this this. >> this is this is al jazeera. isil retakes a city in anbar professor and advances on the main supply route to the capitol t millions of brazilians vote for their next president. dilama roussef looking for a second term in. up to 20 bodies have been found in southern mexico close to where 43 students went missing

last week. african union troops on the offensive against al shabaab's hartland in somalia. i am andy richardson with the latest sport. formula one driver is fighting for his life. the frenchman is suffering from a severe head injury and has had surgery following the incidents in sazuka. . >> the islamic state of iraq and the lavant, isil, says it has taken control of more territory in iraq's northern anbar province but strategic battle grounds not far from the iraqi capitol are proving difficult for either side to hold on to. there are reports that isil's rene taken parts after it was won by iraqi forces on saturday. while west of baghdad, airstrikes have helped push back

fighters it. isil has managed to fight its way out to faluja. more on why hold that town is so important for the iraqi army. backed by tanks and heavy weapons, these government forces are in the town of amaria. this is at strategic town linking anbar with baghdad in the south of the country. holding it against isil fighters means supplies from the capitol can reach anbar province. >> we will never leave it. this is our homeland that we cannot abandoned just because there is a conspiracy on this country whether they call themselves rebels or armed groups, we are iraqis, sunnis and christians, arabs and kurds. we are brothers. if they want their rights t should be through dialogue.

not by force isil keeps up the push toward the city. >> what we are seeing in anbar province is the effect of coalition forces. it might not be the effect the coalition expected or intended. what happened is isil fighters past further into the proof incident taking shelt ner towns like hiit, and what happened after the iraqi arm forces and pro-government troops have surrounded those areas and the fighting now is one of shelling and fierce classes on the out kir but the raerm army haven't gone inside those towns for fear of civilian casualties. with large numbers of isil fighters taking up positions in urban areas it's highlighted how difficult the fight against the group is a fight that won't be over any time soon. imran khan, baghdad. >> for weeks, on the border with

turkey under attack and thousands of kurds living there have been forced out. the latest we are hearing is that what appears to be a stray missile has been fired from another the town into turkey where it wounded five people. >> syrian kurdish forces are trying to push back isil fighters from kobane. the spill over of the violent significant because while turkey hasn't joined the coalition fight against isil, parliament ordered to carry out cross border military operations in iraq and syria, to take on isil. let's go to burla smith on the turkey syria border. i know you got pushed back from the best vantage point you had because of the shells i was referring to there, but it might be interesting for our viewers to understand why kolbane beside from the fact it's a town of 200,000 people, why it seems to be so important in this struggle. >> well, david, that town,

kolbane is most densely populated area right on the border with turkey. isil, take that already isil fighters are within site of us from when we are close to that vantage point, well within site of the turkish military. take control of that area of that town and the area around it. it gives isil control of 150 kilometers, uninterrupted control of 150 kilometers along the turkey, syria border. if they take kolbane, they can move down the western border into much more less depositionly operated areas and easier areas for isil to take control of. >> that's why strategically, this town is important, david. >> we have the new turkish prime minister saying he will do everything to stop isil taking kolbane. a, what could he do? and secondly n terms of the tanks that we have -- the turkish tanks we have seen near the border, he says there are

simply as a matter of routine. the turkib pavrl parlor has voted in legislation that will allow its military should it see fit to enter syria and iraq with foreign troops into international action taken in those countries. it's very unlikely that wir going to see the turkish border going in to those countries. there are other things the turks could do to try to stop kolbane falling. we know the leader of the main syrian kurdish party has been in ankara. he was on saturday. he was meeting turkish security officials. now, is there a way that turks can help the syrian kurds defend their town without the turkish military getting directly involved? that must have been on the agenda in the talks between the leader of the syrian kurds and the turkish security

forces, david. >> realistically, bernard, what is the turkish government's biggest worry? that isil will control that swth, possibly 150 or that we could see an emboldend kurdish military? which the turkish government wouldn't necessarily be happy with there is this kong conflict that turkey has had with kurds, the kurdish workers party based in northern iraq. there is this piece process ongoing at the moment in the kurds with turkey, turksey worried by arming the kurds in syria, could those arms end up being used against turkey in the future? this is one of the problems they face. this is why you haven't seen turkey militarily take action. it's u.s. air strikes that have so far helped keep bill isil at

