[ explosion ] inside kobani, kurds and others now fighting for survival as isil shells and shoots its way through the syrian town. ♪ you are watching al jazeera. i'm david foster, also coming up. in the next 30 minutes, ebola in spain. kenya's president arrives in amsterdam on his way to the international criminal court where he will deny charges of

crimes against humanity. and the new view of the old land mark, how a glass floor is helping tourists at the eiffel tower see paris in a completely different way. ♪ the battle for the syrian town of kobani has intensified with fighters from isil. earlier u.s.-lead air strikes hit positions in kobani. bernard smith reports. >> reporter: from across the border in turkey, it's clear the battle for kobani is more intense than it has ever been. fighters from the isil breached defenses to the east and south of the town late on monday. since then kurdish fighters have been taking on isil street by street, building by building. the kurds are motivated and

determined. isil is more accustomed to sweeping through areas defended by soldiers with little appetite to fight. kobani is different. u.s. air strikes have hit isil positions, but the kurds say the strikes aren't enough on their own. they want turkey to provide more weapons. turkey's president visiting a refugee camp for syrians says he thinks kobani will fall to isil. he says a ground operation is needed to defend the town, but turkeying won't go it alone. >> translator: the problem of isil cannot be solved with air strikes alone. we had warned the west. no fly zone, a secure zone parallel to that, and the training of moderate syrian rebels. >> reporter: there are some free syrian army groups fighting alongside the kurds. this video was posted on line.

erdogan wants the kurds to join the fight against president assad and isil. kurds protested along the border again on tuesday. there have been similar protests elsewhere in turkey. they believe assads regime in part of the problem, but the united states has shown little enthusiasm to join erdogan's campaign. so now it looks like all the kurdish fighters can expect are some u.s. air strikes to help to keep isil from advancing on their town. let's hear from the turkey analyst who believes that turkey will not engage its military in syria until certain conditions are met. >> turkey would like the u.s. strategy to be broadened and no

fly zone to be created and take the fight to assad, which is the source of instability and the reason why these terrorist groups emerged in the first place. when left alone, if there's no broader strategy, you will have continuous vacuum -- political vacuum that will be filled by various different groups who will -- who will be only concerned about holding on to their little area, and it will effectively mean sort of disunity of syria. so to keep the country together and make sure that there's a political transition in -- in damascus, which seems really far away under these conditions right now, you need a long term strategy. the european union says it wants answers from spain after a spanish nurse became the first person to contract ebola outside

of africa. she is in hospital in madrid now along with three others suspected of being infected with the disease. >> reporter: the nurse had been treating two ebola patients at this hospital in madrid. one of the sick men was a spanish priest he was an aid worker in liberia. in august the 75-year-old became the first european to die from the ebola outbreak, the second priest was to die days later. they had contracted the virus in west africa and been brought to spain for treatment. spanish authorities are now investigating how the nurse contracted the virus, given the precautions taken at the hospital, and the fact that she had had limited contact with the patients. >> translator: once detected as the ebola virus we immediately put into action a series of protocols coordinated by the ministry of health.

we're working together to give the best care to the patients and provide security for our citizens. >> reporter: the nurse had reportedly been given the all clear and mixed with family and friends for weeks even taking a overseas holiday before being infected with the virus. been aexpert says it is highly unlike by the virus would have spread. >> we know you only become infection when you are actually ill, particularly when you get into the hemorrhagic phase. and that's the danger time for people looking after the patient. not when the virus is quietly growing inside the person. to have contact with someone who is incubating the disease, the likelihood of transfer is almost

zero. >> reporter: this facility has been operating at full capacity since it opened, but as quickly as staff discharge patients, they say more keep arriving. the virus has killed almost 3.5 thousand people in west africa, and infected more than 7,000. cybering statistics for a virus that currently had no known cure. as paul brennan reports from madrid there are questions about how far this virus could have spread. >> reporter: what the people inside the hospital and what the media outside of the hospital and what the people in the wider population here and across the continent of europe as well, what they want is answers, and missing is knowledge. we have an infected nurse and neither the hospital authorities, nor the medical staff themselves know exactly how it was that she became infected with ebola.

