>> thank you for having me? >> it was terrific. thank you. ... ♪ anger mounts in yemen against houthi rebels, to gain more ground south of the capitol. they say they are not trying to seize power. from al jazeera's headquarters in doha, i am sami zadan. ahead, a suicide bombing in iraq's capitol killed nine and leaves many more wounded. we report from baghdad, where people are living in fear, but some assist the city is safe. >> celebrations at the vatican celebrated over a row about

homosexuality. hurdling towards mars. we will tell you about the exceptional space encounter that occurs once in a million years. ♪ we again in gemo yemen where houthi recommends are to go take ground. they have captured a town south of sanaa reportedly blowing up the home of a rifle politician. they have stormed the office of a local governor they accuse of corruption. yemen yemen'snewal appointed prime minister has arrived from new york where he was serving at the united nations. he confirmed the importance of forming a new government as soon as possible. in sanaa, with hear what the new prime minister will focus on. >> reporter: first trying to reach a national unity government to please all of the warring faxes as well as the

blibling opponents in this country. this comes, of course, after the u.n. brokered a deal last september in which it was signed between the government and the houthis along with other political parties. however, it remains to be seen whether the houthis will really withdraw their forces if or after the new prime minister forms his government. they consolidated their grip on a newer of key installations and buildings in the cap tol. they are in control of at least six provinces in the entire of yemen. there are extremely well organized and well-armed and i think they are enjoying perhaps some heavy political weight in the new yemen if we can call it like that. >> there is a strong movement in yemen against the houthi rebels. thousands have demonstrated calling on the group to leave. houthi fighters took control of the fighters last week.

this was the scene in the city where locals rallied against the houthis. they do have a presence in the cities of ibiline but do not have full control. >> didn't stop people asking for the houthis there to leave. it has been a focus of heavy fighting between sunni tribesmen and the houthi rebels. a cease-fire was signed between the two sides there on saturday. >> isil fighters, their supply lines would have been cut off if isil succeeded. thirteen u.s. led airstrikes were carried out over the weekend which have helped the kurdish fighters hold the towns after weeks of fierce fighting. from turkey, bernard smith has the latest. >> saturday into sunday saw one of the heaviest nights of fighting in recent days. kobane trying to defend their town. there was intention fights, street to street building, building to building.

yet there remains something of a stalemate. a couple of days ago, the kurds did manage to regain some positions that have been left unopposed by isil fighters after u.s. air strikers have destroyed some of the bases. some of the bases. >> a base to launch military array salts on syria and iraq. >> isil's push to take the

syrian border town of kobane has led to more people turning into turkey. hawmanitarian chief rifted a syrian refugee camp on the turkish border. she said around 1.6 million people have fled to turkey since the syrian crisis began four years ago. >> here in this school, we have over 5,000 people. half of them are children living in a situation where they have been supported by u.n. hcr, by unicef, and other partners that have come together recognizing that the children need psycho-social support. people need to be housed and sheltered and that this is a transition to a more settled camp situation. >> across the border in iraq, there has been a suicide bombing, the bomber was inside a shia mosque west of baghdad when he blew himself up.

at least nine people have been killed. 26 others have been wounded. this latest attack is the just the latest in a series of bombings in baghdad. people in the city are scared. first imran khan insists the chal capital is safe. >> reporter: in market places and neighborhoods like these, 31 suicide bombers have struck in the last 45 days. >> government statistic has people worried that iraq politicians aren't doing enough to protection the capitol and its people. omar says even the short walk from him hose to his shop is dangerous. >> we are living in fear. every day, i open my shop, i think a bomber could attack. we shut the shop by midday. after that, it's too risky to open. >> omar is angry at the government. >> enough conferences. enough meetings. i hope this government will change things, but nothing has

changed for us. for us iraqis, it's a cycle of violence and death. there is no hope. in order to calm fears, the minister of defense is on the pr offensive and issued this video isn'ting that baghdad is safe and is ready to face any challenge. shia malitias will be important for the defense of baghdad. they have held rallies like this one to show how ready they are to fight but they make many sunni muslims nervous. they are afraid there could be a return to the kind of sectarian blood shed that nearly drove iraq to civil war a fuse years ago. >> car bombs on an almost daily basis here, sectarian tension is a real issue. dealing with that is the only way that you will be able to build a lasting peace in this country treat. sectarianism is one of the reasons for the rise of isil. and dealing with that will be crucial. however, there is a more pressing concern. isil fighters are now on three

