it is a policy decision on the part of japanese government. it is not a necessity, they have proven that by operating for years now without it. >> all right, thank you to all of our guests we are out of time, until our next show, we will see you online. pre the united nations that not enough is being zone to tackle the ebola outbreak in west africa. >> you are watching al jazeera live, from doha. also ahead. more air strikes against targeted in syria and iraq, as the u.s. led coalition bombs rebel control oil facilities. the palestinian faction hamasee to a new deal to

reaccomplish a unity government. and an apology from the tech giant apple. after a bungled i-phone update leaves some users unable to make calls. the u.s. president says the ebola outbreak is more than a health crisis, it is a growing threat to regional and global security. barack obama was speaking at a special meeting of the united nations in new york. wet's take a look at the toll ebola has taken in countries in west africa since the latest outbreak was confirmed. in liberia, there's been -- liberia has been hardest hit with 1,677 deaths. now, guinea, where the outbreak started has reported 635 deaths with 1,022 infected.

sierra leone, has reported fight hundred 79 dead, and nigeria has confirmed 20 cases results in eight deads. >> this is also more than a health crisis. this is a growing threat to regional, and global security. in liberia, in guinea, in sierra leone, public health systems have collapsed. economic growth is slowing dramatically. this epidemic is not stopped this disease could cause a humanitarian catastrophe across the region. and in an era where regional crisis can quickly become global threats stopping ebola is in the interest of all of us. >> a diplomatic editor is live for us at the united nations in new york. now, james, president obama there urging the international community

not to be complacent, in the face of this outbreak, is his message likely to get through? >> well, he is certainly making a strong case and this is one of a series of meetings we have seen, he is making a case there is a significant gap to where the world is now and where it needs to get here, otherwise this epidemic will continue to spread, he talked about a threat to peace and security, and just a few days ago, we had the u. n. security council meeting very rare meeting on a public health crisis. and the u.n. security council only deals with issues of peace and security. they are deeply concerned about this, this has been going on since march, and only getting worse, and they have not managed to stop the private spread of this disease. the u.n. now asks for $1 billion which is the importance of having a meeting like this to try to persuade the leaders to put their hands in their pockets and come up with money.

one thing they have done is set up a u.n. mission, because they believe the three countries can't cope any more, and they need support, so that u.n. mission should be set up in weeks in help coordinate the effort. >> now, we have also heard from iran's president rohan ny at the general assembly, who addressed the issue of global terrorism. absolutely. talking about what he said was extremism, in the middle east, and violence. he said he would raise this when he first spoke, when he first became president and spoke a year ago. and he is raising it again, and urging all countries in the region to not encouraging these sort of groups. it was an important speech, we have a different sort of approach and tone from what we have heard in the pass.

and actually it is a positive language on the nba already talks. what is going on, in the u. n. general assembly, a lot of other meetings taking place, still underway, about to finish soon, and just around the confrere the u.n., in the european mission, they have been in recent days been doing the latest round of the negotiations on iran's nuclear program. those have been going on very quietly, as i say, in the mission. we have a development in the last hour on that, we hear there will be a meeting what they call a trilateral three leading players will be there. the foreign minister the u.s. secretary of state and the e.u. foreign policy chief will be sitting down. now, i am hearing from some sources that may pave the way for the next bit of the negotiations which have been going on for the last few days. and it is possible, not confirmed i think john kerry is meeting in the coming hours wants to test the waters that they

might have the p five plus one that's the five permanent members in germany, who are negotiating on behalf of the international community, with iran. they might have them all meet at minister level. ten that can be a very important neating and i am told it will happen in the next 24 hours. indeed, we will keep an eye on that, speaks to us from the united nations in new york. well, leaders of countries around the world have been speaking at the general assembly at the united nations. as james just said, now earlier the president blame es the united states and the e. u. for trying to damage his country's economy, and sovereignty. >> because zimbabwe has been preoccupied with empowerment of it's people, economically. she has become a victim of the evil imaginations of western countries. namely the united states of america, and the

