♪ . >> the fight against isil, the armed group loses ground in iraq, but makes gains in syria. hello, again. you are with al jazeera, we are life from doha. also to come. afghanistan and the u.s., sign an agreement allowing american troops to stay after 2014. standing firm, hong kong protestors refuse to go home, despite calls from the lead tore stop their campaign immediately. plus. >> in that pal, where

chirp have made perilous journeys across the river and these bridges just to go to school. >> it's been a day of mixed porches for the islamic state in iraq and isil, after making surprising gains through much of the summer. isil fighters are being pushed back in iraq. >> iraqi soldiers have recaptured 16 villages east of the capitol. more than 100 fighters were reportedly killed and 50 bombs diffused. iraqi commanders say almost all of the province is back under their control. meanwhile, in the northern part of the country, kurdish forces have also been making gains. they have retaken the town of bashir, that's 15-kilometers south. it fell to isil in june. monica has more. >> this was a major

operation. soldiers launched coordinated attacks on three fronts, to century retake territory that isil fighters have taken from them, months before. now, the town of bashir is one of these, we are being told it is strategically very important, because isil fighters were thinking to use it, as a launch pad to retake the very important city. that obviously sits atop iraqs oil wells. the per they are ma attacks with hum vies, but before the offensive, coalition planes bombed the area to soften up targets there. the other two towns were also targeted, and these are important because they are in the middle of the rout, between the serious trunk hold and the mosul's strong hold in iraq for isil. so again, this is all aimed as disrupting isil, and their strength here in northern iraq.

>> the latest different story in neighboring syria, where isil fighters are getting closer to the town that's close to the turkish border. coalition air strikes have been targeted to the group to try to help fighters in the area. reports now in turkey. >> there's hardly anyone left. as isil fighters get closer to this border town, the few residents who are here, are packing up and leaving. >> ewith are the last people left in the city. where do you expect us to go, we have already been humiliated enough. >> this town and suhr rounding villages have doubled in size to 400,000 people in the last three years. it had become a refugee for people threing fighting elsewhere, now those refugees are again running for their lives. with much of it surrounded food and meds are becoming scarce. most of the people here

are ethic nick curds. two fighter whose are trying to hold off the advance say they need more support. >> we are defending our country, and our dignity. >> those who are left, may find themselveses with little choice but to join the more than 160,000 people who have already left here for turkey. on thursday, parliament is likely to approve government proposals that will allow them to take part in international operations in syria. with isil now on turkey's doorstep, it is just over there the government recognizes that it needs to get more involved in the battle to stop the spread of isil's extremist ideology. on the turkey syria border. >> the turkish deputy prime minister is saying that isil fighters are

advancing towards an enclave that turkey claims. turnky will defend the territories of houses the two. and he was a demand father of the first, founder of the umpire. turkey claims sovereignty over this enclave, which is located 30-kilometers inside syria territory. turkish troops have been guarding the two since april. afghanistan has signed long awaited security agreements that will allow for international forces to stay in the country, after the end of 2014. and it come as day after the inauguration of the new afghan president. jennifer glass reports from kabul. >> the wrights had hoped this would happen a year ago, a signing of two security agreements one with the u.s. and another with nato that will allow international forces to remain here after the end

of this year. the signing was watched over by the new president, who was inaugurated on monday, he heads a unity government with his chief executive. both leaders say the deal is good for the future of afghanistan. the president mentioned important points in relation to this agreement. it was critically studied and considered in the best interest of afghanistan, and stability. i would like to repeat this message to the people of afghanistan, that the delay which took place in the signing of this agreement, was because he wanted to protect the national interests of the country. across afghanistan, forces were in the lead, carrying out 90% of a ground operation, but they know they still need name toe help. >> the national security forces are not ready yet, in every field. so they need continuous support. and it would be leaving a half ready force that

would have the challenge of an insurgency, that is still out there. >> many afghan and international forces have been killed or injured fighting those armed groups. >> is afghanistan's air force has only a fraction of the planes and pilots nato supplied here. and still needs much support. as well as teaching dumbing tear skills. the new smaller nato mission will have about 12.5000 soldiers, the bulk of them america. but the taliban says their presence means there will be no peace talks soon. >> signing this with america, that itself blocks the door of any conversation or dialog. because this agreement is for the occupation of after dan stan. and that's what we are fighting against. afghanistan. >> the 350,000 afghan stuart and police forces cost about $5 billion a year. mostly paid for by the international community. afghanistan is expected to take over the full cost of the troops in

