>> fears that unrest in yemen could turn into a sectarian war. at al jazeera's headquarters in doha, i'm nick clark. also ahead u.n u.s.-led air forces strike kobane. >> i'll be reporting from a liberian refugee camp where people are grieving silently. >> federal authorities have

charged seven people with conspiring. >> tobacco is not all bad. we'll tell you about new positive uses. >> so then we begin in yemen where renewed fighting is raising fierce of a sectarian conflict in the country. 17 people have been killed in the latest violence of the city of ibb. now the clashes began we know tribesmen from the sunni province set up a checkpoint to stop houthi rebels from taking the capitol. the rebels take more parts of the region each day, and there are concerns that war could erupt from the south. separatists there want to split from the north. we have more now from yemen. >> reporter: the town in the province of ibb there are houthi and tribal fighters. many were the two sides were

killed. in the city of ibb people are angry. they're against the recent takeover and the infighting that followed it. no to armed militias this banner reads. >> they should all leave. we don't want any armed men here. this city is peaceful an. >> tribal leaders in this mostly sunni province are mobilizing their force sending dozens of armed men and the promise to fight the shy i can' shia houthies. dozens of fighters march. chanting anti-houthi slogans. these men are from tribes where they want houthies out from

yemen's second largest port on the red sea. >> i tell the houthies here that this is the red line. this belongs to us. >> some believe that yemen may be heading to a civil war since the houthi advancement last month. with the military failing to stop them many here believe there is a hidden agenda between the houthi and former president, who still enjoys influence over military commanders. shia houthies controlling several provinces including the capitol sanaa. >> to syria now where fighter jets have launched a new round of attacks on islamic state in iraq and the levant.

attacking isil positions in the town of kobane bordering turkey. bernard smith with the latest. >> the pace of the u.s.-led coalition airstrikes over kobane have slowed in recent days. but on saturday afternoon a reminder that fighter jets are still circling this syrian border town. the clap something from kurds who have been watching this battle as it has ebbed and flowed over the past weeks. from a mood of despair that kobane was about to fall to now hope that isil fighters will be forced to retreat. on a hilltop to the west of kobane kurdish fighters found time to dance, an indication of their optimism. but isil is still there. the border area sustained some of its heaviest shelling so far as fighters try to win control of the crossing. some of the mortars landed on turkish soil. enough that the turkish military

set up its own mortar tube should they need to protect the area. what has happened in kobane has taken on symbolic proposal for the united states. >> isil fighters are being taught to fly captured jets. in aleppo where isil have reportedly been training. an isil commander was killed in anbar province.

and another in houddin. many believe that the iraqi army has failed in its ability to protect their communities. >> reporter: these men are part of another irregular armed force in iraq. almost every man in this northern village has a new job: protecting their families from the islamic state in iraq and the levant. they are members of a minority group. ethnic kurds who follow a pre pre-islamic faith. this makes them feel pickerly threatened. >> we have to be alert day and night. we have to make sure that isil is not able to come here. they've threatened many times. >> just like many front lines across the country the warring parties are usually just a few hundred meters apart. this open ground makes it easy for isil to push into this village south of kirkuk city.

>> isil did bad things to the yazidi yazidis in sinjar, and we're afraid they do the same to us. if they do come here we will have to leave. >> reporter: the families who live here are all aware of how the isil fighters killed and kidnapped hundreds of yazidis when they swept through the mountains in august. human rights groups claim they have committed ethnic cleansing in northern iraq. >> reporter: this is not the only commute who has taken up arms. the yazidis, christian, kurds, sunni, shia, everyone is now armed, and they all talk about the need to protect themselves. [ cro [ rooster crowing ] >> reporter: many worry that this country is disintegrating in religious mini states.

>> after isil took control every sectarian group armed themselves. they're losing hope that iraq can be united again. >> reporter: they don't know if they'll be able to defend their ground even though they get some military help from kurdish forces. what they prefer is for one authority to hold this country together. but the power now seems to be in the hands of irregular armies who are not fighting for iraq but their own community's existence. al jazeera, northern iraq. >> after weeks of political wrangling, iraq's government has appointed two positions i in important appointments. >> the u.n. delegation to libya will try to stop the fighting to

allow humanitarian aid to reach affected areas. meanwhile the battle for control of the eastern city of bengahzi has intensified. forces loyal to general haftar where people have been killed in days of fighting. 400 migrants in five boats, half of those were vessels that ran in trouble in libyan waters. the "world health organization" says it will conduct a full review of its handling of the ebola crisis. the u.n. agency has been criticized for responding too slowly. leaked internal documents suggest that who admit to bungling the response to the outbreak. ebola has killed more than 4,000 people in west africa. well, liberia is one of the

