a special rapid response force with thousands of troops that would be willing to deploy anywhere in the world within days if needed. nato's secretary general also said the alliance stands ready to help the iraqi government against the islamic state group. and peace talks to resolve the ukraine conflict are underway in belarus despite

fighting in the eastern ukraine is still going on. based on data from 190 countries, unicef says 95,000 people below the age of 20 were murdered in 2012, that makes up about 20% of all homicides globally. the report also noted one third of all students between the ages of 13 and 15 regularly face bullying in school. and one out of every ten girls were forced to have sex under the age of ten. africa was by far the worst continent. the democratic republic of congo topped the list. in uganda 9% of underaged girls were victimized. 8% of girls in exquestioner toal indy were all abused.

and in cam maroon, sexual abuse is common place. >> it reveals that there are attitudes across the world that unfortunately perpetuate and justify violence, so no matter how close you are to the front line of this, the enormity of the numbers that you talked about would shock anyone. many parts of the world define masculinity, and women will often have more acceptance of violence towards girls. we need better policing, and we need this idea of looking at gender roles and relationships and working very closely with communities. this can't be a prescriptive thing. and also to reinforce the simple

fact that an abused child will become a child who historically will be less likely to get a job, less likely to be a functional member of your society, more likely to be a purveyor -- be someone who has violence in their own relationship. so there are so many good arguments in practice and principal as to why societies starting with moms and dads really need to eradicate and protect the most vulnerable, girls. syrian rights groups say government forces have killed 18 fighters fighting with the islamic state group. one of the fighters killed is believed to be from the united states. now al jazeera is demanding the release of its three journal lists who have been detained in egypt for 251 days. they received long sentences after a trial seen by many observers as politically

motivated. their convictions are being appealed. the case has been raised by the u.n. secretary general in a conversation with the egyptian president. you can tweet the hashtag, and you can go to our website, there it is on your screen, aljazeera.com. let's go back to mariupol and rejoin harry fawcett. you had to take a sharp exit because of security problems there. tell us what happened. >> reporter: yeah, i should really say -- where were we? what happened was there was a pretty severe assault on a position within two kilometers of where we are now. three separate volleys we believe of ground rockets, six or seven as a time. we have seen an infantry group

that repositioned not far from us, and they moved off. it's possible they were then targeted. we have also seen a very large reinforcement it appeared of guns -- more than half a dozen large heavy, howitzers, as soon as that started to come in, they just turned tail and left. and that's why we had to depart as well. what we're hearing, though, is despite all of what we're reporting here, a ceasefire has been signed in minsk where representatives of the dpr, the separatists rebels, former president of ukraine, and members of the osce have all been talking trying to get a ceasefire agreed. that will start in about an hour and a half from now, but if there's supposed to be some kind of wind down in the fighting, we are not seeing it. >> you said there was some information coming out of minsk

about the peace deal. >> reporter: that's right. the dpr tweeted that they had signed a peace deal. we also had confirmation from the osce in europe that they were also confirming that, and i understand literally just before i started speaking to you, that there was final confirmation that that deal had been signed. the problem is, though, if it is signed, a, will it be observed? these soldiers on each side going to start fighting at 6:00 on the dot? also, will it continue to be observed? there has been a lot of scepticism from a lot of people we have been speaking to, because these are not national armies fighting each other, there are a lot of separate groups. and the third biggest problem, i

suppose is what that's fire would represent. if it represents a freeze in the conflict, where dpr have established control of these major cities of luhansk and donetsk, and a future piece is based on that, never mind what is happening here in mariupol, which is a very strategic city. is that going to be acceptable to some of the people that have been fighting on the ukrainian side in the long term or will there be future potential for conflict going forward. >> harry stay with us for a second. we're going to take our viewers back to the nato summit. this is a gaggle of reporters there outside of the building where -- where that meeting is taking place. we're expecting the ukrainian president to make a statement on those ceasefire talks in minsk in belarus. so as soon as we get that, we'll