2024. >> in the meantime, nato's two year mission is to work towards ensuring the troops can fight on their own. jennifer glass, al jazeera, kabul. >> china's national day has begun, and tens of thousands are continuing to rally in hong kong. they are demanding free local elections in 2017. demonstrators are threatening wider action, if the cities leader doesn't meet them. hong kong chief executive has asked demonstrators to leave immediately, saying the communist party won't greet to their dend mas. play ginning promised the people of hong kong general universal suffrage, which is the ability to vote for the perp they would like to see as the chief executive. instead, they have glymph us a very rigid frame

work which in the effect means that beijing is in complete control of the outcome. they are going to give us three pulpits and then tell the people, you go away and exercise your vote. well, this is not what we understand to be genuine one man one vote. i think it isn't too late for beijing and for the hong kong government to demonstrate some sincerity, we are supposed to begin the second stage consultation on the actual airplanements for the 2017 election. so the dolphin and beijing should now come out and give hong kong people a reason to remove themselves from the street, by indicating there is room for maneuver, and there will be genuine consultation, and the general desire to seek a consensus. >> well, these protestors taking place in busy shopping areas and business owners say they already feeling the pinch.

this should have been the restaurants opening day. the only perp being served is the owner. >> when you see that all the rolls are being brought and then on traffic is being diverted and then there are people working on the streets. and nobody will come into our restaurant. the most densely packed office and shopping areas like causeway bay. this is normally one of the busiest times of the year with china's golden hollywood week starting but the cash rich mainlanders staying away, and it is frustrating. >> why and fight for democracy. >> the concern is efforted by business leader whose say that if the protest continue, hong kong's economy will take a hit.

>> i think it will effect the image of hong kong. and also the foreign investments will have a certain restorations. >> this is where most of the protestors gather, they take up about three-kilometers of this. it connects the east and the west of the island, but the protests have essentially cut the heart of the business district and a half, reflecting the divide in the population. >> many of them are at the protests. my sales have dropped, but personally i think they are very peaceful and i support the campaign. >> 98% of hong kong's businesses are or medium size. it is unclear how long

the protests will last, but what business owners to know, is that the longer they continue, the less likely their enterprise wills survive. al jazeera hong kong. >> still to come, find out about migrants who flee war and poverty, and then make it to europe, but don't get the warm welcome they were hoping for. and brazil's new middle class and why they are supporting president re-election bid.

these are the top stories here. isil fighters in syria are reported to be within two-kilometers. a town on the border with turkey. u.s. air strikes are being targeted the arm group positions in the area. china's national day gets underway, tens of thousands of protestors continue to rally in hong kong. they are demanding free elections in 2017. demonstrators are threatening wider action if the city leader doesn't meet them. afghanistan has sign add long delayed agreement. the national security advisor sign add deal in a televised ceremony, and it comes four hours after he was sworn in as the new president. more now on the situation in syria, her agency needs more fans and needs them urgently in order to

help support the millions of refugees. >> without the funds the world food program will be forced to end it's operations completely, within two months. >> rations have already been cut in order to reach as many people as possible. winter is fast approaching and vital supplies are needed to protect people from the cold. neighboring countries also need urgent support, so that they can continue to shelter millions of refugees. >> valerie amos both said that both isil and the government are to be blamed for the worsening of the humanitarian situation in syria. and activists are reporting that more syrian government air strikes and rebel held areas, now reports some syrians fear that the u.s. campaign against isil is giving a free reign to bashir al-asaad's forces. >> this is an after math of a barrel bomb.

rebel controlled areas continue to be battlegrounds. two international war on the islamic state in iraq and the levan hasn't ended syria's own war. the government is still on the offensive. and it wants to get rid of what is left. more often than not they continue to be the victims. >> the plane hit and it kept on hitting around us. >> syrians are also blaming the coalition for targeting civilians, the u.s. says it has no credible reports of civilian deaths but activists say more than 20 have dies. people are scared, during the day the government war planes hit us, and at night there are coalition strikes we can't forget that civilians have controlled territories and they are under threat, and the government continues to hit us. >> what people in the opposition want is for them to target government positions.

for now, at least, it is unlikely to happen. after all it is pushing ahead with it's own military campaign. and politically it has been trying to position itself as being on the said sometime as the coalition. >> but it's allies russia and iran have been saying otherwide. they have criticized the striking calling them illegal. >> it is the russians and iranians who have said here is where we draw the line, this is basically illegal, so they are not allowing a carte blanche for the u.s. and the rest of the coalition, to escape their mission to start potentially to strike at the regime itself. >> and for those who live in opposition territories that means a continuation of a war that has cause sod much suffering.

