>> consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the growing controversy. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> real perspective, consider this on al jazeera america >> hello welcome to this news hour with our top stories. houthi rebels continue their fight in the yemeni capitol. many die in the fighting.

turkish hostages are freed. and stopping ebola from crossing over from ginea. [music] >> yemeni government troops and houthi rebels have been fighting for a third day. dozens have been killed in fierce fighting. we have this report. >> reporter: in the yemeni capitol these are the latest clashes on saturday morning. the northern hills of the city turn to a battleground as shia fighters gnash with th clash with the army. through most of the day. they attack the national tv headquarters and some universities. slashes continue through the

night as houthies try to gain more ground in sanaa. they fight pore months while thousands of their supporters march through the streets demanding the resignation from the government. >> later after the talks i realized how it has deteriorated. i'm story for these developments during a time when we're doing our best to reach a solution to the crisis. now its critics are accusing it of incompetence in the face of

armed groups seeking to destabilize the country. >> we're getting reports of casualties and fighting in yemeni state. we'll have more later in the program. >> the islamic state in iraq and the levant has released 46 turkish hostages and allowed them to return home. turkey has denied paying isil a ransom to secure their release. >> reporter: reunited with their families after more than three months in captivity, think release marks the end of the hostage crisis. they were captured out of fighters overran by the northern iraq in mosul in june. they included diplomatic staff, children and special forces. >> people mr. wearing black outfits wearing black veils.

they assured us they were not going to harm us. they told us to leave and go into the streets. >> the group arrived in the capitol on saturday. >> today is not only a celebration day for you and your families. it is a very significant day for the whole nation. i wish from god that all of our days in the future would be as good as this one, and we would never experience such a sadness ever again. >> reports that no ransoms were paid and no armed confrontation with isil. >> yesterday at 11:30 at night the rescue operation that had been going on for days had reached its final stage. we work so hard for months to reach the outcome of today. i want to thank the members of the turkish intelligence who worked so hard. >> reporter: others who had been

captured were a month later, at the international summit in pa in pair race. >> i think turkey will continue to be a reluctant and apathetic member of this coalition that has been called by the united states. turkey has clearly indicated that it's territory and it's air space will not be used in any combat operations. >> reporter: ankara may have yet to take on a more active role in the fight against isil. al jazeera. >> 45,000 syrian kurds have crossed into turkey in just one day to escape isil. aid had opened up on friday. turkey is already home of

650,000 syrian refugees. we go to the middle east technical university in ankara. let's talk more about the hostages and release where they say that no ransom was paid but what do you think that the government had to do to secure their freedom? >> first of all, there is a wig celebration in the country that the hostages have been freed the government certainly had negotiations, and most came to the understanding that hostages had to be released. this is considered domestically internationally one of the greatest successes of the new government. >> do you think any an some was paid? and what sort of negotiations took place? >> according to turkish government nothing has been paid, but we don't know what

promises have been done because in such cases, as we know, they have been freed. probably there have been some political concessions that turkey will not be hard against them. this is a big international problem for turkey but the turkish government has more space, more room to join the coalition, which is led by the united states of america. turkey will not be out of the process. >> it will be very interesting to watch turkey's moves in the coming days towards that coalition. of course, it's been re-relunch tonight to get involved up until now fighting for the safety of

these hostages. >> you're right. because the hostages have been in the hands of isil. the biggest probable has been to establish a buffer zone between isil and the turkish border. i think there is a need for the decision that turkey can declare a safe haven for those people who have to run from isil, but it is a debate. it is not for sure. on the other hand, the turkish borders definitely have been secured in recent months, in particular, and the united nations and nato in particular have had turkey protect their

borders. but now the situation has changed and turkey is facing direct threat. >> it is getting closer. i wonder of its feeling of the u.s. using its air space for launching strikes against isil. >> it is true. i think turkey will provide particularly but turkey has tried not to get involved directly. so now i think turkey cannot remain indifferent, or it cannot

say that some how it is hindered. now it will provide new space for political decision making process. >> good to speak to you. thank you very much, from ank a, ra. in iraq hundreds of supporters o have come out on the streets. why did the supporters come out on the streets? >> in short this is a display of strength of the heart. they brought people out on the streets to show that they were able to take control of baghdad, if need be. able to defend baghdad, roar, if need be. it iit is in a defensive capacity. it is not to bring fighting to