sides of this city. >> and they show no signs of slowing down. the capitol has always been in their sites and with each village and town they take, they get even closer, shaking people here even more nervous imran khan, al jazeera, baghdad. sglush. >> to the vatican where pr prop-francis resided over the beatfication of pope paul xi. it's a step shy of sainthood for the pontiff who led between 1963 and 1978. claudio reports controversy over shadowed the celebration. on sunday, saint peter's square was once again field with cheering catholics but for once, the pope they came for was not fr francefrantions or the other pope, benedict xvi who made a rare appearance. they came to celebrate the beatfication of paul vi,

credited with modernizing the catholic church in the 1960s, but, also, criticized for reaffirming the ban on birth control. 50 years later, change in the catholic church is still hard to come by. sunday's mass also concluded the scald senate, a summit of birk who debated the church's place with modern family issues including homosexuality. their initial report that stated that homosexuals have gifts and equalledties to offer to the christian community represented a dramatic change than the often demonizing language used in the past an italian couple were surprised and delighted. >> the change in language is almost revolution aechlt pope francis was the first to address

us directly, referring to us in official documents directly as homosexuals, acknowledging our existence, now we hope words are followed by language. when it comes to language in the catholic church, the devil is in the detail. >> the report published on monday recommended that the church should welcome hom 0 sexuals. by thursday, that changed to a much softer approach stating gay people should be provided for within the church. they are then on saturday came the final wording stating that homosexuals should be simply treated with respect. the change in language shows there is a split between those who it agree with pope francis, that the church should welcome everyone including homosexuals and those who stick to tradition. now, the pope has one year to reassure the conservatives. the report has laid groundwork for another larger summit of

beneficials last year. only thing, it will become clear whether pope francis has performed a miracle of finally, revealing how the church should deal with sorry 0 sexuality. al jazeera, vatican city. >> lots more still to come here on al jazeera, aid sanctions and luxury systems. north korea's capitol is trans formed with high-end facilities. not everyone gets to enjoy them. and he has been nick tanamed th people's president, can indonesia's new leader bring the country together? >> i wanted to be in on the big >> many of these involved

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♪ let's recap the headlines here in al jazeera now. yemen's new prime minister has met with the country's president in sanaa, who was appointed to the top job last week. he returned from new york where he was serving as generally's ambassador to the united nations. at least nine people have been killed in a suicide bombing in iraq, a shia mosque targeted west of baghdad. kurdish fighters in syria have successful fought off an assault by fighters from the islamic state in iraq and lavant near kobane. they were trying to capture the murisnapor border crossing to cut off supply lines. much of the international focus is across kobane. across the rest of syria, the war it taking a toll. the city of homms has been bombarded. and thousands have survived unscathed, people are still suffering. randall snowville has the story.

>> this town is filled with people looking for shelter from the civil war. people like om sayed and her children. her husband recently died leaving her with nothing. >> he lost his life in the war. i am left with these four children. they are three girls and one boy. we have nothing to support ourselves. >> there is no electricity, drinking water, or even a fireplace to warm the house. and winter is coming. all of that protects them from the rain is a tin roof. families get by through donations: the charity and in homms is had he helping many fatherless families. >> we are now helping 150 families in the area of taldawl l alone. we help widows and their children. they are believed to be 7,000 people living in taldal with more than 1000 or fans in need of serious help. but if the civil war battles

have not come here, elsewhere, it's a different story. as it is here,ing in terah where rebels destroyed a syrian army tank on sunday, much of the area around damastic remains in government hands but to the west, rebel fighters have managed to access a side road to an important village, a sign that the government and the rebels are still battling for the strategically vital capital city, rand development nogel, al jazeera. >> more than a thousand health experts are meeting burlin to discuss ways to stop the spread of the ebola virus. according to the world health organizati organization, torn in 9 cases of ebola have been reported worldwide. west sfraen countries remain the worst hit by the outbreak. almost two and a half thousand people have died in liberia. see air on a leone has seen at least 1200 dead and more than