now the report says that since the beginning of this year, 2,500 refugees have died trying to cross the seas. amnesty wants the e. u. to provide safe routs for those escaping war torn countries. kim reports from syracuse, on the struggling migrants face when they arrive on the shores. syracuse on the southwest does has changed dramatically, in recent years. >> and ever visible are the migrants who having crossed now call this place home. 19-year-old is one of them. he fled the ivory coast, three years ago, but he says they have not been welcoming. >> they think when we

arrive here we take everything. the majority thinks this. >> the priest has helped thousands of so called boat people over the years. and says italian attitudes need to change. not everyone shares the same view. many though head to

countries like france or germany, and see northern europe as more open and accepting. >> many of his friends have already left, and he will probably do the same. having risked his life, to make a new home, he says he would rather do that where he is welcome. al jazeera, syracuse. >> anti-hooty protestors are taking to the streets. hooty rebels seize control of large parts of the city last week, and despite signing a peace deal with the government, they are showing no signs of leaving. thousands of protestors are supposed to come to this place to show their support. but this is the second time they failed to update, and to show how much resistence is there among the population. that's because hooty control the streets and they do not like to enter into a moody

confrontation. opposed here, against secretary violence and the control of one group, over the state during the last few years when millions of people have turned out, showing their political preponderance, opposing even one of the most dig story regimes in the middle east, but here today, fear and uncertainty have kept people from coming to this place, because they say they don't like to see lives being lost in this process. another reason we haven't seen a big number here, is this is not political sized by the main country. they have come here on an individual base toys show their opposition. of course the president as we learned would like

to see a huge number of yemenis of posting violence inside the country. but the population here as we have learned during the last few days is mostly frustrated with the government and particularly with the president and the way he has dealt with the hooties and the army, and the way it has failed to to defend the cupped. >> it is shaping up to be a very tight race indeed. a security guard and doorman in a high-rise apartment building and a rich neighborhood of san palo. for the best. >> it will be good in the party stays in power.

in previous governments we had no purchasing power or credit, but not any more. ahead of sunday's vote, she is hoping she will be carried to re-election, some of the new 30 million people just like who have been lifted in the middle class in the bass decade. she is leading most polls with about 40% of the vote, but there's still deep undercurrents of disconnect by some sectors of society, they are dissatisfied with the way she has governed. >> and the watch, with critics saying they mismanagement of the state energy giant led to it.

and while the nationwide street protests have swept the country last year have now subsiding, the antigovernment mood calling for better public services has not. even mr. mar chiefs admits they have more work to do, but his vote for her will not change. >> she needs to invest more in health, but she is the right person to improve it. >> that's the message she hopes enough other brazillians will take with them to the polls to make they are president for another four years. gabriel al jazeera, san palo. >> if you are waiting for a taxi, there's normally a minipuss, it often meaning stands out in the sun or in the rain, and indeed kit be quite dangerous. tonya page now reports a safer, and more environmentally friendly version has just been introduced in cape town.

a worker carefully paints the finishing touching. it used to be a dusty car park in summer, and a mud bath in winter. it is clean and safe, in a neighborhood where there's a lot of crime, monica is on her way to work. >> it is much safer. because there is security all the time, watching you, and not a lot of vendors people pretending to look after you, when they want to steal from you it is the environmentally friendly that make south africa a first. rainwater is collected

from the roof to wash the taxis and the solar panels make it almost self-sufficient. >> it is challenged through here, and stored in these huge batteries what it is used immediately, they can track how much there is, with this panel here on the wall. as you can see, this year, they have only needed to tap into the main power grid for 2% of the taxi ranks usage. what we are finding is we can give access to the government, that the long term operating costs are always a challenge. >> the old style of taxi stands can be dangerous at night, in a country with a high rate of crime. but most south africans don't have a choice, they don't own cars the rely on shared taxis. but at least now people can feel safer on their

way to wherever they are going. tonya page, al jazeera, cape town, south africa. >> now for maniles of children around the world, traveling to school every day, and walking or even taking a bus, but not for so kids. >> 11-year-old wishes there were an easier way to get to school, from a village. her school is on the other side, the nearest bridge is an hour away. so she has to rely on a rope bridge to cross the river. no matter how difficult it is to do to school, and how late we get there, we have to go. once we are educated we can build a proper brimming for other students. >> more than 50 children use this crossing every day. once the basket starts moving depravity pulls it half way across the river. then all the children have to push and pull the basket balancing

themselves precariously on the rope. >> it is much safer when this basket is here, but half the time the basket is on the other side, and children have to use a hook to pull across the river, and many fall into the water. or trap theirnd has. >> the rope got tangled and it ended up in the water, i am scared to two to school. >> that was two years ago. many people have lost their fingers, and several children have been injured trying to cross this riff. >> the local government says it doesn't have enough much to build a proper brimming. >> right now, -- so from that 10 million commit five or six. >> in the nearby village, the suspension brimming was finally installed last year, but only after the old one snapped

killing five people. i still dream of people screaming asking for help, at times i do hear people crying now i am afraid to cross. we have to cross the riff to go to school every day. as they got swept away recently, i am scared. the government has allocated $15 million. but people here wonder if they will ever be replaced. >> don't forget, there's always the website, keep up to date with all the developing stories. aljazeera.com. >>