there were strenuous efforts taking place to trace the people she came in contact with, the hospital staff insist that they followed guidelines in dealing with the two christian ministries who repatriated here to spain. how was it that she could be in facted when all of the possible precautions apparently were being taken. the european commission in brussels has asked the spanish health ministry to give an urgent answer to that. we are expecting the span health ministry to brief brussels later on tuesday possibly with the answers to that. and in the meantime where there is a lack of knowledge, that's when fear starts to creep in. a great fear as to where this outbreak might go. yemen says that the yemeni

president has appointed the next prime minister. but houthi leaders say there has been no agreement. what is the position the best you can understand it, mohammed? >> reporter: it looks like an official announcement now, but not yet by the president himself or his office, but it's on the official state news agency, and usually what comes from that agency is usually something that has been sourced to the president himself. there would be a television show in one hour or two from now, and the president is expected to send the final word. but all resources now converge on the appointment even though any houthis are -- just one hour ago have been talking about disagreement, and saying they are not happy with the choice. >> is it possible then -- is it

possible that the president has decided to go ahead with the appointment and disregard the houthi's perhaps opposition to it? >> the understanding is they have agreed during the meeting, but what we learned from the sources is that the houthis are not quite happy. there has been two weeks of rioting over this appointment, because the president was insisting that he should be the person to choose the prime minister, otherwise he would look like a man who is very weak in front of the houthis, particularly when we know what happened in the last couple of weeks. so not everybody is happy, and the houthis are the least happy about this appointment, and the understanding is that they tried to sabotage the situation even though they agreed to the meeting to the president. >> okay. and if it is -- >> -- make it a final -- >> if it is this man, what kind

of man is he? how will he try to pull yemen together? >> yeah, he's a relatively young man. he's 46 years old, and he doesn't have a degree in politics. he hasn't been an executive before, except last year he was appointed secretary general of the national dialogue convention, and he has been serving as the director at the presidential office, other than that people don't know him. and there are already people criticizing the choice saying this man is not up to the task, and this man will not be able to solve the problems in a country where we have lots of conflict going on around -- around the country, and -- and the houthis seem to be the least happy with him. but also on the other hand, people want to sup -- supporters of the choice say, look, this

man doesn't belong to any of the parties here. because he is a clean slate and a young and probably charismatic, and he has from the news we have, he has a good understanding and kind of communication with foreign diplomats, so they think maybe he is a good choice for yemen and maybe he is better than well-known politicians. >> thank you mohammed. kenya's president is in amsterdam on the way to the international court in the hague he will be the first sitting head of state to be tried at the international criminal court. simon mcgregor wood now explains that kenyatta denies that he organized deaths.

>> reporter: tuesday's hearing here at the icc was a largely technical procedure, but beneath the surface, there was a crackle of tension and animosity, mainly between the prosecution and kenya's attorney general, the country's senior legal officer. it is the prosecution's assertion, and it has been for some months now, that the kenyan government has not done enough to cooperate with the court, to cooperate in particular with the prosecution. the prosecution wants a lot of stuff to help build evidence in its case against mr. ken yayatk. it needs his the phone records, tax returns, and bank statements. and the prosecution says the government is not doing enough to provide those documents. at times you could feel the

animosity between the two parties in court. the kenyan's government's position is that it is doing everything it can considering the legal constraints upon it. tuesday, of course, despite the occasional dramas in the court that i described, it's really the warmup act. wednesday is the day when kenyatta appears before this court. we understand dozens of kenyan mp's, his supporters are also at tending that session here on wednesday. we expect a very noisy reception when he arrives tomorrow to be questioned by the prosecution for the first time. the prosecution will admit it lacks evidence at the moment, and unless it gets the stuff that it needs to build the case, there is an outside possible this week that it may have to drop the case. we'll find that out on wednesday. still ahead on this program, we're in hong kong where despite

the faltering demonstrations there are still plenty of signs calling for change. plus -- i'm daniel lack in northern alberta, an canada's oil rich tar sands may be an opportunity for indigenous people here. >> it's a chilling and draconian sentence... it simply cannot stand. >> its disgraceful... the only crime they really committed is journalism... >> 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,