860 have died in beginni. a total number of fatalities from the ebola outbreak currently stands at 4,555. dean barber is at the con fronings life for nus berlin. what are they took cooing up next in the fight against ebola? >> sami, they have a few days to discuss exactly what the world should be doing and what the world will be doing on sunday should add that the president of linebiera, ellen johnson made a timely appeal, a letter to the world, it was called, in which she reflected on some of those dramatic figures that you have just been listing and saying that every nation has to do whatever it can to fight e bol a now. whether it's financial help, whether it's clinical help, whether it's military help, now, here in berlin, politicians and

clinical experts are getting together. they are accepting mistakes in the last hour or so. i have heard the german health minister say that the international community underestimated the outbreak in west africa believing it would be contained locally and subside kwijt. neither of those things have happened. in the future, going forward, he's calling for a better coordination between european countries. the german government wants more states to do what they are doing, sending military personnel, several hundred, we believe, and clinical staff to the region setting up field hospitals and the like and they are also calling for more research to be sped up. there are experts here in the field of vierology, people who are saying that if the world doesn't get its act together, then this virus could in fact become more dangerous, more deadly, if that's -- it's difficult to believe that it could be, but that's what they are saying. they are saying that not only do

we need to speed up the hunt for a vaccine. >> that's not going to help between now and early next year but that's one step forward that they will be talking about here. >> from berlin. >> a u.s. and four european allies are calling for an end to the fighting in libya. they said they are ready to impose sanctions against individuals, forces loyal to ren gay general khalifa hafta in the and the rest of the country. dozens have been killed. thousands have fled the vie lenses. in egypt, medical and security sources say at least six security force personnel have been killed by a roadside bomb in the sanai peninsula. it is said to have exploded as a patrol responsible for protecting the pipeline passed by. al jazeera continues to demand the immediate replease of journalists in egypt. peter greste, fahmi and mohammed

have been in prison for, they are appealing against their convictions. protesters continue to man the barricades in hong kong after another night of scuffles with police. the demonstrators remain senderred in the district, contact visits calling for free and fair elections in the city. the government only allows candidates vetted by beijing to campaign indonesia's new preponderate will take office on monday seen by some as indonesia's first so-called peel's president. others worry he won't be able to bring up much needed change. from jakarta. popularly known as joe gui, the soft spoken furniture seller was elected president in july. ever since then, he has faced opposition from the political elite. >> that's why thousands of volunteers have decided to throw him the largest inauguration

party ever. they are inviting as many people as possible to show support for the man they consider one of them. >> this is a president of the people. he goes straight to the people. he knows what we need and what we want. he knows exactly what our problems are. >> but the festive mood will likely be short-lived. his coalition controls only 44% of the seats in parliament. it's one reason why they recently lost a parliament vote to eliminate direct elections for regional governors and mayors. some observers described it as a deliberate attempt to obstruct his policies. they include closing the growing gap between rich and poor, filling much needed infrastructure and cutting fuel subsidies. >> we have been open from beginning to work together to build this country together we don't need to tackle each other. the best spirit it to work

together. >> a surprise move just three days before the inauguration to meet his main opponent, his former opponent who has led the aggressive opposition against him. >> i have told all of my supporters of differentling opinions and political competition cannot be a reason for us to be divided. this is not allowed. we have one nation, one people. we have tonnun iechltd my the president is expected to face strong opposition inside parliament, outside, he has managed to create a large and faithful following. now all indian easians are watching if this former salesmans will meet what some are calling unrealistically high expectations. >> the man, himself, is very much aware of the pressure he is facing. >> that's really a burden for me. but when i see the people, my energy increases. it shows i need to work hard for them. >> although he has already fought hard to get this far, his

job only becomes more difficult after the inauguration and begins with trying to improve the lives of 240 million people: arnlingsz, jakarta. >> gunfire has been exchanged between north and south korea. the incidents took place after several north korean troops aprovided the demarcation line inside the heavily fortified poureder zone. the incident followed the release of new photos of kim jong un. they show the north korean leader using a cane while inspecting flight drills. earlier this week, he made his first public appearance since the disining of september. since i kim jong un came to power, parts of the north korean capitol have been transformed. a country had been targeted by u.n. sanctions on banking, travel, and trade because of its nuclear program. as teresa bol reports from pyongyang, this hasn't stopped north korea from enjoying the