bay, keep them away from the town center, but tissuing, as i say, there are other things that turkey might be able to do behind the scenes without you seeing the turkish military go in to syria. interesting. >> very interesting. barnards smith there, pretty close to the border with syria. thank you. the syrian government stepped up its effort to drive opposition fighters from the city of alep. o. it tacked rebel petitions on friday the town is two and a half kilometers from aleppo and over looks the road which connects the city to rebel supply lines. a report. syrian government is on the move in aleppo. it controls parts of the city such as the central prison and now, it also wants the rebel-held countryside on friday, government forces attacked two other villages threatening rebel supply lines to the north. several opposition fighters were reported to have been killed.

regime forces advanced in several directions in the city of aleppo. we are preparing regain areas under pop situation control in handarat village which over looks the only road connecting the aleppo city with towns close to the turkish border. whoever controls this area, controls the delivery of supplies to the rebels and air defense units here are in rebel hands. rights groups say opposition fighters retook parts of the area but the government assault didn't end here foreign fighters backed by government soldiers stormed another district north of alepo. within a few hours, the government was in charge in half of the district. but the opposition fought back. some of the soldiers and his mersaries had been killed and others arrested and we are now chasing them in areas where they

are holed up. >> the fragmented nature of the opposition, fighting on various fronts is now being pushed further away by government fors. coalition airstrikes against isil have also strengthened the government's assault, but bashard al assad's forces know they can't win outright so they are trying to push boundarieses. al jazeera. >> human rights watch is calling on the united arab emirates to reveal the whereabouts of 10 libyans and 6th emirati nationals. the group accuses the uae of detaining the individuals in august and september and is holding them without charge since then. a statement released by human rights watch says the uae has grown acustommed to its circle y'all violations of human rights passing without comment from an international community that appears could youed by its agresstive diplomacywed by its diploma

diplomacy. it appears to send a message that it does not care. a a critically ill activist is being moved where he refused food for more than a month. he started his hunger straight in late august but relented a few days ago after his health deteriorated. he has been in dead tension since last december on charges related to violations of a law that affective bans street protests in egypt. al jazeera continues to demand the release of its three journalists imprisoned in egypt: they have been behind bars for 281 days falsely applicationed of aiding the outlawed misslim brotherhood, they are appealing against their convictions. ♪ >> 500 ,000 voting machines have

been distributed including deep into the amazon. government roussef cast her vote in port alegro. she will need 50% plus one vote to wind sunday's election outright. 11 candidates running but the real contest expected to be between threw main contenders. here she is. the current president looking for a second term in. she was hand-picked by former president lula de silva she enjoys that support and that of the workers party. she is ahead but taking her on. marina civil a, a popular environmentalist, a former maid counting on her connection to working class brazilians. she briefly shot to the top of the polls after she was chosen to replace the candidate eduardo campa who died in a plane crash in august. after a series of missteps she has dropped to third place in the polls behind this man,

nevez, a pro-business social democrat and comes from one of brazil's most powerful political dynasties. a triumvirate. joining us live from sao paolo. is it that dilma roussef support is slipping or that the opposition vote now being split between these two other candidates is hurting here? ? >> the opposition splitting the vote is really what would throw this to a run-off if that is what happens. actually, dil ma'am roussef in the last 48 hours seems like she has a team behind her campaign. a last poll that came out yesterday showed her reaching as much as 45, 46% of the vote according to a very top polling agency here she needs 50% plus 1 to win on the first ballot or else it goes to a run-off the two opposition candidates, as you mentioned, they are really

splitting the votes. they are about tied in the polls at about 20s to 23% or so. so they are really fighting it out hard to see who would go face dilma roussef if that should transpire. >> how is it that she seems to have pretty good popularity when brazil, once a powerhouse of latin american economic growth has gone right downhill and is just about managing to -- well, it's almost in recession. isn't it? >> it is. most economists will tell you that brazil is in a technical recession as they call it. when rue ceph took over four years ago, they were 7.5%. a lot of people say that was anna anomaly, it was unusually high but this year -- and this is a key number. it's going to be 0.7% growth here in brazil. so the way she is able to keep her support is really two things. number 1 is unemployment here is very low, only 5%, so the vast