european union. who continue to apply union lateral and illegal sanctions as a foreign policy tool to achieve short term political objectives. particularly regime change. two u.s. isn't cooing to lead air strikes as the group known as the islamic state. otherwise known as isil. now the group has taken over large areas of syria and iraq, including many lucrative oil facilities. well, france says it's jets hit several targets in iraq, but refused to give exact details. these are the first french air strikes in a week, the country's defense minister says france is considering expanding it's attacks into syria. well, the u.s. has launched more air strikes in iorack, as we said, the pentagon targeted positions west, and also to the west of baghdad. earlier the u.s. along

with saudi arabia and the united arab emritz targeted oil facilities in parts of syria, the u.s. says the attacks is east were organized to cut off a major source of revenue for the group. the u.s. central command says they hit targets. we are response for applying military pressure, but there's no way this group is doing to be defeated just through air power. or even military power alone. so we are very cognizant here in the pentagon of our role. and it's one piece of a larger strategy that has to be executed not just by a whole of government here in the united states, but by the international communities. >> there's been intense fighting around the syrian town in the country's northwest. isil is fighting kurdish forces. forces many residents to seek shelter across the border in turkey. stephanie decker has more

now on the syria turkey border. >> there is a constant stream of refugees arriving at one of the ever cas that's been set up for syrian refugees. but it is incredibly difficult situation. 140,000 have arrived here, since friday, and we are hearing also stories from other people, who say they have nowhere to stay. there's also people heading back. i want to show you the geography, how close that town is, it is right over othere in the distance. that is the syrian kurdish town. it's that close, so this is also the fear that turkey had, if they manage to take it over, that is how close they will be. we do hear that isil controlled around 75% of the area, around and it that the kurdish fighters say they don't have enough weapons to push them back, so it is still a very fluid situation, with refugees continuing to come into turkey. >> syrian government troops have retaken the town.

just off the capitol. the loss is a blow to the rest of the u.s. led coalition campaign against isil. >> this has been the reality in syria for over three years. government air strikes hit civilian and rebel positions almost daily. there are many front lines in this war. northeast of the capitol is one of them. >> rebels here are not linked to the international focused fight against the islamic state in iraq. and they have been losing ground. further north the army recaptured an industrial town. strategic territory, close to a main highway linking the capitol to another government strong hold. the problem for the rebels is they are fighting on two fronts. >> they have been facing offensives from both isil and syrian government forces. this has weakened them. and many syrians feel the government will be able

to benefit from coalition strikes, against the islamic state in iraq, and the lavon. >> in the end, the regime will benefit. the areas are the coalition has hit isil, the regime will retake and in the end, we won't get anything out of this. >> we are against any attack on syria today. we will waiting for this kind of strike for some time, but not against us. we are shocked that our enemies. >> the u.s. led coalition has been targeted the infrastructure, as well as one of the groups sources of funding, oil facilities were hit. >> these attacks are causing anger, many feel the international community should be targeting and degrading the capabilities of the government instead. they kneel their voices are not being heard, for years they appealed for international assistance, but they never got it. >> mr. tests are becoming more common and they are spreading. many in the opposition believe the coalition military campaign is not

just about defeating isil. they feel the revolution is just as much of a target as well. the lebanese army says one person was killed and two wounded during a search for fighters at a refugee camp. lebanon has been stepping up efforts to keep fighters from using the border as a base. security forces say it has detained about 450 people in the last two weeks. a rescue mission is underway for about 300 people stranded in a boat off cypress. most of those onboard are women and children, and are thought to be syrian ref are joes. the boat hit rough are seas about 90-kilometers west of cypress when it ran into trouble. >> afghanistan's presidential runnerup has hailed a power sharing deal reached with his rival. ask douala abdullah congratulated him of being becoming president elect.