hardest hit by the virus. they have just moved from civil war. >> reporter: jefferson carr escaped liberia as a young boy leaving behind his family. he arrived here in ghana as a teenager in 1998. he planned to return to liberia to set up a management studies college. but ebola has changed all of that. >> after 14 years of civil war, trying to recover from everything that we lost, and then this ebola, this disease has come up again. >> reporter: he doesn't know when he'll be able to go home, so he started the college here. family in liberia is constantly on his mind. he has lost family members to the disease, and he's afraid of

for his wife who is in the east of the country. there are 10,000 liberians in the settlement. unlike jefferson many are staying silent about those they lost at home. so many liberians have been personally touched by ebola. but the stigmaization of it is such that people will not talk about it openly. the only non-governmental organization hearsay they're running out of funds. >> houses are very close together. ventilation is a challenge. there is fear that if osama bin laden erupts here it will spread like wild bush fire. many people move out and come back. >> but the borders are closed? >> yes, the west african borders. >> reporter: the settlement is soon to be dismantled. liberians are being r

repatriated. but some want to remain in ghana. he wants to be able to raise the funs and fulfill his dreams of opening the college back home. al jazeera, ghana. >> france has become the latest country to start screening passengers arriving. meanwhile president obama is resisting calls of travel bans. he said sealing off a part of the world will only make things worse. >> if we're guided by the science, facts, not fear, i'm confident we can prevent a serious outbreak here in the united states and we can continue to lead the world in

this urgent effort. >> now plenty still to come on al jazeera. after journeying across the world we meet the syrian refugees welcomed into a new life in uruguay. and inside the secret state we report from a school in north korea where people share their hopes for the future. >> america votes 2014 on al jazeera america focusing on what matters

to you >> what are the issues that americans need to know about? >> everybody needs healthcare... >> lower taxes... >> job opportunities... >> reporting from the battle ground states... >> alaska... >> kentucky... >> iowa... >> local elections with national impact >> we're visiting with the people making the decisions... >> covering what it all means for you... >> ...the mine shut down, it hurts everything... >> i just keep puttin' one foot in front of the other... >> we're fighting for the future of our state >> for straight forward unbiassed political coverage... stay with al jazeera america

>> welcome back to al jazeera. the death toll in yemen's province has been raised to 20. that fighting between houthi

fighters. fighters from the islamic state in iraq and the levant have been targeted in airstrikes from the u.s. and it's allies. the armed group is trying to capture the syrian border town of kobane. iraq's parliament has approved key security positions. they hope to stop isil's advancement in the north of the country. in nigeria hopes have been raised that 200 kidnaps school girls have been reached. there is no confirmation from boko haram itself yet. it comes ahead of a support rally for the president where he plans to run in next year's elections.

>> reporter: organization for president jonathan good luck have organized this rally. news of a cease-fire with boko haram come as good news, but many are skeptical. they say they have only heard from government, but they want to hear from boko haram sources. they want to talk about where the girls are and agree to the cease-fire that government says has been reached. the families of the girls are angry and scared. the girls have been missing for more than six months. some may be in the bush, being held by strange men. they don't know what is happening to their daughters. they want to know when it will happen. >> well senior special adviser to the nigerian president, and

he told me that he's confident that the abducted school girls will be released. >> agreement of the cease-fire and of this new includes release of the girls and i believe they have commitment on all sides to this agreement. there is nothing that suggests to me that anything will go wrong. i want to assure the parents of our girls and my year januaries and the entire world community that everybody is anxious. this cannot be given the assurance by god's grace that everything will go well in the coming week and we will work on this it's an issue of--this is what is right at the present time. this is what has to happen. there are a lot of we are sure that from where these agreements

have been struck and the people, we are very certained that it will go ahead. >> more than 20 people have been killed in the attack in the democratic republic of congo. it is the second attack in the area in 48 hours. the government is blaming adf rebels. sudan's president is meeting his egyptian counterpart in cairo. it's his first visit since the former military leader fattah al sisi became president. al-bashir is wanted by the international criminal court on issues of war crimes and genocide. there have been more anti-coup marchs they have

called for the release of former president morsi. al jazeera continues to demand the release of its journalist being detained in egypt. mohamed fahmy, bader mohammed, and peter greste have been detained for 294 days now. they have been accused of helping the muslim brotherhood, and sentenced to seven years in prison. bader mohammed receive an extra three years for having a spent bullet in his possession that he picked up from a demonstration. it was a long journey across half the world to escape fear and danger to end up here. for now peace and tranquility. five families 42 syrians mostly

children were personally welcomed by uruguay's president. >> we cannot avoid war, but we can at least mitigate the consequences. simply putting tents in the desert and sending some food will not salve our conscience. >> reporter: they went to the refugee camps in lebanon to choose the families they felt would help in settlement. >> they will work to pay taxes. this is not really an expense. it's an investment. if countries like qatar and emirates would help us we could bring thousands here. >> for now they're here on the outskirts learning spanish and about their new country before being relocated. this really could not be further away in so many ways from the

conflict in syria nor the uncertainties of life in the refugee camps of lebanon. this is a beginning of a new life, a delicate transition for now hidden from the public gaze. they have been kept away from a curious media. hussein had already settled in uruguay, employed as a translator. >> really, we change our life to be better more than because than in lebanon. now that they're here they now have an uruguayan i.d. >> they received an enthusiastic welcome from the locals meeting these people from a nearby school which the syrian people will attend when they have enough spanish. >> happy future, and for the children it is amazing.