the streets but in defending. it was certainly a show of fire. we've heard a lot about the statements made before, but what is interesting, there seems to be criticism of the u.s. airstrikes in iraq, and said they would fight any u.s. troops on the ground in iraq, and are worried about the iraqi territory, a much stronger statement than we've heard in the past. this would have played well to the domestic audience. a lot of people are worried about what shape this american intervention takes and worried that it would bring boots to the ground. although this probably was not a direct rebuttal, the timing has to be taken into account. it certainly would have been a statement designed to appeal to

the domestic audience and in earn to the americans. >> thank you. three months of fighting of isil in northern iraq has taken its control on the kurdish peshmerga at least 200 have been killed, but the peshmerga fighters believe that number is much higher. we've been given access to hospitals in erbil. >> reporter: the fighting in iraq, his unit has pushed forward towards the city of mosul when his vehicle hit an ied, killing one and injuring others. in. >> the enemy knows what it's doing with ieds, mortars and snipers. >> reporter: on the same operation his unit came face to face with the enemy.

>> i loft my nephew. they killed him. a sniper shot him in the head. >> reporter: we were given rare access to hospital wards of kurdish fighters. the peshmerga have kept the media out until now fearing that the sight of wounded soldiers would hurt morale among its army and the kurdish people. >> we're losing a lot of people because there is such a huge difference between us and them. they come to die. when they run out of ammunition they blow themselves up. >> reporter: taking on far bigger guns with little more than assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. but their official d.t. toll is just 200. it's a sensitive subject that could affect morale. >> we always fought with patriots.

but you need more than patriotism to win this fight. this is a global fight. right now we're alone in fighting them for the whole world. >> reporter: in central erbil the weapons market is busy. civilians are preparing to protect themselves, unsure if the peshmerga can hold the line. a theft was announced with a warning that isil is preparing to target civilians and public places. >> reporter: isil is also waging a social media war with a steady flow of hollywood-style real action trailers, beheading videos and footage of its

extensive arsenal undermining morale. but kurdish spirits have been lifted from the casualties from coalition airstrikes. they just need the promised weapons to arrive to redress this imbalance on the battle feel to help them believe they can win this conflict. >> we have much more it to come on this al jazeera news hour. russian troops took over crimea, where have the tourists gone from the black sea holiday resort. and why police patrols in bangladesh are whistling in the dark. and the singapore grand prix coming up with sanaa. >> the ukrainian government and

pro russian rebels have finalized a cease-fire that was agreed to two weeks ago. the deal includes creating a 30-kilometer buffer zone between ukrainian groups and russian separatists. it calls for russians and weapons to leave the territory. it banned flight over the conflict area and both sides have agreed to deploy an international team to monitor the cease-fire. we have more from donetsk on the efforts to end the fighting. >> reporter: the peace talks were supposed to inject confidence into the cease-fire that is supposedly been in place since september 5th, although there have been repeated violations with casualties on both sides, and reports of more fighting overnight and into today. what's been discussed, and what has apparently been agreed is the creation of a buffer zone where the ukrainian forces and

pro russian rebels would we draw their heavy artillery pieces and other heavy weaponry back from the conflict zone 15 kilometers, so you would have a 30-kilometer buffer zone free of heavy weaponry. we were told this would take effect over the next 24 hours. >> the convoy of russian humanitarian aid has arrived for the first time in donetsk. ukrainian government said that trucks drove through the area by pro russian separatists. two previous. convoys have arrived in luhansk. many ukrainian tourists are now staying away. >> there are a million fewer tourists this year, we're told as he throws his taxi around the twisting streets of yalta. >> last year i earned $350 a

month. which was enough to live and even save some money. now my rubel comes to $200 a month. >> the warm shines and the sea is inviting, but much has changed in crimea. since it's become russians ukrainian tourists have shunned the peninsula. russians, though numerous, have not yet made up the shortfall. >> there are very few people here this year. machine is renting the yachts. last year we went well. everyone was happy. this year there is hardly any work. >> crimea holds a special place in the hearts of many russians. many broughczars built castles

here. this should be easy enough to understand. this one over here refers to the soldiers that took over crimea earlier on in the year. in russia they were called the polite people, and putin, they suggest, is the politist of them all. he accuses ukraine of neglecting crimea and promises a new age of investment, $19 million has been pledged for job creation and infrastructure. it's needed. cues for the ferry suggest that many want to come but getting here is difficult. investment should start with the much talked about bridge to mainland. >> the bridge is the main obstacle that holds up the inflow of tourists to crimea.