>> write have come together for the sake of afghanistan stability, we have come together for a better service. god willing, i am confident on behalf of my team, and i am sure our partner team have the same view, to work together and safeguard this commitment, to serve the afghan people. >> palestinian sanctions hamas have reach add deal to re-establish the unity government. it comes after two days of talks. it include as partial understanding on how will govern gaza. during the last two days we have had detailed discussions about everything. following the 2009-2014 israeli aggressions against gaza, we discussed the political situation as well. and the movement of the

leadership, and also within the current talks in the united nations. charles stafford what are new now on the deal. >> the announcement comes today after what seems to be bitter rifts developing in the government, between fat that and hamas. accused of hamas of creating a shadow government here. after the war ended in gaza, and hamas have accused the p.a. and fatah of failing the people. certainly a vital step in bringing the government closer together in order to start the rebuilding the reconstruction, after the war and has huge implications as well for indirect talks with israel, a pledge by both high officials of hamas, that they will work together with this government, to try and pay the salaries to former hamas employees that haven't been paid for months. to try and bring security forces from the west

bank, p. a. security forces down to secure the borders. these are conditionings that is being demanded by the international community, and israel. so that the construction materials can be monitored so reconstruction can begin here. when you put this in context of over 2,100 people dieing in the conflict, 500 of whom were children, tens of thousands of houses, destroyed fennel of thousands of people without a home, and certainly this does have significant, but uh the implementation remains to be seen. still aehead on the program. russian fighters account -- recount the stories of capture and torture by ukrainian forces. and your mart phone could have roots in conflict. two minerals that go from war zones to mobile phones.

welcome back, top stories here on al jazeera. president obama says the ebola outbreak is more than a health crisis. it's a growing threat to regional and global security. he was speaking at a high level meeting at the united nations. organized to discuss. the u.s. has carried out more air strikes against the islamic state in iraq. the u.s. military says it launched attacks in iraq south of west of baghdad, destroying several vehicles and a command post. earlier they targeted oil facilities. mall tin january factions have reached a deal to

re-establish the unity government. it comes after two days of talks in cairo. security to protect it's citizens a group is wearing allegiance kill add french tourist on wednesday. in retaliation for french air strikes in iorack. more now from paris. >> france announced on thursday it would step up security in public places on the public transport system. that news announced by the president after an emergency meeting with his defense council. now, that's meant to be a preventive measure against any possible terrorist attack that decision was taken in the wake of the beheading of french national. a tour hoist was kidnapped in a remote mountain region. and that was underlined by the interior minister who said that the killing called for a strong response abroad, and it's home to protect french citizens. now that was also linked to a new round of air

strikes in iraq, but french forces on thursday, the government has said that it would not be deterred fromn't cooing operations targeting isil in iraq. now, it is also considering expanding that operation to isil targets in syria, including aiding syrian opposition groups who are fighting forces. and france, has also said that it would aid any country in h the public world fighting against any group uhs. also on friday, that's expected to happen is that there will be a rally held by french muslim leaders outside the paris central mosque. the aim, the mosque to denounce the ideology and activities of such groups such as isil. >> a minister has asurvived an assassination attempt. the minister was visiting the district about 20-kilometers south of the capitol when it happened. several car bombs exploded minutes after

his convoy drove through the area. reports from the u.s. suggest the attorney general eric holder is expected to announce his resignation, in the coming hours. he has already signaled that he will step down sometime this year. justice department and white house officials say he will stay in the job until his successor is confirmed. >> a tribunal investigating the recent conflict between israelis and palestinians say it has found evident of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by israel. the tribunal has no power to enforce the findings but also accused israel of inciting again side. this is a court that ha no legal standing. but it's founders call it the court of the people, and the tribunal of conscious. and other the last two days it held sessions to decide for israel has committed again side during it's attack on the

gad disa strip. >> there is a narrative that underlies what has been going on. this summer, in gaza. and the marry ty is that again side call narrative. all i want to do is to highlight the fact that we as a jury, recognize that the context in which the crimes that we specify earlier, and we include incitement to again side. again, spelling out the kind of thing, the kind of rhetoric, that has is being used. and for years it looked into crimes around the world. members of the court are mobile prize winners human rights lawyers former u.n. official whose work in the occupied territories and former diplomates. on wednesday, among those

who testified is this former israeli soldier, he says israelis soldiers were given orders to kill anything that moves. while this israeli journeys blames religious leaders and extremists for inciting hate against arabs. israels assault on gaza in july killed around 2,000 people. many were women, and children. the level of destruction was unpresence dented. tens of thousands of homes have reduced to rebel. some members of the tribunal hope their work will force change. >> our aim is to participate and to force leaders and u.n. leaders to move forward, and stop their silence about the crimes committed. >> argue that it is biased and that evidence is one sided. while it's sup effort prokers hope to pressure the international community to put an end to crimes of war.