majority of the people of brazil, even though the disney is going through a recession, they are still working. if you are the incumbent approximately, that helps you a lot. the other thing is inflation. >> that's been a problem in brazil, a little over 6%. it's about at the top of what the government wants. but it's still being contained by the government so a lot of brazilians are feeling a little bit of the recession but not as much as maybe neighboring argentina or venzuela. >> that's primarily why dilma has so much of her support. >> thank you very much indeed. gabriel elozonda in sao palo in brazil and laboring peru, many voting in regional and municipal elections. many of the candidates, though, are accused of crimes including corruption and drugs trafficking. march 18th a sanchez reports from the capitol limita alberto is running for provencial mayor, a city north of lima.

but last month, more than 40 kilos of cocaine were found in one of his campaign drinks by his brotherly. he denies any wrongdoing. . >> the prosecute 's office intear gated me about the vehicle. i told them that i am not involved, neither implicated nor as a witness. his relative was imprisoned. he was under investigation for two weeks and then released without charge. security officials say there are many candidates in this regional and municipal election suspected of having links to drug trafficking public property cuter say they have crossed information with the electoral bodies and found around 350 candidates with criminal records we were surprised to find out that nearly half of them have either been processed, sentenced, or are being investigated for drug tracking among other crimes.

the electoral bodies do vent the authority to ban these candidates for running. they have asked congress to modify the law from financing cam pangs or anyone linked to the drug trade from serving. critics say legislators will meet next week after the elections. >> an academic who has investigated drug trafficking links to politics since 2010. . >> we are facing a national scandal. we are facing the advance of the pour in peru. running for mayor of lima said the party tried to purge it from any people link today drug trafficking but they need help. >> we need the police and the electoral agencies to identify people who could infiltrate and harm the political order by having links to these illicit activities. >> the public prosecute said the

congress is dragging it's feet and because of that, it is likely on sunday some of the people is it would like to ban from running may become mayors and regional presidents around the country. mariana sanchez, lima peru. >> as many as 20s bodies have been found in a mass grave near the city of iguala in the south of mexico close to where 43 students went missing last week. adam raney has more from mexico. >> forensic experts are doing tests on the remains of bodies found in this mass grave outside of the town of iguala to see if they can confirm if they are bodies of some of the 43 students who have been missing now more than a week. the last time these students were seen witnesses say they were being put in to police cars and taken away. we have an ongoing investigation in which some police are already under arrest and being questioned in the case. now, when the state governor and the state attorney general announced the findings about

this mass grave, you had a very angry reaction from some of the students who study with these other missing students. they rioted outside the government house. they flipped over a car and threw rocks and malatoff cocktails show, what they say is inacce inaccess. they are asking them to do more to bring the people to disappeared and perhaps may have killed them, to bring these people to justice confusing signals from hong kong's demonstrators, with another deadline, plus ♪ >> the people of it haiti wanted him brought to justice and that never happened. . >> victims and activists react to former haitian dictat dictate jean-claud duvalier. the game that made baseball

history. the national army of somalia along with troops from the african union are making advances we understand against the armed group, al shabaab. now within striking distance at the strong hold of a town which al shabaab has held since 2006. it's on the coast south of the capitol, mogadishu. kathryn on soy has been monitoring the position. she spoke to brigadier general dick olam. >> we are right at the edge of baroa, the african union forces together with somalia national army troops preparing to get in, being told al shabaab has been retreat. they are running, going in boat. now, joining me is brigadier general dick alum leading the ugandan forces. thank you for joining us? >> thank you.