it is an amazing institute. >> uruguay was built and developed by immigrants, mostly spanish and idollan, but it is opening a fresh chapter with the hopes and aspiration of these new syrian arrivals. al jazeera. uruguay. >> let's move on to hong kong where a tense stand off is taking place as police confront protesters. these are the latest pictures that have come in the last few minutes from the mong kok districts where police have moved in to move demonstrators. it comes after a night of violent confrontation with scuffles between demonstrators and police. tensions are running pretty high. tenses of thousands of people are without power in bermuda after hurricane gonzalo hit the island.

winds of 175 kilometers an hour it's the strongest to hit the island in a decade. it has toppled trees and caused flooding before moving out to sea as a tropical storm. 40 people are known to have died in the avalanche in the himalayans. it caught hundreds of trekkers as they tried to descend from the path. the search to the survivors has been widened to neighboring valleys and piece. north korea regards education as one of the pillars of its system. we have this report from a school in the capitol pyongyang. >> reporter: at the pyongyang middle school number one the children say they have great hopes for the future of their country. >> i'm going to be a scientist in the future for my country. our scientists have alread

already--i'm going to launch five, six, seven. >> reporter: children who come here are among the best students in the country, and everyone seems to have the same dream. >> one country. only one korea. our country is divided in half. i'm very sad about that. >> reporter: the issue of reunification is a very important subject for many of the children studying in this school. in the map that you can see here the korean peninsula is not divided. >> we came here under the scrutiny of our guides who controleled our every move, but still we're seeing how the future generation is being taught to defend their shrine of the kim dynasty city wh who

have been rolling this country for 70 years. this wall explains the core values of the communist state. it's the military's first ideology. >> the new generation, it is important to know--to learn about the history and how their forerunners, the former generations had to struggle to win indians and liberation. while learning history and the struggle of the former generations they cannot lose or gain the sovereign of the country the dignity of the nation. >> we're told thanks to the leader, kim jong-un the school has new computers but children hearsay they have never used the internet. >> i don't know very much about it. >> the government runs every aspect of people's lives here.

the principal at the school denies children are being indoctrinated. >> no, no, our objective is to educate our students focusing over everything knowledge, philosophy, and physical education. as for our leader of kim jong-il, every has to know it and follow it. that's wher why we need to study it. >> reporter: north korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, but it does not stop children who are taught to value independence, self reliance above all else. al jazeera, pyongyang, north korea. >> dwindling smokers means a decline in the tobacco market. but there is an unlikely resurgence. a plant known for causing disease is now being used to cure them, and so much more.

>> reporter: kentucky's autumn tobacco harvest has changed little over the centuries. they still use the massive leaves to dry in curing barns like this. these leaves won't be smoked. the often vilified plant is being used for research from new fuels to the treatment of ebola virus. >> tobacco is not just an evil weed that causes cancer. we can actually use it to make bio pharmaceuticals that are anti-cancer, for example. >> reporter: tobacco is susceptible to like 80% of known viruses, so scientists inject viruses into the plant in place of a human host and then work on vaccines and treatments. the effort to find new uses for tobacco did no not come from

researchers but for farmers who have seen a decline of smokers around the world. they have developed an experimental serum for ebola that was used to treat aid workers who contracted the virus. here tobacco leaves are being used to develop biofuels for cars. >> the next generation of biofuels will be similar to diesel or gasoline itself, and you can directly put in the pump. so now we're engineering plans to directly make those fuels or those compounds in the leaves. so when we harvest the leaves we can extract them out. >> reporter: that would cut the time it takes for organic material to transform into oil

by millions of years, and it could open a lucrative new market for a plant that was increasingly going out of style. john hedron, al jazeera, lexington, kentucky. >> we have plenty more on fascinating stories like that on our website. www.aljazeera.com is the address. www.aljazeera.com. >> hi, i'm lisa flesher and here on "the stream" president obama intensifies efforts to unite the international community over the threat of isil we talk with insiders about whether the u.s. airstrike campaign against isil is working. plus, personal details on american hostage from someone very close to him. and later the nation's largest nurses union is demanding better safety protocols in handling ebola patients. hear