bring it to you. let's go back to harry fawcett in mariupol, you have been talking to people there in the last couple of days. how hopeful are people there that any kind of deal is about to be announced that will stop the fighting? >> well, i mean there is obviously a great deal softwa-- of wariness not just here but in the entire region. some people we have spoken to they seem not too concerned which side is in charge of their town or village, they just want a sense of normality to return. we were in a town yesterday, thursday, which was taken by russian-leaning forces a week previously. their main cause for concern was the infrastructure of life had

really failed to continue operating. things like pensions and disability pensions, ability to get medicine, things like that. so there is one side, i suppose of the argument, which is whatever the current situation is, let's stop the fighting and try to restore some kind of normal life. but the other side of the argument is a lot of people have been fighting to really res back control of eastern ukraine from what they see as an ill legitimate separatists movement and by russian forces, and if the conflict is frozen along these lines, some of the people, especially the more extreme elements of the militias that have been fighting against these russian-backed forces, they aren't going to be happy. and indeed one member of a far-right battalion spoke to me earlier on today, and he said any piece deal which left the

dpr in control of donetsk and luhansk would not be acceptable, and they would not take that. >> the russians have denied all along, that have been involved in this conflict. you have seen heavy armor, that puts doubt about that russian assurance. >> reporter: well, yes, and we're not the only ones, but we certainly saw it with our own eyes on thursday. we can't confirm beyond any doubt that it was russian, but what we can tell you is the check point that we were first stopped at when we went beyond the ukrainian forces lines and towards the separatists lines that was manned by extremely professional soldiers very different from the fairly rag tag bunch that the dpr sometimes present at these check points. they were well equipped, and they had three main battle tanks with them. the guy was giving us

instructions about where to wait and for how long. he was using a wrist watch which was in the russian time zone, so it seemed very clear where he had come from. and then we drove up that entire stretch of road and saw no, sort of base of separatists rebels, we just saw a convoy of extremely heavy armor, artillery, tanks, all coming direct from the direction of the russian border. i'm not saying they same straight across the russian border, but certainly the kiev-backed fighters here are saying that the separatists don't have any of that kind of equipment, and they are under no illusion, they believe they are fighting regular russian soldiers. >> and we're still waiting for the ukrainian president who is expected to make a statement there in whales where the -- where the nato summit is take place. we'll get that as soon as we can. but what are we hoping -- what

are we expecting him to say, harry? >> well, it's difficult to know, but obviously it does seem that he is going to confirm that -- that a ceasefire has been signed. that will be very much the headline that we expect from him. as to the details of what that means going forward, he is in a very difficult position, because if a future piece is built on the current lines of fighting, that is going to be a hard sell to many of the people, not just the fighters fighting on kiev's behalf, but also many of the politicians that may fail to line up behind him. his own prime minister was saying the peace plan outlined by the russian president, the seven-point plan, was not a peace plan, he called it a recovery plan for russian terrorists, and he is proposing building a wall between ukrainian territory and russian

terror, all along the border, but if there is some level at least of autonomy for what is currently a situation in eastern ukraine in control of separatists rebels, how can you build a wall and stop a pretty free flow of whatever they want to transmit back and forth between russia and eastern ukraine. so those are the kinds of issues that president poroshenko will have to address. he has a pretty weak hand to play. there is a great deal of rhetorical support coming from nato. there is promise of all sorts of future assistance in terms of equipment, training, and getting medical relief to ukrainian soldiers who might be hurt in conflict. but unlike the kind of pledge that president obama gave to the baltic states earlier this week, which are nato allies, and he said they would be fought on behalf of just like paris or

anywhere else in the nato ally&, there is no such assurance from president poroshenko. he has been losing, over the past couple of weeks. >> okay. harry we want to get the reaction of some of the residents in donetsk who are skeptical about a ceasefire. >> translator: i don't believe in a truce. the truth is, the only thing i can say is that even the word truce does not calm us down, because this is already not the first time and it ended with nothing. every day there is shooting. every day there is damage. every day people die. >> translator: the agreement should be made because of the civilians. if the ukrainian army belongs to the people, and they ask our