high life. >> for people here, the symbol of prosperity. brand-new swimming pools and slides. 12 different types of saunas for the government here according to the u.n. sanctions o, they could not be traded. mostst thinks, we did it ourselves. some say this is the last of the places for the class but as you can see, this is the place, it's not the difficult to spot important wines. at the equestrian center, more and more people are coming to learn how to ride. >> horses are band because they

are considered a luxury good but the government is finding all sorts of ways to bring them in to the country. even though the definition of luxury items, very strong one country to another. in this case, it's quite clear, new u.n. sanctions imposed last year are aimed at hurting the leadership class and not the vast majority on who do not have easy access to the capitol's new installations. this is the first time he has brought his children to the equestrian center for a ride. he works in a government ministry in pyongyang. >> with all of these newly built facilities and the parks, we can feel that we are having a very happy life. and a more civilized and cultured life thanks to the care and love of our great marshall, kim jong un. >> many of the instructors here have been learning about horses for a while. >> what does he think that the united states and the united nations don't want them to bring

horses like this here? >> no. to here, no? >> okay. >> while workers may not be able to speak about politics, it's clear that his place of work, itself, is a political statement and that the leadership of this government will continue to press on with its defiance of u.n. sanctions. >> there are many sanctions involved, but, you know, there is a thing that has been our party and our leader decides, we do. >> nobody here has any doubt about that. since coming to office almost three years ago, kim jong un has seen the capitol get new buildings and entertainment facilities. but whether such transformation will extend further remains to be seen. al jazeera, pyongyang. >> 30,000 runners have taken part in the bejing marathon despite smog reaching hazardous

levels. many wore face masks to protect themselves from the dangers of breathing in the air. the pollution level was 13 times the level considered safe by world health organization standards. but the marathon organizing committee said late saturday, postponing the event would be too difficult due to all of the plan that had gone in to it. >> translator: running in this kind of smog, i felt i cannot sweat normally. my body has been very sticky and moist. >> it's a close encounter with mars that occurs just once every million years in the coming hours, a comet will brush past the red planet, so close gas and dust in its pale could change the planet's atmosphere. here are the details. >> reporter: named after the observe another australia which first spotted it, it has come from the far reaches of our solar system. for more than a million years, it's been traveling towards the sun, slowly warming and slowly

developing tail full of gas and dust. it's traveling at a speed of 56 kilometers a second and will swing by mars just 132,000 kilometers from the planet. >> at the time of the close encounter with mars, it will be almost the closest to the sun. when they do that, they release a lot of material, dust, solid particles and gases, water and hydrogen and all of these particles, all of these ejecta are going to interact with the atmosphere of mars. that will be the interesting thing. >> that will be recorded by no fewer than five spacecraft, three orbiters, one from india and two nasa rovers on the planet's surface have all been prepared for the comet. >> it's going to look at shades and rotation and the brightness of the nucleus, the darkness of the luke lee us, study the coma composition and look at the

atmosphere to see if it can detect any changes from the interaction between comet and mars. >> knees spacecraft are trying to understand how external forces affect the martian atmosphere. it was thick in supportive wadded but they are believed to have been eroded by sola winds, leaving a thin coat of carbon dioxide. the interaction with the comet could shed light on how this occurred and pose a threat to the spacecraft. >> it may be a hazard to our spacecraft. we have studied it ex tentatively a lot our spacecraft will be on the opiniposite side the planet. they believe the gas and dust from the comet cause auroras. they say it will be in a unique position to record this.

with the exact motion of the comet. to help us better prepare for the next close encounter. >> you can keep up-to-date with all of the news if you head over to our website. you can see our front page there with our lead story. all of that for you at aljazeera.com. landscape. history. this is one of the most important cities in mexico. therefore it makes perfect sense to make a film festival work in this beautiful city. >> some deals with violence and impunity, one is a documentary that follows mothers across mexico as they search for