♪ress in the new democracy, hello, you are with us here on al jazeera, these are the top stories this hour. the battle or kobani is

intensifying. nighters of isil are shelling the town center now. earlier u.s.-lead air strikes hit isil positions in kobani. the european union says it wants answers from spain after a nurse became the first to contract ebola outside of africa. she has been quarantined in hospital along with three others. yemen's official news agency says the yemeni president has appointed a new prime minister. he is a sunni muslim from the south. but houthi leaders say there has been no agreement to appoint a new prime minister. in hong kong, students have agreed to hold talks with the government later this week. they have met three times now to discuss the negotiations. the mass sit-in is now in its

tenth day, but it has thinned out. student protesters are still calling for change. >> reporter: eventually this colorful display of support for the so-called umbrella movement will be removed. the sticky notes began appearing here after the protests began ten days ago. and more keep being added. some now hope the wall becomes a permanent feature. >> we can keep this. i hope the next generation can know it. we -- we have this in the hong kong history. >> these are the voices from hong kong people. >> reporter: so you would like this wall to stay? >> yes, of course. it's part of us. >> reporter: and this is part of it as well, umbrella man. the movement's new mascot. the students have both united and divided hong kong, and those divisions are mostly generational. >> i'm so sad.

they do these things with all of their hearts, but they have all been brainwashed. >> reporter: albert is a retired civil servant and has a message. do you know what democracy is, he scrawls. this woman feels the same, she was born in beijing but left 30 years ago and doesn't like what she sees here. >> translator: hong kong is any second home. i don't want my home turning in to such a mess. >> reporter: after ten days of protest the priority for some is rest. numbers at the main protest sites continue toing dwindle, but a condition of the talks between student leaders and government officials is that the barricades and protesters remain. the leaders of this campaign have also demonstrated something else, they now have the ability to mobilize thousands of supporters at short notice. adrian brown, al jazeera, hong

kong. north and south korean naval patrol boats briefly exchanged fire near the border. on saturday a top-ranking north delegation made a surprise visit to the south raising hopes for improved relations. myanmar has released dozens of prisoners. the release of large numbers of such businesser ins is part of myanmar's reform process. mexico's attorney general is on his way to the state after the country's president promised to hunt down those responsible for the disappearance of 43 students. they have been missing for more than a week now, and it's unclear still whether their disappearance is linked to the discovery of mass graves. adam reports.

>> reporter: some of the parents of the missing 43 students say their prayers at the school where the young people studied. they want one thing, their children back alive. despite that being increasingly unlikely. while parents prayed, the president tried to show he is in control of the situation he has largely ignored for several days. >> translator: i have instructed members of the cabinet so that we take action, lead us to those responsible, and apply the rule of law in relation to those events. we must find the truth and ensure that law is applied to all that are responsible. >> translator: it's his duty as this country's president to get our children back to us alive as soon as possible. we're desperate. >> reporter: this is the teacher's college where the 43 students, mainly children of poor rural farmers were studying that they follow a leftist

tradition seeped in activism. the fight they disappeared they had taken over buses and were asking for donations to travel to mexico city to a march, honoring mexico's worst massacre. it was a typical fund-raising push for them, aggressive but not violent. it's not clear why they were attacked by police and cartel gunmen on september 26th, the night they were last seen. were they in the wrong place at the wrong time? did their political activities upset someone? these are still unanswered questions. >> translator: they say protesting is a crime, but our children aren't criminals. the real criminals are free and in the government. >> reporter: what we do know is that 28 bodies have been unearthed from mass graves discovered in the town where the students were last seen. the parents don't trust the