>> wither hearing reports that your troops have taken the position. >> yeah, as you know, this is a mission, as the commander of seconder one, this is authority over this thinkinmission. i would like to assure you it is about to be taken but it has not been taken. >> do you expect resistance? would he do so. it has been a center for the al shabaab, the headquarters. we know it's going to be especially from the foreign fighters we are were told al shabaab fighters are running some of them, taking boats, going in to sea, but then, we also are being told others are melting into the civilian population. how concerning is this to you? >> yeah, indeed, as you know since the time we have gotten this offensive, al shabaab today hereby at this regionong that

really over looks like barawe, they have information it cops with superior fire power and, therefore, they are their families and most of the key leadership of al shabaab fled through the waters. the other way around again, the al shack apop, some have started melting into the population. we have that intelligence and the tactiges to deal with such a situation. >> have the civilian population, the elders there, have they receiv reached out to you? what are he this saying? >> we have been in touch with so many civilians in barawe. specifically one of the former district commissioners of barawe who has been held in prison for six years by al shabaab. he was released but he fears for his life. he has been talking with us. they are running. they are scared and trying to get out of barae through any possible means. >> how important is it for your troops and somalia? how important is it to take barae. >> the tactical position is of great importance to the people of somalia.

we think it will be a-achievement barae is a port you see next to mogadishu. some demonstrators have started pulling back. worried about a police crack down. government officials say they are ready for talks with the protest orders as long as they end their blockade of government offices by monday morning from hong kong adrienne brown reports. >> china's government says hong kong's protesters are on a road nowhere. the one in the central business district remains blocked. at first, the students refuse to let this driver through. but he is so angry, thenlt give in to his demands now the government is demanding that those blockading relent. among a deadline for them to leave is now localing.

if it's only tear gas, we will stay here. if it's bullets we will find some evacuation plan and we will come back. the city could be on brink of tragedy saying most pressing need is for the students to end their blockade of the september tral government offices so more than 3,000 civil servants can return to work on monday morning leaders i know cest the building is still accessible lu ng admits she is torn about whether the action should continue? >> we need to pay for a real democracy like in even if that means people losing their jobs, people not being able to provide food for their families? you think it's worth it? it's a big conflict. >> mostly, it was calm today, time for some of the students to catch up on missed studies, unsure like everyone else as to how all of this will end.

adrienne brown,ays in hong kong. >> let's go live to hong kong. half past 11:00 at night, i think it is with you or pretty close to it. there aren't many hours to go before this deadline. is there any sign that the people who have been protesting are listening to what the authorities are telling them? >> reporter: that's a good question, david. what is clear is that there are fewer protesters than there have been in recent days but people here seem like they are here for most of the evening. what they have started to do is consolidate from other areas and concentrate their efforts over here and there are still neim front of the government offices. while some student leaders have called on people to head back and eventually go back to classes and to schools, university professors have told their stud incident to, there are many here who say they want

us here and they want to carry on and one of the main student leaders groups have said that they will carry on the protests. they are aren't going to move out despite the fact that the government has extended arrest wanting to communicate with them, but they say that will all depend upon tonight to see how police handle them and if police forcibly move them out. the other interesting thing is as people are, have been through here for about a week, many have felt it is time to leave, maim for personal reasons. there is a question of how the protesters will carry on manning the barricades. so, it might naturally happen that the police will be able to take back certain areas. >> it might appear that the sort of weight and see what happens rather than challenging the po testers which i think they have done only once. the wait and see and wait for their energy to dissipate. >> will be the tactic that perhaps brings us to an ends just petering out if you like?

>> well, i think that's what they hope. they hope most people will just eventually leave and lose interest in this, but there is a core group that is very interested in stay, but what is important to note is that these frosts and i spoke to a lawyer earlier today. these protests are illegal. under the law, the government has the right to remove them. the question is: how are they going to do that? now, they are very wary because the last time they tried to forcibly remove them, they galvanized these frosts and also, beijing seems to have given a directive not to do anything that will upset the citizens too: there is also the point that the citizens of hung con of getting tired of the inconveniences they are causing. that may instead make the protesters decide to move or the citizenship that will eventually back the government in to making the protesters walk away. but for the most part what you have here is a core group that

will stay so how the government deals with them is the question of the day. >> will only be answered at daybreak break, stlauchl indeed. keeping a wary eye on what's happening in hong kong. >> coming up on the news hour, the russian volunteers were trying to find the remains of soldiers missing since the second world war. we will look at why some people believe muslim pilgrims should be banned from taking selfics at the hajj. and in sport, monday night the new signing start justifying their expense and their expenses and it will be here with that story.