we know their problems. building the bridge will make it possible for cars and trains to use it, and it will be easier and faster for tourists to reach crimea. >> whether they call it a russian land grab or holding, many believe it is a bad tourist season, but it's better than being at war. >> in our top story the fighting that is going on in yemen's capitol. hakeem from the yemen post join us. you've been hearing very heavy fighting. we've seen pictures of great plumes of smoke rising in the place of sanaa. tell us what is happening. >> there was supposed to be a deal signed any minute right

now, but this escalation at the state television networks, huge explosions. heavy gunfire there, and buildings burning down. this shows that the cease-fire agreement failed, and houthies are raiding the entire compound. there are employees still inside the compound hoping to get emergency help before their lives are threatened. >> that fighting that you're talking about, trying to establish if that's the same place that we can see on our screens, which is a great deal of smoke coming from an area in the capitol. >> that is the same place. that is the headquarters of the state tv. the fighting there calmed down a couple of hours ago and escalated just 20 minutes ago. the footage is very recent, and in the last ten minutes. it is not stopping. there are continuous clashes there, and the problem is you have tens of employees who are

stuck there and have nowhere to lead. the houthis are blaming the government that they are the ones escalating, and they're not trying to end this crisis while the government blames the houthis from going into areas and other neighborhoods around sanaa. during attempts of a cease-fire agreement. >> we've been hearing about this deal that's in the works for a number of days now. it's extraordinary that that is going on while this heavy fighting is taking place. >> again, we talk to in the last hour or so officials within the presidential office and within the houthi movement. they both confirm that a deal could be signed by 7:00. this was 30 minutes ago. but these escalations happened after the call, these clashes and explosions happened very recent. which only proves or shows that a deal is far from being reached. hopefully i'm wrong, but this is what we see the government th

right now is roaming the skies and bombarding the houthi areas in retaliation of the attacks on the state-run t.v.'s. >> there has been fighting in recent weeks and days and they sound like a force to be reckoned with. how strong are they? >> they're very powerful right now. there are tens of thousands of gunned arm men or militants ready to fight at any time. we're seeing a small sample of their power because their stronghold is not sanaa. but the failures of the government and the parties that have failed that looks for their

benefits or their interests. that's why the houthies used the subsidi subsidize petrol to get the people on their side. most of the supporters will leave his side if they see a strong government and real reform taking place. they do not support him as a military group but support him because they want to see reforms, and the current government is not getting them that. >> it does sound like a volatile situation, indeed. thank you very much for bringing us the update from yemeni capitol of sanaa. the streets of free town are empty on the second day of a three-day nationwide lockdown. the president urged all 6 million residents to comply

with the lockdown to help stop the spread. health workers go across sierra leone to find new ebola cases. and the borders along senegal and guinea have been closed and vigilanty take control because there are not enough police. >> they keep people from entering illegally. they ask where they are from, and if they've had contact with anybody with ebola. >> we need to make sure that they do not come within our country and kill us all. >> the senegal government has closed it's border with guinea and promised to step up patrols,

but we have seen no evidence of that. >> we're worried. the border is 300 kilometers long. we never see police and they never seem to be checking anyone. >> senegal has it's first case of ebola when a student crossed the border in a village taxi. it took ten days for health authorities to find him. he was treated and sense has recovered. fear of ebola is spreading faster than the virus itself. it changes how people interact with each other especially coming from guinea. >> reporter: there are a large number of guinean traders here. >> i know people are scared of coming here. this is not good for us or our business. we need to find a solution. the vigilanties will not solve anything. it just makes things worse for us. >> this is as close they'll come to local guineans.

the relations are strained but it's the only way they believe to keep senegal ebola-freeway. ebola-free. >> still to come we'll hear what the new president of indonesia is planning as soon as he's inaugurated. and dodgers run wild against the cubs. we'll have the latest from the mlb in sport.

>> it's a chilling and draconian sentence... it simply cannot stand. >> this trial was a sham... >> they are truth seekers... >> all they really wanna do is find out what's happening, so they can tell people... >> governments around the world all united to condemn this... >> as you can see, it's still a very much volatile situation... >> the government is prepared to carry out mass array... >> if you want free press in the new democracy, let the journalists live.

>> the majority of americans still think hitting kids works as discipline although the majority is not as big as it used to be. a football star is kept off the field this week because he's charged with excessive physical punishment. who decides when if ever corporal punishment is okay? that's the inside story.