opinion then let poroshenko come here and see what he has made. why do we need this war? because no one understands not the separatists or the ukrainian army. who are they fighting? brother fights brother, son fights father. for what? >> over 3,000 people dead it's reported. this ceasefire, if agreed couldn't come sooner. >> reporter: sorry, could it have come sooner? i suppose it could have come sooner. there have been previous attempts to get a ceasefire, but each one of those has broken down. i think the difference with this one is there is so much weight behind it both from kiev and no matter what moscow says about not being a participant in this war -- [ gunfire ] >> reporter: sorry just getting some small arm's fire. we're talking of a ceasefire and nothing of the kind is happening

yet of course. but the fact that president putin has given so much of his own political capital to promoting this peace plan does suggest that this one could be different, but first it has to be tyne signed, if it has been signed, it has to be observed by all of these disparate groups in the conflict at the moment. >> all right. harry thank you. let's cross over now to peter sharpe who is live for us in moscow. peter moscow has always said that it was not a participant in this conflict. how is that playing out? and what is happening now in terms of a ceasefire and so on? >> reporter: well, it does seem ironic that a ceasefire has been agreed on proposals put by president putin who says he has no interest or support for the rebels. it immediately become pretty

obvious that a fix was in place; that there had been agreements. putin was very, very optimistic, that was followed up by sergei lavrov on thursday. but i must say, poroshenko made it very, very clear that he would not sign any deal that didn't include removal of the russian troops from the ukraine border. so we don't know what has been agreed by both sides, because equally, the self proclaims republics were saying the same thing. so there are plenty of questions left to determine just how this ceasefire came about. >> yeah, peter we're just seeing here on the wires that the ukrainian president says he has ordered the army to ceasefire from 1500 gmt today.

how is that likely to be taken in moscow? >> reporter: well, it will go down very, very well. the eu is preparing new and tougher sanctions directed at russias energy sources. and putin may just have won himself some time here. because from the latest we're hearing from brussels, the deadline has been shifted and it could be anywhere from 72 hours to a week now to ensure whether this ceasefire is genuine and whether putin has managed to pull this off. >> what about moscow's response to these statements this morning that they set up this rapid response force, that they will support their allies in the east. russia is not going to like that in terms of having troops deployed inside the buffer zone,

is it? >> reporter: they are not going to like it at all, and they are not going to like the idea of ukraine talking about reforms that would enable the country to join nato. this is completely unacceptable for moscow. they regard a ukraine member state of nato is a national security threat to russia, and they simply won't accept it. and that's what this is all about, really, trying to create a federal state in eastern ukraine that would have veto rights on kiev. because poroshenko said it could be left to the people to decide. so that's one for the future really. >> peter you have been following this story for us now for sometime, but what is the political impact on putin there of this crisis in eastern ukraine? >> reporter: well putin's popularity has never really been greater. a month ago he was coming in

with 82%, which is unheard of, really, for the leader of a country. but i must say that when they did a poll just recently, that discovered two interesting things, one that the mass of russian people totally support the separatists and the rebels in eastern ukraine, but only 5% were interested or would even permit an invasion or a massive incursion by russia. it's just not on the cards, and even people down on the border, i spoke to one man, he said, look, it is a civil war. it has nothing to do with us. and if russia plows into ukraine it will be world war iii. there's no support for a mass russian invasion of the country. >> yeah, you recently went down to the russian/ukraine border, peter. you were talking about this one person giving you a sample of the feeling there.

but what is the general thought of people on the border who have been living in the shadow of this conflict for months. >> well, before i departed for the border, i would have expected to have real backing for some sort of russian boots on the ground to finally sort this out and make it stop, but it just doesn't the case. i don't think -- the people on the border don't see that as an answer. they see it as a continuous of the fighting. and it will further isolate the country as well. >> peter if -- if the ceasefire deal has been signed, and that's -- that's sort of what -- what is being alluded to now, what sort of response are we expecting to hear from the russians if anything? >> well, i really don't know. i have been putting calls through to sergei lavrov's office, the foreign ministry, and he never stopped talking

yesterday, and they are very quiet at the moment. i think they are wanting to see exactly what t's were crossed and i's dotted, and exactly who gave what to make this ceasefire work for both of them. because both poroshenko and the republics had to give in some way to make an agreement work. >> all right. peter sharpe there in moscow. thank you. for those viewers just joining us, getting reports that there is a preliminary ceasefire between the ukrainians and pro-russian separatists. we're still waiting to hear from the ukrainian president, petro poroshenko. there you see the gaggle of journalists waiting for the announcement. as soon as we have it, of course, we will come back to it. the government in the