government to tell them the truth. they are putting their faith in argentine forensic experts who are here to conduct independent tests. as they wait days, perhaps weeks for those results, they will keep praying for that one thing. three researchers from japan and the u.s. have jointly won the 2014 nobel prize for physics. they invented blue leds which are moringy efficient than light bulbs. >> translator: at first people told me it was impossible to do it during the 20th century, more and more people were quitting. it was that kind of situation. but i didn't think that way. i wasn't thinking about sub sesz or failure. i just wanted to do what i wanted to do. >> reporter: in canada, oil which is trapped in the sand at the heart of the dispute between indigenous people and oil

companies in northern alberta. there are groups fighting expansion, but many people depend on the business and like the idea. >> reporter: with 75 trucks and 170 workers, birch mountain enterprises is part of an experiment in cooperation between canadian aboriginal people and the petroleum industry. three men own the company and have watched it grow quickly. >> it has provided a lot for the town. it has been well worth it, working with the oil sands rather than against it. and i think we'll maintain hopefully a 20% growth rate for the next five years, and see where that takes us from there. >> reporter: big oil companies contract out a lot of business to firms based here. at an annual oil industry trade

show, information about jobs and business opportunities is shared with residents. the local economy is thriving. >> this community, almost everyone is employed. the unemployment rate is very low. and basically anybody that wants to work is working. >> reporter: few of canada's first nations can boast this level of development. high incomes from oil sands jobs, $700 million worth of business keep the found boyant and growing. effectsively this is are a community that takes full advantage of its position. upstream on the river and all sides digging continuing, smokestacks belch where once there were forrested. recently there was a threat of legal action to protect

traditional hunting and fishing land. >> it's a delima between the impacts and the benefits. we want to gain the benefits, but the main objective, first of all is to protect the environment and protect our traditional way of living. >> reporter: surrounded by canada's biggest source of greenhouse gases and other pollutants achieving those goals is the challenge that lies ahead. the international space station is having its first sprucing up in more than a year. >> i'm ready to pull the trigger and release it. >> reporter: the american and the german have been outside the module, trying to remove a broken cooling pump. it's their first space walk and is expected to last about 6.5 hours. now to one of the world's

most instantly recognizable and visible landmarks. i don't have to tell you what it is called. it has been enchanting tourists since 1887. you will need a head for heights. >> reporter: when i was first inaugurated back in 1889 the eiffel tower was criticized for his design. but over the years the old lady as the french call it has become the most visited paid monument in the world. but none experienced it like this in 2013. it is the latest addition to the tower. at the first level. here i am, and people look absolutely tiny. i can barely look down there.

all i can think of is how strong is this glass? and actually i just want to get off. i was not the only one feeling that way. >> oh, okay. >> reporter: how does it feel to be standing on that? [ laughter ] >> very crazy. oh, okay. and my body says oh, no, don't do this. no. okay. [ laughter ] >> it's not natural to stand here. [ laughter ] >> reporter: the first level is the largest floor of the eiffel tower, but it was also the least visited one. the flooring is made of solid glass, and the safety barriers are inclined out words to add to the feeling of walking on air. >> it's like i'm flying like a little bird. >> reporter: and you are not scared at all. all of us grownups are scared. >> why?

i'm not scared. i think it's fun. >> reporter: and that's just what the architects hope everyone will feel. okay. on our website, if you want to keep up to date with all of the news here on al jazeera, aljazeera.com. ♪ ♪ i am lease a fletcher. you are in the stream. a new report says climate change is not right around the corner. it's here and affecting americans every day. wait until you see renovators who are responding and what they are doing to reverse the trend. and could one of the largest consumers of oil in the world have the answer to reducing our carbon footprint? we talk to creative champions of climate change right now. ♪