al jazeera. >> the ukrainian president says he wants his country to apply for e.u. membership in six years. last year the parliament ratified a landmark deal. speaking of the capitol kiev, also set a cease fire with separatists in the east of the country appears to be holding. >> it is the first day today, my friends, the first day in many many weeks and months when ukrainians have not had a single person killed and not a single person wounded. finally, that cease fire has begun to work. >> a prisoner exchange deal was part of that cease fire agreement, now a russian citizen has told al jazeera that he was tortured while being held by ukraine. he was captured while fighting for pro-russian

separatists, a freeman as last, russian citizens they say they volunteered to fight for the separatists in eastern ukraine. they got caught. he says he was held by a right wing ukrainian militia and severely tortured. >> i had a russian passport, but without an immigration card. after that, they put a plastic bag on my head, and brought me into the forrest, they started choking me, and shot close to my ear, i am deaf in this ear now. >> he said he suffering beatings and fractures rip ribs. >> several times on their base, they hung me with my arms behind my back, my legs not touching the ground, and used my body as a punch bag. >> in no man's land, prisoner exchanges are now helping to bring the site a step closer to peace, it is the most promising sign yet that

the cease fire between no, sirs and pro-russian separatists can last. the negotiating teams have much more work to do, there are still around 2,000 prisoners being held. >> prisoner swap is not just an end itself, it is a start of the bigger peace process. >> vladimir says there were instances of torture and killings on both sides. >> there was revenges torture, there were reprisals. frizzners were shot, but now everybody understand that hows tar exchange is more profitable. >> he says he was treated adequately by the regular army. >> would you ever consider coming back and fighting again. >> do you think it was the right thing to do. >> it was the right thing to do for example -- the truth is there is no truth here. one nation is being

divided and the fighting -- this is the truth of this war. >> it is still a fragile peace, but at least their war is over. robin forrest walker, al jazeera. >> al jazeera is running a full page ad in the new york times and is using a billboard in time square to draw attention to the plight of it's journalists imprisoned in egypt. al jazeera continues to demand the release of peter greste, ba what are mohamed, and mohamed fahmy who have been detained for 271 days. they are falsely accused of aiding the muslim brotherhood, they each receive add seven year sentence, mohamed received an additional three years for having a spent bullet in his possession, which he had picked up uh at a protest. all three are appealing against the convictions. >> has freed one of the school girls that it

abducted in april, police say suspected militants dropped the 20-year-old off around 100-kilometers from where the girls were kidnapped. she is now receiving medical treatment. >> we move on to tech news now, and anle is scrambling to pick a software program that left many of it's i-phone users unable to make phone calls. now, the company discontinued it's latest update, after consumer say they lost service and had problems using the fingerprint sensor. well, effected devices included apples latest release, and six plus, apple says around 10 million units have been distributed since they were released on friday. the company has apologized for the great inconvenience experienced by the users. but apple hasn't commented on reports the i-phone plus can bend and break because of it's light weight shell. timothy is a technology

reporter for huffington post, and he spoke with us earlier with more on how this could have happened. >> i think a lot of senior executives are asking that same question. people started reporting issues with their scanners and with service being lost, and apple yanks it. this is a rare move, they apologized and they said they are working around the clock to pick it, and i do expect they will have another update. it is embarrassing for apple, but beyond being a huge p. r. headache, i don't think there's a lot of risk. i think the bending i-phones are isolated. these phones are thinner than they have ever been, and these are computers. yes, they are phones but we do need to treat them like computers. if you do apply force, just like you do to other electronics they will

bend. apple would much wrath very people focus on how many it has sold. and how great the new, i four is. the lines of people lining up uh, especially tomorrow when the i-phone is released in more countries. that kind of news, rather than these issues that they have been dealing with. you can always get the latest on our news on our website. . >> it has become too expensive. the price tag is so scary to look at. >> cornell university's president says higher education is worths the cost though schools need to be run more efficiently. david skorton weighs in as well on skills training versus traditional education. >> the vast majority of people