philippines has promised food security by 2016. the country is forced to import staple foods like rice. >> reporter: at 60 years old, this is a third-generation rice farmer. for 2 usd he works 14 hours a day to feed his family, but it will never be enough. >> translator: i also have debts to pay. everything is so expensive now. i borrowed money for the seeds, but the land, and also to by the fertilizers. >> reporter: he knows he is mired in poverty, but this is all of the life he has known. rice is he staple food here. it is seen as the country's main nutritional backbone, yet more than half of the country's people are farmers like him. poor, uneducated, and marginalized. >> number one is for us to own the land. [ inaudible ] second is the

infrastructure. we are lagging behind. it is because of this -- what they call the [ inaudible ] investment in the countryside becausing this -- doing business so high. >> reporter: and the country's rice consumption is growing. all because of its bergening population. despite the philippines being an agricultural country, it is one of the world's top rice importers an average of about 500,000 tons of rice is being brought into the country here. and many say that's the result of decades of failed government policies. other southeast asian countries are able to lower prices because their government subsidize most of their farmers, but not here. importing rice has long been seen as the band-aid solution by past administrations. and even the president says

imports of cheap rice will continue to drag down prices. >> the basic reason why we want to import rice is because as i explained, we have to increase our buffer stock by about 7 days. because commercial rice prices are very high today. they are about 19% higher than the previous year. >> reporter: but that has made the smuggling of imported rice thrive here, making it very difficult for local rice producers to compete. it is a practice that even the government admits is hard to break. though self-sufficiency targets by the government will most likely not be met, which means hunger will continue to persist even in the lives of the country's very own food producers. to washington now, and a federal investigation has begun

into the police in ferguson, missouri where an unarmed black teenager was shot by a white officer. kimberly has the story. >> reporter: a federal investigation into the conduct of a police force thrust into the international spotlight because of images like these. violent clashes followed last month's shooting death of an unarmed teen in ferguson, missouri. >> following extensive review, we have determined there is cause for the justice department to open an investigation to determine whether ferguson police officials have engaged in a pattern or practice in violation of the united states constitution or federal law. >> reporter: as part of the probe, the justice department's civil rights division will investigate whether there was a pattern of excessive force which existed over a period of years. the probe will focus on the

department's policy, not individual wrongdoing. this is in addition to an investigation by the same department, along with the fbi, which is look going the conduct of the officer involved in michael brown's shooting on august 9th. eyewitnesss report seeing brown's hands in the air when he was shot multiple times. the aftermath sparked a national conversation in the u.s. about policing, civil rights and treatment of minorities. >> we have been making strides to improve that. >> i take no personal offense to it at all. in the end the justice department is going to try to improve the quality of policing nationwide. >> reporter: the family of michael brown says it is encouraged by the new federal probe and hopes it will bring transparency to law enforcement and build trust in their community. the investigation could take months and consequences could

range from an agreement to improve police conduct to charges in federal court. the american comedian joan rivers has died at the age of 81. in show business for 50 years. she broke gender barriers as the first woman to host a late night talk show. more recently she was more known for her snide comments. rivers died after complications from a routine throat operation. let's take you back quickly to those live pictures coming out of newport in south whales at the nato summit. we're still expecting that statement from the ukrainian president, on the details of the ceasefire deal agreed between ukraine and pro-russian separatists. more of that of course at the top of the hour.

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right now... >> from oscar winning director alex gibney, a ground breaking look at the real issues facing american teens on, the edge of eighteen only on aljazeera america ukraine's president says he has reached a ceasefire announcement of a preliminary ceasefire as fighting continues in eastern ukraine. ♪ >> hello there, i'm laura kyle in doha, also on the program, nato says it is going to set up a special force to quickly deal with threats anywhere in the world. also kurdish and iraqi forces press forward in tikrit. plus -- >> i'm phil lavelle at the venice film festival, where there is a